jonathan

Consider a red light torch, one with a dimmer is best as it will help preserve your night time adaptation when you're out there trying to see those really faint objects; one look at a regular white light (even a garden ornament) and it'll be gone. Consider a dew shield (dew heaters probably not necessary for that size of scope). Good pair of gloves, a very warm hat, thick warm socks and three or more layers of warm clothing for winter observing. Don't forget the snacks and something to drink, once out there you don't want to be going back inside to the bright lights and warmth unless absolutely necessary. For one, you might not want to go back outside! Garden table and chair; putting stuff on the grass isn't good if it can be avoided (usually they get covered in dew or frost, which will then melt once inside and make everything wet). A beginner's guide on what to observe, a planisphere, and a pair of 10x50 binoculars. A compass so that you know where North is (you should point the N leg of the tripod at Polaris, a compass and planisphere will help you find it). A flight case with pluck foam to keep your eyepieces and other accessories in, it's good to keep optics safe and dry when not in use, and also when outside in the cold to keep dew and frost off them until they're needed (keep the case lid closed). To start out with you may only have a couple of eyepieces but over time the collection of bits and pieces will grow. I tend to look out for aluminium cases at car boot sales (although when they'll next happen is anyone's guess, check eBay etc), I have a couple of repurposed 'vanity' cases which are almost identical to a flight case but are usually square or upright and smaller, they can make excellent eyepiece cases, just need to clean out any makeup residue! You might also want to make a small checklist - things that you need to take out with you, procedure for setup and tear-down (e.g. turn off red dot finder - so easy to forget and next time find the battery is flat). Consider also making a list of things that you want to observe in your next session, based on what's up and visible to your scope (check Stellarium, Star Walk or some other app before heading out).

Your options regarding photography with a Dobsonian will be very limited compared to an EQ mount, unless you spend the best part of £2,000 on a goto (or install your own tracking motors), tracking on a Dob is not as easy as tracking with an EQ but it is possible. You should be able to get photos of the brighter planets and the moon with a Dob, it will be almost the same as having your camera on a standard camera tripod, except at higher magnifications you will get more movement through the eyepiece / frame so you'll need faster shutter speeds. Manually following an object is a two-step process with any Alt-Az mount, the Dob is no exception, as you have to nudge in two axes rather than just the one with an EQ. EQ mount numbers refer to the size and weight of the mount, and thus it's carrying capacity. The larger the mount, the steadier it will be. An EQ2 is pretty weedy and you realistically wouldn't want to put more than an 80mm refractor or a 130mm reflector on one, for anything bigger you'd want EQ3 or better yet EQ4 (Celestron do a good one, Omni CG-4, which has 1.75" steel tubular legs - much better than the square aluminium legs). Larger EQ mounts (e.g. EQ5 Pro) will also have better gears and upgrade options for tracking and Goto, tracking can be added to EQ3-2 / Omni CG-4 as well in one or both axes (usually just one axis is required for normal tracking, RA or Right Ascension). If portability, ease of carrying and use, and versatility are your main wants then I'd say forget the larger dobsonians as a starter scope, they are big and heavy and may end up not getting much use because they're a chore to get out (not to mention store). I think a 6" dob is going to be much more manageable, or something like the Skywatcher 150P (a 6" reflector) on EQ3-2 (I use mine on a Celestron Omni CG-4 mount, which is a bit more stable). The 150mm reflectors (whether EQ or Dob) are very good for a starter scope, especially if you can stretch your budget to a couple of high quality eyepieces to really make the best use of the optics, the supplied eyepieces (usually 10mm and 20mm) will get you going and be fine for some targets, but once you spend £150 on a single eyepiece you will really see what the scope is capable of. I would recommend something around the 12 - 14mm range and a wide field eyepiece (82 degrees if possible), I have a really nice Explorer Scientific 14mm which has an 82 degree field of view, possibly my favourite eyepiece at the moment. Don't discount the 70mm refractor completely, there are some excellent ones out there, you just need to stick to the popular astronomy brands and steer well clear of the 'never-heard-of-it' supermarket brands. Good brands to look out for include Celestron, Skywatcher, Meade; there are a few others that tend to be more specialist and thus more expensive. Have a look at the Celestron 70mm Travel Scope as a good light-weight refractor, I have this one (picked it up complete for £20 second hand, hardly used) and it's surprising how clear and crisp the views can be; granted, you can't see the faint fuzzies very well and most clusters are just grey blobs (except for open clusters, they can look great), but it works brilliantly for bright objects, the moon, Orion Nebula, and being small and light it's one that you can literally throw on a good camera tripod and be out there observing in two minutes, almost zero setup time! It will attach to an EQ mount as well if you want tracking, being very light it will sit on anything from EQ2 upwards (EQ1 is a bit of a waste of time IMO). I usually use mine on my Omni CG-4, it can also be used very effectively as a daytime spotting scope as it comes with a 45 degree erecting diagonal (I think as well as the 90 degree non-erecting one). Hope that helps!

