dweller25

@Moonshed I really like Dobsonians as they give great performance for very little money BUT I do not own one anymore…… I have a bad back and found the weight of the Skywatcher 10” Dob and it’s base made it worse. I also found my back was very uncomfortable with the viewing positions you get with a Newtonian. I should say that it was incredibly sharp and gave really detailed views of the planets but sadly I was forced to sell it. One of the great plus points of an SCT is the viewing comfort. Something to consider perhaps.

Could be as it looks like the secondary system is a long way down the tube.

Great report but I would say that I had the 1/10th wave OO VX8L and a very sharp Skywatcher 8”F/6 Newt and there was no difference in visual detail but to my eye the Skywatcher had better contrast on the planets.

Welcome 👍

Yup 👍

To fully collimate a Newt you need to do the secondary first, a laser cannot do this, but a much cheaper collimation cap can.

Is your Moonlight pointing to the centre of your objective ? My Moonlight was 10mm off when I received it. I made a paper template with a central hole to cover the objective, then put a collimated laser in the focuser - if its not central you can use the adjustment screws to correct it.

Hello @Vevvo67 and welcome to SGL. You have made a very good choice for planetary and DSO’s but you will need a neutral density filter as already mentioned for the planets. Eyepieces for DSO’s - I would see how the supplied 30mm eyepiece goes. For planets you need to be around x180 for Saturn and Jupiter - a 7mm. Mars will need more magnification, so perhaps a 6mm (x208) or even a 5mm (x250). Look for eyepieces with a wide field of view as this means you will have to nudge the scope less when observing the planets. Also you could download “Stellarium” which is excellent free skymap software. Hope that helps.

Hello @Jcha and welcome to SGL. As others have said a 150mm or 200mm Dobsonian is a very capable telescope, you will need some better eyepieces as Mike suggests. A Dobsonian can be upgraded too at a later date to provide automatic tracking if required. Also to find things in the night sky you can downloaded free software called “Stellarium” from here….. https://stellarium.org Do feel free to ask as many questions as you like, we are happy to spend your money 😂 Clear skies 👍

Yes I think so, Apart from the quicker time to reach ambient temperature, active cooling will also remove the boundary layer that clings to the primary surface so views will look better earlier even when the primary is still trying to reach ambient, as you probably see in your Newts. I saw this many times with my Intes 715. Before it had reached ambient views were compromised but when I turned the cooling fan on it sharpened up instantly. But eventually the corrector would dew up on the INSIDE so it was game over. Mewlons do not have that problem and they are VERY comfortable to view with 🙂

Grand 👍

Aaah, your a refractor guy 😱😂 Me too 👍 …..apart from the Mewlon 😆

It just dawned ( or should that be dusked 🤣) on me that an actively cooled 6” F/8 Newtonian with premium optics could be a option for keeping up with rapidly dropping temperatures.

Yes 🙂 But a 128mm Fluorite doublet does too but with better views 👍 Just saying 🤣

Hello Maggie and welcome to SGL 🙂 It sounds like your scope is missing the three wooden tripod legs that attach to the equatorial mount which attaches to the telescope. Here are some possible options…. 1. Try to source some cheap legs that will fit - someone on SGL may be able to help. 2. Buy a pair of binoculars. 3. Take your Granddaughter to your local Astronomy club and use their kit. 4. Rather than buy something cheap on Amazon - which may not be all that good, consider this….. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-76-mini-dobsonian.html Good luck 👍

Maybe someone has put @tomato up for sale on Astrobuysell ? 😱

Very nice photo 👍 I was out at exactly the same time looking at Mars with a Mewlon 180, the seeing was superb. Mars at x290, whilst small, was very sharp, showing a phase, dark areas, the south polar cap, the north polar hood and some mist on it’s morning limb 🙂

Curved ball time….. You may want to consider a Takahashi Mewlon 180 🙂

Excellent drawing @Dark Adaptation 👍

I have the 20mm Plossls which look warm to me.

By memory - so not scientific….. Televue’s look warm. I have a 12.5mm KK Ortho that looks cool. I have never experimented with observing a pure white wall or snow and to be honest it is what it is and does not bother me 🙂👍

Televue’s

I have the 5 and 7mm XW and on the planets they appear neutral to me.

That would be a very good choice 👍

My holy grail would have a 250mm aperture, be unobstructed, no more than 500mm long and weigh 5kgs maximum. But it’s “out of stock” 😂