Seoras

Yes, and I asked the council if they could do something with the street light that’s adjacent to my garden and they came and changed the light fitting so I have reasonably dark skies👍

It's good that there's lots to see because my garden is well placed for viewing Orion and it's one of the few targets I can recognise easily. I'm off now to price some filters...

I'll have a look at them thanks very much!

Sorry, I meant to say sword 🤭

Ok, this is embarrassing but I’ve been thinking about my feeble effort to take a photo with my iPhone of what I assumed was the Orion Nebula and now that I’ve looked at some of the forum members photos I’m not so sure. Through the eyepiece the Object looked like a blue cloud and the scope was definitely pointed at Orion’s Belt but every photo I seen the nebula looks more purple. Was I mistaken or is this a terrible photo of the Orion Nebula. The photo looks nothing like what I saw in the eyepiece but I expected that; here’s what I was looking at and please forgive my newbieness, regards, Geo

So last night was a crisp clear night so I dragged out the new Nexstar 8SE and got myself organised for a couple of hours astronomizing. I managed to get the go to mount aligned (sort of) and was able to try out the new Stellalyra Finder Scope which made a huge difference, really nice piece of kit. So once my eyes were better adjusted I had a look at Mars with the 25mm plossl; it looked yellow to me 😳. Jupiter was a bit low in the sky so not good for viewing so I thought why not try a look at the Orion Nebula because I have a rough idea of where it is. I chose it on the Nexstar menu and away it went to the right place (almost, needed slight adjustment and the Finder helped immensely). I was amazed, I could make out the cloudy bit (which looked blue to me?!) so I stuck my iPhone on the eyepiece and took a couple of photos, you can see a faint smudge and two or three stars but it was better than I had hoped, not good enough to let anyone else see though. The upshot is, I had a really enjoyable couple of hours, the only downside for me was setting up and packing up. Because I use a wheelchair I had to make several trips in and out of the house because I would forget something and that meant my eyes took longer to adjust. The really frustrating part was my wheelchair casters kept getting tangled with the dew ring and telescope power cables, couldn’t see them in the dark. All in all I think it was a good start and learning experience, I’m looking forward to the next clear night, probably in a couple of months 😂, regards, Geo

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 😉

Thanks everyone, as usual some great advice to help me understand this hobby a wee bit more 👍

Thanks for your reply. Yes I thought I would give imaging a go but I really don’t think I have enough knowledge/experience just yet. I bought a DSLR thinking it would be suitable, I also bought a T adapter so I can connect it to the scope but I’ve been advised that this set up for my scope isn’t ideal. Hence the research and questions about stuff I know nothing about. My ultimate goal is to get some nice photos of the planets and maybe some DSO. As you will be able to tell I’m very new to the hobby but what I’ve done so far has me hooked, like many people my first view of Saturn took my breath away and being able to see the moons of Jupiter was fantastic. I haven’t really had much time with the scope because the weather here in Scotland is living up to its reputation but I’ll stay patient 😊,

Hi, I tried to find out how a wedge works. My new (one and only) telescope is a Celestron Nexstar 8 SE so I’ve been looking at all the gadgets available for it. I came across the Celestron Wedge on FLO so thought I would try to find out what it does. I’m trying to learn as much as I can while the Scottish weather keeps me indoors so plenty of study time 🥴! Anyway, apart from wedges for sale I haven’t found anything that might help me understand this gadget; how useful is it and can the £300 (ish) price be justified? regards, Geo

Yes, it seems to be poorly made, maybe I’ve been unlucky with this one as everything else from Celestron seems to be reasonable quality, to me at least. I’m going to follow cajen2’s recommendation and get the Stellalyra Finder scope, hopefully that’ll make life a bit easier!

Many thanks to everyone for your help with this, it’s good to know I have somewhere to go if I’m not sure about something, on some forums I use the people can be a bit condescending or even nasty but everyone here has been so helpful and friendly, thanks again Geo

Thanks Ricochet, you’re spot on! This is the problem with my one, I’ll root around in my garage for some washers and springs and see if I can do anything with it.

This looks just the job, hopefully the suggestions of Mark and yourself will allow me to use the red dot finder until FLO send me the Stellalyra. I suppose having both couldn’t hurt, I noticed some people have both types on their scope

Thanks I’ll check that out tomorrow 😊

Hi Geoff, thanks for the advice. I went back to the scope and checked the two bolts but it’s still the same unfortunately, I think this one is a Friday afternoon job! I’ll have a look at the Badder finders but I’m starting to lean towards a right angled scope. I use a wheelchair and I struggle to get down far enough to use the red dot finder, I was hoping to put off getting an upgrade but I think it’s time now. If anyone on this thread can recommend one for less than £80 I would be very grateful, Geo

Hi Sunshine, it’s listed as the star pointer, no pro. It does seem a bit flimsy and cheaply made so I might be ditching it as well, Geo

Hi, here’s a couple of photos of my finder. The top down photo shows the direction of the wobble and in the side view I’ve pointed to the joint that seems to be loose. I can’t see any way to tighten this but I’m not very experienced! I had earmarked a Celestron dew ring as my next purchase but maybe I’ll upgrade the finder instead, what do you think? Geo

Ok, I’ll post a couple of photos tomorrow 😊

Hi Bosun, I tightened every screw I could see and it still wobbles. The problem appears to be with the finder itself, I took it off and found that there’s play between the bit that screws onto the scope and the body of the finder; the two halves aren’t stable. I can’t figure out if it’s possible to tighten this as I can’t see any screws etc. I’m wondering if it’s worth getting a replacement sent out from Amazon (it’s only a few months old) or to cut my losses and buy an upgrade, I don’t want to end up with a replacement that has the same problem. The scope itself is great, I would just like to be able to point it at stuff without having to fish around for 15 minutes!

Hi, I’m using the red dot finder that came with my Celestron Nexstar 8 se and I’ve been having trouble getting it aligned properly. I just noticed today that the finder isn’t tight, it has some play between it and the bit that connects to the scope, about 2-3 mm. Is this enough to affect the alignment or am I just a bad workman blaming his tools?

Nice clear images, something for me to aspire to 😊

Thanks for your help. I understand a bit better now about the differences and that I would be best to fit both a dew ring and a dew shield. GuLinux; good to know about the compatibility of the Celestron Dew Ring, my intention is that my Nexstar 8SE will be my one and only scope but I suppose that’s unlikely given the nature of the hobby! Elp; glad to hear you’re having a good experience with the dew ring, I think that’s the way I’ll go along with a dew shield. Boy, this is an expensive hobby…… Geo

Does anyone have experience of the Celestron Dew Ring, the thing that apparently replaces the holding ring on the corrector lens? I was out last night and had my first encounter with dew (I live in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿). I’m brand new to the hobby so trying to learn as I go, as such, I’ve seen dew shields both home made and branded but I don’t know how much difference there might be between making your own from a yoga mat or a fancy Celestron one? Any advice on this topic greatly appreciated, thanks, Geo

Good ideas already, thanks very much for your help, I wouldn’t have thought of either the dew strap or a low wattage bulb.