OK Apricot

Thanks for taking the time - a very useful bit of info there Louis. OIII sounds like a good shout.

Typically around Bortle 7, dropping to 6 on the better nights. That's all I could tell you. I'm a full on sucker for deep sky objects though, particularly galaxies and globular clusters.

Specifically for visual observing, what are the benefits of these different types of filters you can get? I feel like I'm missing out on observing potential from what I've read, but I don't understand why? Sorry if a silly question, but very keen to spend some money 🤷

All I would say to anyone considering it or umming and arring is just do it - get one. I've also had an ETX105 in the past (2005-6) not bad but not great in my opinion, also had a Meade DS2102? 4" refractor, 150mm evostar etc. For the price, ease of use, portability, performance, just do it! I promise you won't be disappointed 😁

Welcome 'jackz. Keep your wits about you - we will have you spending money in no time.

Well, it's a thread revival but another new owner wants to post another picture - pointed in this direction from a comment on my first light report 😁 The 200P, which my Mrs refers to as......... The Atom Bomb.... ??? Kinda like it actually! In bed with my Celestron 12x70s 🤭

Yeah, it's not a great time of year for planets. I am 90% sure I found Uranus a few nights ago with my Celestron 12x70's, but I expect more of a challenge star hopping to that again at a higher magnification - it is definitely on my list though! If I get home from work at a good time, and it's not gym day, I could probably catch jupiter for a few minutes, but being low over the town I doubt I'd be blown away. On the other side of the night there's Venus shining brilliantly on my morning commutes down the M1 around 7am, but that's just it, I'm working! What I can't see now, I can see another day - keeps the mind happy and looking forward 🙂

Thanks guys, I just wanted to try to share that buzz that I'd felt, I'm glad it came through. I see a long future with the 200P. What better scope to learn to star hop with? It's a doddle, apart from the finder of course. As I said, I'd have loved the SL as it has the RACI finder already, but hey ho, make do for now and use the time to come up with a story to satisfy the better half? I won't let my eyes go to waste, definitely not. I'm very careful with my eyesight, helps with things like this indeed. I used to have a 150mm frac which, to be quite fair, was very close to the 200P, at least to my inexperienced eyes. It couldn't be beat on the moon, planets and double stars even with 2" less aperture. Next stop, "show us your dob" 😁

Hey ladies and gents! After a little advice earlier on about aperture, I settled on an 8" dob. There were many recommendations for the StellaLyra but patience isn't my best quality, and with these being out of stock everywhere I picked up a good old 200P at a great price from Tring Astronomy Centre before the weekend. I popped outside earlier to take some rubbish out and to my surprise, saw a lovely clear sky. I went straight outside with the scope, and was quite surprised at how... bulky this thing is - they never look that big in the pictures and you think "yeah I can handle that easy". As a 29yo field engineer in the gym 4 times a week, I definitely underestimated it, not too bad but not a cake walk either. The skies in my garden are not great at all, with bright street lights pointing in, trees and roof tops obstructing the line of sight, and being in a town, I'd estimate Bortle 6-7 at best. I pointed at the moon as I wanted something easy to crudely line up the finder. This took a while though as the sight of the moon through the supplied 25mm EP was absolutely breathtaking. I couldn't get away from the EP! With the moon around 50% illuminated, there was a minefield of highly contrasting craters among the Maria, with bright peaks, rough edges and streaking rays emanating from the centre. I was completely glued to the EP, sitting comfortably in a camping chair letting my eyes soak up the detail. I bumped up to the supplied 10mm EP, and noting a loss of brightness, enjoyed the close up, picking out similar details scanning up and down the Moon's terminator. Very rusty so I can't name craters, but off the top of my head, Tycho and Ptolmaeus(sp?). At this point I had butterflies at the thought of what M42 would look like. I turned to the Orion Nebula with the 25mm back in and was stunned. I saw a huge patch of glowing grey/green fuzz amongst the backdrop of white and blue stars, with obvious dark regions framing some structure of this hugely popular target. At 120x the trapezium was easily resolved and sat centre stage in the cloud, as if lighting the whole thing up from inside out. It was just surreal! With the wider field and lower magnification of the 25mm EP I could make out the Running Man nebula (catalogue IDs rusty but i remember some names!) sat quietly above, though no detail other than a definite fuzzy patch. Taurus was well positioned so I thought I'd have a go at finding M1, however my star hopping skills did not allow. M45 was a beautiful alternative, filling the EP with jewel like dots scattered across the FOV. Before getting back to reality and having to finish some house jobs, I tried to put M81 & M82 in view, and after a determined but uncomfortable 10 minutes through the 9x50 finder, landed two distinct fuzzy clouds, one more of a "chubby line" and another an imitation of Andromeda. Sky quality just wasn't there so no more than a bright core fading to the edges, but a lovely sight before an abrupt end to an impromptu first light. I'm amazed at the image quality from the standard kit with the 200P. I honestly was not expecting much, and was sweating at the thought of having to acquire some serious high end EPs but to my almost Virgin eyes, these will absolutely do for the foreseeable. I will even note that collimation is slightly out, confirmed by the out-of-focus star images, so things can, and will, get so much better yet! Once again, absolutely taken aback by the heavens, and can't wait for the next break in the clouds, hopefully from a more suitable viewing location next time. Thanks for reading and letting me share my excitement.

