spacedobsonian

You know, people look at the Jupiter or the Andromeda galaxy and say "Is that it?" I think people don't think about what they are looking, so I would just say that just think about what you are seeing, Jupiter, a planet larger than any, floating 750 million km from earth, with its great red spot 4x the size of earth. It just gives a sense of grandeur while observing it and that's the main reason I enjoy this hobby! I would recommend trying it out the next time you observe anything!

I am thinking of starting to dip my toes into astrophotography, I have little budget for a camera so I went to Orion and found two cameras for under 175£, I want to shoot simple planetary shots and some deep space, the telescope I might use this on is a 70mm f/10 refractor, or a 100/114mm reflector. I don't want world class images, but just want a few simple pics, so here are the cameras that I found: https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Orion-StarShoot-3mp-Solar-System-V-Imaging-Camera/rc/2160/p/130983.uts?sortByColumnName=SortByPriceAscending And: https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Orion-StarShoot-Mini-12mp-Color-Imaging-Camera/rc/2160/p/134986.uts?sortByColumnName=SortByPriceAscending The first one seems good enough but the second one seems to be really good, just that there are no reviews of it on the Orion site. Any and all advice is appreciated!

Going really off topic! Does it work on Jupiter and if not which simple (colour or any) filter will work for planetary?

Now, Astrophotography in Mobile has advanced a lot, you can take the same 200 photos automatically, all of semi long exposures (depends on the smartphone, mine has 40 seconds of exposures), but you can't stack them! In my opinion, a basic software like Snapseed but better, for astrophotography, and for beginners with easy UI and some stacking capability! That would be astrophotography heaven! (Atleast for beginners!!)

Very true!

I mean Skywatcher

A bit off-topic but they made a heritage 114p?

For example: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/ursa-major-102mm-tabletop-dobsonian-telescope.html And https://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian.html

How?

That's were I got the original idea for this post!

No, some scopes like the Skywatcher 130 starquest can't be collimated!

If you had to buy a small reflector dob (<6 inches) would you pay £20 more for a parabolical mirror BUT lose the ability to collimate? Would you buy the cheaper, spherical mirror, collimatable reflector dob or a £20 more expensive, parabolic mirror, not collimatable reflector dob?

It will be transported on a car but I also want it to be very compact because it will be travelling!

Pretty nice dob!

I actually read all reviews but I just pointed the ones that were a bit negative!

Hey @Mandy D please check my reply to @fwm891

I was originally going to go with the SW 130 but I read that the mount is really sloppy and etc, etc Here's a review: "I can complain a bit about the focuser. I needed to put some Teflon tape on the threads since there was too much slop in the movement. The tape made it stiffer and you can keep putting on more layers of tape to make it however stiff you like (and remove it easily too)" "Now the only major complaint I have: the secondary mirror. First of all, the way it attaches to the tube is a bit finicky and it came very loose so that the secondary mirror rotated way too easily. This needed to be tightened with a small pair of pliers (there is a locking nut next to where the metal rod attaches to the inside of the tube). In a quality control issue, my secondary came installed rotated by 180 degrees from the correct orientation." "I realised that the secondary mirror that came with the telescope was quite a bit oversized. The specs on the SkyWatcher website say that the secondary is 34.5mm. In fact, the one I got was 40mm (minor axis diameter). This represents a 31% central obstruction, which is quite high, even for a fast Newtonian (the secondary mirror gets smaller as the F number increases). In fact, the maximum size of the secondary mirror holder is 35mm in diameter and a quick calculation shows that for most objects (such a looking at the moon), a 30mm mirror is large enough. So I ordered a new 35mm diagonal mirror from Orion Optics UK and with the "Picture Hanging Strips" it was then very easy to swap the secondary mirror." All of the above paragraphs are from a single review.

I was searching for a good portable dob and I found 2, but can't decide which one to take..... It's pretty much a dob dilemma First contender: Skywatcher Heritage 100mm dob: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian.html Second contender: Ursa Major 102mm dob: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/ursa-major-102mm-tabletop-dobsonian-telescope.html Now, I can buy 3 accesories which each of these scope and they are: Astro Essentials Plossl Eyepiece: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astro-essentials-eyepieces/astro-essentials-super-plossl-eyepiece.html Astro Essentials 2x Barlow: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlow-eyepieces/astro-essentials-125-2x-barlow-with-t-thread.html Skywatcher Planetary eyepiece: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-uwa-planetary-eyepieces.html Now, the real dilemma is that the Ursa Major dob (will refer to this dob as UM dob) has a spherical mirror BUT it has these great Astro Essentials Plossls The Skywatcher dob (will refer to it as SW dob) has a parabolic mirror BUT it has these not-so-great eyepieces. From the price point the SW dob is better than the UM dob, so which one do I choose?? (P.S I am going to do a bit of serious work with the dob that I will buy, UM or SW, for eg. The Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Orion nebula and Andromeda Galaxy AND I know that small dobs aren't good for deep space work and planetary work) (P.P.S My price budget is 200£)

Yes, and I feel I may go down the rabbit hole of astrophotography 😆

Thanks for the replies, and I have decided to go with Sky-Watcher Explorer 130mm EQ-2 because it has aperture and has a EQ-2 mount which with a single speed drive installed will let me have some basic astrophotography and astronomy observing! Thanks again for the suggestions (P.S Mods close this topic, because my problem has been solved!)

So, I have a budget of about 215 quids and here are some combinations I am considering for a beginner scope: Ursa Major 102mm set: Ursa Major 102mm dobsonian: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/ursa-major-102mm-tabletop-dobsonian-telescope.html Astro essentials 2x Barlow: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlow-eyepieces/astro-essentials-125-2x-barlow-with-t-thread.html Turn left at Orion: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html David Chandler's Large Planisphere: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/david-chandler-night-sky-planisphere.html Astro Essentials 1.25" ND96-0.6 Filter: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/moon-neutral-density-filters/astro-essentials-125-nd96-0-6-filter.html Sky-Watcher StarQuest-130P f/5 Parabolic Newtonian Reflector set: Sky-Watcher StarQuest-130P f/5 Parabolic Newtonian Reflector (Only a telescope, no accesories for this one because the budget is tight!) : https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-starquest/sky-watcher-starquest-130p-f5-parabolic-newtonian-reflector-telescope.html Sky-Watcher Explorer 130 (EQ-2) set: Skywatcher Explorer 130 (EQ-2): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130.html Turn left at Orion: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html Sky-Watcher Startravel 80 set: Sky-Watcher Startravel 80 OTA: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-ota.html Tripod: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tripods/fotomate-vt-6006-heavy-duty-2-way-tripod.html Astro Essentials 1.25" #8 Light Yellow Filter (For CA reduction): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/visual-oberving-rgb-filter-sets/astro-essentials-125-wratten-8-light-yellow-filter.html David Chandler's Large Planisphere: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/david-chandler-night-sky-planisphere.html (P.S If you have any suggestions please also include them!) (P.P.S I haven't included the Skywatcher 130mm folding dob because it has some issues)

It depends! I live in a semi-urban area so there is a bit of light pollution, but we also got the first dark sky reserve which I am planning to go. Some places like Kazakh have pristine skies, but mine do not

Hi everyone, I am from India so please excuse my grammar mistakes / spellings. I began with a beginner 70mm f10 refractor and still currently have only one telescope, the 70mm! It will be fun with talking with you all! Starry Night 🌃 Spacedob