Froglord

It's either a telescope or a red Ferrari.

Saw my first Saturn last night. It was within a few degrees of a very bright street light, so I didn't have much hope that I would get a decent view, but it was surprisingly good. Perhaps the dew shield on my Mak helped keep out the stray light. Managed to spot Titan too, mostly with averted vision. Next stop: the Cassini division!

Welcome! I'm also 50 this year and have only just got my first scope. Still learning lots, and this is definitely the place to do it.

Welcome! I also started with 10x42 binoculars and graduated to a Skymax 127.

I was also out watching the moon with my Skymax 127 last night. I can't help with the tracking mount issue (I've got a manual AZ5) but I have just upgraded my eyepieces from the basic 10mm and 25mm. I went for the 30mm Vixen NPL and the 15mm and 8mm BST Starguiders. All three worked wonderfully on the moon. Really good, sharp views. I was worried that the 8mm might be pushing things a bit, but on the moon, at least, it's fine. The only problem was how fast it moves at this mag - lots of manual tweaking required!

Far too early for that - I've only used the 127 five or six times!

Ah, of course! I was thinking of blu-tak or PTFE tape, but neither seemed a very good solution. Right, time to ask the wife to make a sacrifice in the interests of astronomy ...

I just bought a Vixen NPL 30mm. It looks beautifully clear in the daytime (clouds have prevented any night-time use so far), but I'm struggling with the design of the twist eyecup. I can park it right at the top or bottom of its travel, but anything in between is very loose and doesn't stay in place. All the way down and I get blackouts; all the way up and I can't see the whole FOV (which is only 50°). Has anyone found a good DIY fix for this?

That's the problem - I do!

You guys really aren't helping with my desire for a Heritage 150P! I've only just bought my first scope - a 127 Mak. ("But wouldn't the 150P make a nice wide-field companion" say the voices.)

I'm really not seeing the effects of astigmatism, even with binoculars (although, to be fair, the hand-held wobble factor might be hiding it). So, I'm going to observe with bare eyeballs for the time being. Well, I might put a telescope between me and the stars, but you know what I mean ...

Surely the classic answer to this is "the 10mm Super MA that came with my scope".

Cheers, all (and thanks for the info, @Don Pensack - very useful). I went out last night and had a good gander at the stars, with and without astigmatism-correcting glasses. I stared at a bright star (Regulus) and I really couldn't see any issues using my widest EP (25mm, 2mm-ish exit pupil) and my bare eyeballs. In fact, I found it far more comfortable (and stable) viewing without glasses. (I realise now, after a bit more reading, that I maybe should have been paying attention to out of focus star shapes as well, but in-focus looked pretty good to me.) Tonight I'll try the same star test using binoculars, and see if the glasses make a difference with the higher exit pupil (4.2mm). I also hunted for a few new Messiers. Using that accursed 6x30 straight-through finder (which is going to be replaced very soon!) I managed to find M65 and M66 in Leo, plus M81 and M82 in Ursa Major.

I've never tried them, but I can't stand the idea of sticking things in my eyes! Tonight (sky willing) I'll try my old non-varifocals and see if that's better than just eyes alone. It's possible that my astigmatism isn't strong enough to notice.

Thanks, @Louis D. I've read a couple of threads on here about upgrading the visual back. I think I'll keep it stock for the time being, but it's something to ponder for the future.

That's very useful info, as the Mak 127 can't go much higher than 2mm. That may be why I haven't particularly noticed bad views. My astigmatism is 0.75 in one eye and 1.00 in the other, so right on the borderline.

I'm new to astronomy - just bought a Skymax 127 and I only have the included Super MA eyepieces (25mm and 10mm) which I'm looking to upgrade. So far, I have been observing without my (varifocal) glasses because it seemed more natural. Then I remembered I have astigmatism in both eyes, so perhaps I should be putting on the specs after all! (I might try a slightly older, non-varifocal pair). I think I wear my glasses slightly further away than many people do (comfort, eyelash issues), so what sort of eye relief will I need? 20mm? Even more? I was looking at the much-recommended BST Starguiders (I'm not looking to pay Tele Vue money) but will I find the 16mm eye relief too tight? Also, will I really get the benefit if I splash out on a wide-field 68 degree eyepiece, or will my glasses restrict my FOV? Any moderately-priced eyepiece recommendations gratefully received ...

Looking forward to it!

I thought I'd earn my stripes with a manual setup and maybe get an AZ-GTi at some point in the future. I'm glad I did - the AZ5 is very solid and a pleasure to use.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Boy, did I ever agonise about what to get!

M42 is indeed a good target. I felt I really saw it properly for the first time with this scope (well, at least the bright core). It looked like Pacman!

Yes, I managed to get nice views of M36, 37 and 38 in Auriga a couple of weeks ago.

I've just joined the forum, and, as it happens, just come back from visiting family in Madrid. I'm missing the chorizo already! One thing I noticed in Spain is that the rotation of the moon is visibly different to here in the UK.

You seem to have come a very long way if you only started in January! Some fantastic images.

Hello from Hampshire! I'm a newbie to astronomy, having recently bought a Skywatcher Skymax 127 on an AZ5 mount. I picked a heck of a time to buy a scope that's strong on the planets 😉 but I find more Messier objects each time I observe, so that's keeping me going. Tonight, I might give the moon a good old eyeballing. I've already learned a huge amount from surfing SGL as an 'outsider', so thanks for all the info so far.