A fine example of sods law. I feel like this a lot when it comes to nuts and bolts at work. At least you know what bits to add to your odds and ends bag 😉

Welcome back! Same story here my friend, only not managed to inherit any equipment 😔

Why worry about portability when you can just drive your scope where you're going 🤣

Loving that base and strut 😎 Will most likely go the 8" route - though it may be the regular 200p over the StellaLyra as they aren't in stock for a while. This is one of my best qualities - impatience.

This is true. I guess I'm trying to compare the two with sky quality as the control. Reading and reading I'm more inclined to stretch to the 8", and very tempted by the StellaLyra indeed. My first taste of SGL peer pressure!

Thanks. Of course - I'll need to get a collimation tool. Something else to consider. What's M42, M45 like with your 150? What eyepieces are you using?

Thanks for pointing that out John. Definitely makes sense. Reading more about them currently and I'm getting butterflies. Maybe I should increase my budget slightly!

The StellaLyra 8" seems to be a few Bob more than the SW - I may have missed it but what makes this brand worth the extra? Cajen2 - what's impressed you most about the 6"? Could you give me an idea of what you're seeing? Thanks for the input ladies and gents.

Thank you. I remember having a 200p and 150 refractor on an HEQ5 pro so that's where I'm getting this toss up from - if 6 is "enough" for now. The views were pretty similar from what I remember but the 200p definitely had the edge on the DSOs. Portability not so much of an issue.

Hey guys, really itching now, I need a telescope. For the time being budget is reasonably low £350 ideally but would stretch to the 8" dob if really worth it. My question is for starting back up, is the extra 2" aperture worth it? Am I going to see that much more? My favourite targets were globular clusters, definitely prefer deep sky to lunar/planetary. Sorry if it's a silly question - it's been a good few years!

Welcome back bud, newly back here myself after some years 👍

Thanks for the warm welcome ladies and gents, good to be back. I will take a look for some societies 🙂

Hey all, was on here 8 years back or so. Been on the roller-coaster of life since then but things for me have settled down since 2021. I find myself being drawn slowly back in to astronomy, stargazing. Last Christmas I received a nice pair of Celestron 12x70s and a tripod and have been using these a fair amount, especially recently as I've got a decent memory of the winter northern hemisphere. James Webb has fueled the spark which is slowly but surely growing into a fire. Won't be long until I have my eyes on a rig. Doubt I'll be messing around with sub 8" apertures, the kid in me wants something big, something future proof. So hello stargazers, how are you? Does anybody know of any clubs/societies around the Northants area? J.