Not at all. I spent a long time researching the various solar telescope options, from Baader white light filters to double stacked dedicated Ca scopes, I landed on the Lunt LS60 as it seemed to offer the best views and feartures for the money (I would like to have gone for a larger aperture but they were just too far out of my reasonable budget). The only caveat with any solar observing equipment is that there will be weeks, months, or even years when it might see little or no use, such as during periods of poor weather, solar minimum (such as now, but it is coming to an end soon), or 'solar burn out' (such as during a solar maximum - seen one too many filaments!) My Lunt has suffered from corrosion on one of the glass elements, a known fault with them which I hear has now been corrected by the use of a coated element, I have just now fitted the replacement (coated) glass element to my Lunt, a very easy procedure. Looking forward to some warm clear days soon so that I can try it out! Make no mistake, when a scope such as the Lunt works (i.e. blue glass filter isn't corroded) and there is activity on the sun to observe, it's a fantastic sight and a joy to use. The Pressure Tuner system I have makes tuning into the various features very easy, I was reading the manual again just recently and it spoke of being able to tune into the entire length of a filament in a '3D' sense, so you could start at one end of the filament and 'tune' along the length of it, this is something I really want to try but it might be next year or later before we see long filaments start to appear again. In the mean-time there's still the occasional sun spot to observe, prominences, and the granularity of the solar 'surface' to admire. If you have the cash to splash and patience to wait for the solar activity to heat up over the next few years then I say grab a scope now, as the price and availability might just change as interest increases towards the solar maximum. Oh and I looked at the Equinox 120 as well, in the end I went for the Altair Astro 102 APO for reasons of weight and price, and stuff that was included (dual speed 2" focuser is rather nice to have).

I know very little about the subject but if you're going for visual asteroid hunting then probably the biggest you can afford / handle!

I use a Curver plastic crate for my 8SE OTA, I use the original foam packing which fits perfectly, room for a few small accessories (finders, etc) at one end.

If you're out early enough and have a clear horizon to the West you might just be able to catch the Orion Nebula (currently just setting as it gets dark in the Northern hemisphere). I hope the bits and bobs include a dew shield and possibly dew heater and tapes too, it'll probably be fine when the weather is dry at this time of year but come the winter the 8SE is a dew magnet.

