dweller25

In my opinion your solar film is not safe to us as it is.

Correct 👍

@Rustang Superb 👍

Perhaps the air compressor could cause more problems than it solves ?

A slightly strange response from OO as you were talking about blemishes not the mirror’s optical quality ! My 8” OO mirror turned up blemish free - as did my 10” mirror from Skywatcher - I would expect yours to be the same. It could be a loose paint fleck from the inside of the tube that’s fallen on the mirror ? It is fairly easy to take the mirror out for cleaning - which you will have to do one day. It probably has no effect on performance but it would bug me.

I would compare the Orion Optics service cost with a new Skywatcher 8” Dob as the mirror quality will be very similar….. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html Also it may be worth Googling Orion Optics to find other peoples opinions.

“R”ight Ascension - “R”ight Left “D”eclination - up “D”own

I used a C6 on a Vixen GP - it was a perfect match with very high stability and light weight too. Once the C6 was wrapped with two layers of Reflectix it was a truly grab and go setup.

Nope, it was a bit disappointing visually 🙁 But I will always remember when I used it for my first view of Saturn 🙂

This was my first telescope, bought to view Halley’s comet. An Astro Systems 8.5” F/5 newt on a Super Polaris driven mount with optics by David Hinds. I also bought three all silver Celestron Plossls, the 26, 10 and 7.5mm giving x42, 108 and 144. What was your first scope ?

I had the all silver Celestron equivalents of these three eyepieces, bought from Astro Systems of Luton in 1986 🙂 Still have 2x26mm for my binoviewer

Hello @badhex To improve the thermal stability of your C5 when you take it from your warm house to your balcony just wrap it with TWO layers of reflectix - there will be no need to cool the scope down. It’s cheap, effective and can be easily removed if required 👍

It does but it’s very close

Thats very good, you just need to check it on a star…..

Just to put things into perspective….. The Skymax 127 just shy of £600 you mention is manageable but the eyepiece views will be beaten in all areas by your Skywatcher 200P

Hello @YogSothoth I draw at the eyepiece and post in the sketching sections on SGL, best advice from me would be to just go out and have a go and refine as you go along - it’s surprising how much more detail you see when you do this 👍 Here are some of my attempts 🙂

That is exactly what I found 👍

+1 for a 4” Refractor - a proper telescope 👍😀 Very sharp, high contrast, fast cooling, less affected by poor seeing, look great.

I found the 6” Celestron SCT, the 6” Skywatcher Mak and the 6” Classical Cassegrain to be no better than my 4” refractor in terms of visual Lunar and planetary views and I could sense the central obstruction when viewing 🤪. The refractor cooled MUCH faster and gave steadier views. But for best stability on an EQ5 a 4” F/7 ED may be a better match…… https://www.firstlightoptics.com/starfield-telescopes/starfield-102mm-f7-ed-doublet-refractor.html And there’s always the good old 6” F/8 Dob option…. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

When I bought my first scope 37 years ago there was not much choice and they were expensive. I was young and not well paid so I just had to save up for longer 👍

Great comparison - I see no detail difference between the last two images.

The SW 180 Mak is a very good scope for planetary and luna and if your skies allow it x280 with your 10mm should work. A worthy alternative that will not dew up would be a 180mm Mewlon.

Hello @huddo and welcome to SGL. For the best visual results on the planets, the Moon and deep sky you need as much aperture as possible as this gives the most resolution of detail for the Moon and planets and the most light gathering for deep sky. The best design to do this is a Newtonian of at least 150mm aperture, they are also the cheapest so a very good way to get into Astronomy. The Newtonian tube can be mounted on an equatorial or on a simple alt-az Dobsonian base. I initially bought an 8” Dobsonian but later mounted the tube on an equatorial, so I had either option. I found my bad back preferred the Dobsonian setup. You can download “Stellarium” for free which is very good sky mapping software. I prefer to sit whilst observing, I find it’s much more comfortable than standing up and stooping over the eyepiece. It’s a great hobby 👍

@Astroscot2 Try to stop extra growth by pointing the objective behind the Sun on a clear day. It will be worth contacting FLO who may put you in contact with Es Reid - he can definitely remove the mould but bear in mind that a subtle shadow mark may always remain.

Is that “finder” a Takahashi TOA150 ? 😱