What is a budget though? There are excellent motorised mounts that cost over £1,000, and others that cost only £100-£200. One thing to keep in mind when considering a mount is that the mount is the thing that makes viewing the stars and planets possible, you can put the best telescope on a rubbish mount and you won't see a thing because it'll be difficult to move around and wobble like crazy. Even if you have only a mediocre telescope it will be vastly improved by a steady mount. When purchasing a telescope that comes with a mount, it's often (but not always) near the weight limit of the mount so you may not get the best views out of the telescope. Personally I would always recommend buying a telescope and mount separately, then you can buy the 'next mount up' that will give you rock steady views and enable you to really see what the telescope is capable of. Take a look at the telescope + mount bundles, then look at the 'next bundle up' (e.g. if looking at a scope that comes with a Skywatcher EQ3-2, look at what the next size up telescope comes with and consider buying that mount with the original telescope you looked at earlier). Be aware that motorised mounts (goto) add expense to a package, it's a nice thing to have but it's not necessary to get started. Binoculars (10x50 is a popular size) and a planisphere are probably the best equipment for a beginner to have, then look at books that show you things like the top 50 things to see in the night sky, I like the ones by Philips (make sure the book is for the Northern hemisphere). In terms of budget all-in-one goto telescopes, something like this Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynScan seems to be a popular model (Celestron do a similar product line, they are made by the same factory), the telescope itself is great for it's size however I have seen owners of these pulling their hair out with frustration when the motorised mount doesn't work properly, and without knowing the night sky they can't even use it in manual mode as they don't know where the cool things are. Budget Goto telescopes are great when they work, but they are prone to problems and can be confusing for the novice. How about this setup as an option for a beginner motorised kit: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-astromaster-series/celestron-astromaster-130eq-newtonian-telescope-with-smartphone-adapter-barlow-t-adapter.html Coupled with the motor drive unit for tracking: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-astromaster-series/motor-drive-celestron-astromaster-geq-93514.html This will give you motorised tracking (not goto) so you'll only need to make occasional and minor manual corrections to keep objects in the eyepiece, depending on how well the mount has been aligned with the pole star (needs to be done at the start of each observing session, takes anything from a few seconds to several minutes depending on how accurate you want to be). I have no experience with this particular mount but Celestron are a reputable company and the telescope should give you some great starter views. (Note: notice how that telescope comes with CG-3 mount and a tripod with 1.25" steel legs, personally I would prefer a CG-4 mount with 1.75" steel legs for extra stability for the 130P telescope, however this would come at greater expense. The CG-4 also requires a more expensive motor drive unit because it is heavier).

I've had my solar scope out more as I've been at home wondering what to do next in the glorious sunshine, in the process I discovered that it was in serious need of some TLC! So a huge benefit there for my future solar observing. I've observed Venus during lockdown but really I'm waiting for Jupiter and Saturn to return in July so no real change to my oberving habits for evening observing. I considered early morning observing (which I would never normally do due to having to go to work at the usual time) but couldn't be bothered!

I would definitely choose a red light torch over the barlow to start off with, consider the barlow later. Think also that a barlow is another piece of glass in the chain so you don't want to be chucking just anything in there, a cheap one could ruin the view. I haven't bothered with them personally, although I do own one (Baader 2.25x Barlow for Baader Planetarium Zoom, which I also own and use with my solar telescope, never actually used either for night time astronomy). Wrt red light torch, I see the Skywatcher seems to have a few bad reviews, I would agree that the build quality it's brilliant but mine works fine. Whichever one you choose, one with a dimmer is going to be a worthwhile investment. They have a very simple circuit inside so if something does go wrong it should be easy to fix (if out of warranty).

I have a really nice PanaView 2" wide field eyepiece which is brilliant for things like the Orion Nebula, clusters, and also the moon, so I have a couple of 2" filters which I only use for this one eyepiece - one is an ND filter for the moon (fits entirely in the eyepiece) and the other is for the nebula, it brings out the glow of the dust just a tad, makes the stars shine green. I forget which filter it is right now, probably OIII. The PanaVIew may not be the best 2" wide field eyepiece out there but it certainly has the Wow! factor compared to regular 1.25" eyepieces, it just has so much glass that you can't fail. I also have a 1.25" ND filter for any other eyepiece I own. Like on a racing car, you need to use the right tyres for the current situation - so use the best eyepiece for the job at hand! If that means 2" (and it's an option) then do it.

I'm curious what tripod / mount you have.

Your kit selection looks fairly mighty for a mere £500 budget, I'm surely you'll get a lot out of it (provided you have the strength or a flat surface and wheels to move it around!) Personally I'm not sure about the barlow, you may find that under normal conditions it's not going to get much use (very steady and clear seeing is required for higher magnification), although it might give you another magnification option using the 26mm. At super high mag you may not be able to nudge the dob accurately enough, perhaps leave the barlow until you're confident that you can get more out of the 9.7mm. The Collins guides look good, I have a few of the small Philips guides and I really like the writing style and presentation, easy to read without being bombarded with facts I'll just forget in seconds. I can recommend getting a Planisphere to help you learn the night sky and find things. Night eye adaptation is very important, you should try to observe from a location that has no direct line of sight to any lights, even garden LED lights (these can usually be switched off). When you want to observe something like a fuzzy nebula or a galaxy that's not much more than a faint misty patch, you'll need all of your night vision ability (use averted vision, it helps a lot). Don't take your smart phone or tablet out if doing visual astronomy, it will reset your night vision in an instant. Lunar and planetary observing is a bit different as those objects are usually fairly bright anyway so night adaptation isn't as important. One tip might be to leave all the house lights off (make sure you can't see any upstairs windows or skylights) so that if you do need to pop back inside you're not confronted by any bright lights, use your night adaptation to see. I've also pondered about the use of sunglasses to lessen the effect if I did have to turn a light on! You should add a red light torch to your list, preferably one with a dimmer control - I have this Skywatcher Dual LED torch and it's excellent, it has a bright white torch for when you're packing up and a dimmer control, believe me you'll appreciate the dimmest setting once your eyes become night adapted. There's nothing that annoys me more than people who walk up to me at an astronomy gathering with a full ultra-bright red LED head torch shining in my face! You can get smart phone cradles for photographing what you see at the eyepiece, some get amazing results from this so it's definitely worth looking into; keep in mind that adding a smart phone and cradle may alter the scope balance a little.

For a first telescope setup starting from nothing I'd say to just keep it simple, there's plenty for you to learn and hone your skills on with just a manual setup (goto will eat your £400 budget without even buying a telescope, and they're often not as easy to use as they sound). Out of the telescopes I've owned I'd say probably the most fun and useful has been the Skywatcher 150P, this XLT 150 offering from Celestron is virtually the same setup as I have, except I added the tracking motor kit (just RA, as DEC is only needed for minor adjustments if my tripod alignment isn't 100%). Here's the Skywatcher: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-ota.html Here's a suitable starter mount for it: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-mounts/celestron-omni-cg-4-mount.html although it looks like this may no longer be available. Consider a more future-proof mount for if you wish to upgrade to a larger scope: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq5-deluxe.html Motor drive for the HEQ5: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/enhanced-dual-axis-dc-motor-drives-for-eq-5.html (not within your £400 budget). Also a thing to know is that the bigger and heavier the mount, the less vibration you'll get - this is important not only for visual astronomy but also photography, as the slightest breeze can upset a lighter mount and tripod, especially if you are near the weight limit (easy to do once you add some eyepieces and especially a DSLR). An alternative, probably better suited to planetary and globular clusters: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-120-with-eq3-2-eq3-pro-eq5-eq5-pro-heq5-mounts.html (base model for £410) Note the 'speed' of the scopes are quite different - the 150P is a faster scope than the Evostar 120, so on a very clear night you might benefit from higher quality high magnification eyepieces in the 150P... *might* being the operative word. The 'slower' Evostar 120 could probably get away with cheaper eyepieces although I'd still recommend acquiring a couple of good quality wide field (like 82 degrees) eyepieces, maybe 14mm and perhaps 32mm for a good wide selection, expect these to cost almost as much as your £400 budget again. A faster refractor: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-120-eq3-2.html You'll need speed for astrophotography, so that means a scope with a low 'f' number, f5 is typical of a fast budget scope, but you'll also definitely want tracking and I honestly can't recommend the EQ3-2 for this, from the reviews I've read it just doesn't sound as though it's up to the job (especially the ones supplied with the square aluminium legs, those things are flimsy). This is why I ended up spending a bit more on the Celestron Omni CG-4 with tracking motors (combined, these are out of your initial £400 budget). You'll also need to buy a polar alignment scope (the EQ3-2 and CG-4 do not normally come with one, there is a slot already in place for one though) and with that learn how to polar align, not that easy for a beginner! I usually don't bother for visual, I just plonk the mount down with the N leg pointing in the direction of the North Star, that's usually good enough and sometimes gives me perfect alignment. If you want to connect the camera directly to the scope then you'll normally need a short extension tube (to acquire focus) and some sort of adaptor which will be specific to your camera (called a 'T' ring for DSLRs) or a cradle for a smart phone that sits over the eyepiece, that is a whole other topic though. So, to summarise, think about your mount and tracking first (buy a good quality sturdy one, tracking motors not necessary until you want to do photography, RA is nice to have for visual but it will eat too much into your £400 budget), then think about a scope that is well within the weight limit of that mount. My final recommendation to start you off with would probably be the HEQ5 with Skywatcher Explorer 150P reflecting telescope, you'll get some decent light gathering with that for visual and you'll have a very steady mount that you can probably use a 200 or 250 reflector on (or a long / wide aperture refractor) when interest and budget allows. Footnote: Why am I not recommending Alt-Az mounts? Not good for astrophotography, and it's useful for you to learn how the earth rotates (the EQ mounts effectively counteract this rotation from the point of view of the telescope) and moves through space. Also they are easier to track with, both motorised and manual - if alignment is reasonable then you only need to turn one slow motion control to keep an object in view. Why am I not recommending any motorised tracking or goto to start off with? Too expensive for your budget. True, there are beginner scopes that come with tracking and goto for your £400 budget but I think you'll soon find their limits and want to progress beyond their capabilities, and as they usually come as a package you'll find yourself replacing the mount and the scope. If you're going to buy tracking I'd say it's worth spending the money on good quality parts.

I started out with a Celestron 8SE Goto system, it was quite noisy when slewing and not the most refined piece of kit, however after I'd fitted a few upgrades to the OTA I found the Celestron Goto wasn't able to cope so I upgraded to an NEQ6 Pro with Syntrek (non-goto hand controller), it makes a lovely pulsating hum when tracking and full speed is a very pleasant and fairly quiet sweesh sound, nothing like the gear-rattling noise of the 8SE Goto. I think neighbours might be able to hear it if they poked their head out of the bedroom window at 2am (not that I am ever out at that time) but it shouldn't bother anyone indoors. If you want smooth and quiet then I think in the world of mounts you probably do need to pay for it. A simple RA tracking motor and hand controller will still be the quietest option though, my Celestron Omni CG-4 mount (like an EQ3-2 but with thicker tripod legs) with RA drive is silent in operation, at full 8x slew speed you have to be really up close to hear it at all (it's designed only for tracking and fine adjustments really, find the approximate location manually with the clutches released). Note Syntrek is non-goto with just a (relatively) simple tracking and slewing handset, the reason I went for the NEQ6 Pro was that it has upgraded gears and can become Goto just by adding the Goto handset (about £300 last time I looked). Just looking now, I don't know if the NEQ6 Pro with Syntrek is still available, it would be a shame if not.

But I bought mine almost a decade ago!

Yeah, when I bought my LS60 single-stacked Lunt it was I think the most expensive scope I've ever bought, have nowhere near enough disposable income now even to afford half that.

Is double stacking essential for solar imaging? What would be more important - a larger solar scope or double stacking?

What instrument would you say is best under reasonably dark skies to see this comet? I have a 70mm travel scope, 70mm bins, and the others in my signature. Wanted to see ATLAS but alas things conspired against me on that one.

Very impressive photos! I can see I'm going to have to spend some time in the solar imaging forum asking newbie questions!

I wonder if it depends on where you live as to what mineral deposits appear on the blue glass. I live in an area with lots of limestone and chalk geology under the fields.

I don't think that CLR cleaner is available in the UK. Does anyone know of an equivalent? There are various limescale removers, kettle de-scalers, that sort of thing, but as to which one would do a good job on a piece of blue glass is anyone's guess.

Having contacted Lunt and then Bresser, a new blue glass lens is on it's way to me now. Lunt mentioned that users have had success using a cleaning solution called CLR, I wonder if anyone in the UK knows of an equivalent? I have removed my blue glass lens and tried various cleaning products on it but there's still a 'stain' on one side, I tried the strongest thing we have in the house - Harpic toilet cleaner (bleach) with limescale remover, it did nothing. I'm beginning to think that what I can see is actually etched into the glass. Another thing to mention - I was told by Bresser (just this morning, while arranging for my replacement blue glass) that the new blue glass has a special coating to prevent the mineral deposit from happening, definitely something to be aware of and try not to damage! I don't know when this new blue glass with coating was introduced though. My Lunt LS60 is probably about 9 years old, I think the degredation has been gradual as I've only really noticed it in the past 2-3 years.

Perhaps this is how people felt during the 1950s when jet planes started booming across the skies just about everywhere. The skies have rarely been as peaceful since until times like now, except now we have Bond-level space stuff going on. How long until this Elon chap puts up his own Vegas style space station (or ten)?

It's Batman!