Nigeyboy

Hi and welcome to SGL. I'm still fairly new to the whole thing, but you will find this place to be a bastion of help and advise - I know I do!! Is your 200p the dob, or is it on an EQ mount?

Good shout on attending an Astro club - I am doing the same thing tomorrow for the first time!

I know it’s not really adding to the discussion here but I remember lusting after the Meade SCT’s I saw in Astro mags when I was a kid! They seemed so advanced and also so out of reach! I have never had the chance to look through an SCT but hope too one day. The view of Jupiter through a 12” F10 must be amazing!! One day perhaps . . . .

Hi and welcome to SGL!

I think we could do with some more information. Where will you primarily be using the scope? At home or some place else? Is portability important etc. 

A lot of bods here recommend a good 200mm dobsonian to begin with. Plenty of light gathering ability, nice and portable and set up nice and quickly. Plus it would leave some of your budget for some extras.

That’s a good shot! If you can take a number of shots and stack them that would bring out a lot more detail.

Here are those shots i promised of the Barlow.

Hi Derek

The Barlow has its own lens built in at the base. Mine unscrews so your mention of the Barlow not seeming to work made me think perhaps the lens is missing. I will take a pic when I get home later to show what I mean.

I think using that camera may be tricky! I am just getting into fitting my own dslr to the 150pl and need to get a proper adapter. Hopefully someone will be along with experience of using such a camera on a scope!

cheers

Nige

Spot on there - garages are for storing anything but cars nowadays!!

Really cool!! Very impressive to capture Pluto at such a low angle.

Your comment 'A Spare EQ-6 and 200mm Newt' made me chuckle . . . . do you have a room full of mounts and scopes lol!! 😉

Hi Derek,

I also have the SW 150-PL , so hopefully can answer at least some of your questions!

The 10mm and 25mm eyepieces sound like the standard ones that come with the scope. The Barlow on mine works fine - the Barlow should have a lens screwed into the bottom of it. I find i spend most of my time with the 25mm in the focuser. I only use the 10mm and Barlow on planets or the moon. Just too much mag for anything else! I am hoping to upgrade the eyepieces at some point to some wider field of view jobs, but for now they will do me.

Can't help you with the camera question I'm afraid, as not familiar with that camera or the attachment you mention - sorry!

Welcome to SGL! The natives here are quite friendly and some of the most helpful you can hope to find!

Sorry to hear you have been in the war's, but good news you are on the mend. Thats the good thing about the stars and planets - they will always be there waiting for us!! Good to hear from someone from my old neck of the woods as well! I live in Derby, but hale from Wroxham!

All the best for the stitches etc coming out!!

From what I have read, they estimate the nucleus to have a 20km diameter!! Does anyone know when perihelion will be?

D'oh - just read the link! sorry!!

As David says, this is normal. As magnification increases, the view will become progressively darker. Even in my 150mm reflector (Skywatcher 150-PL), when I crank up to x 200 and look at the moon, the image is a lot darker than when viewing at x 48. M31 and M45 won't fit in my widest field of view with the 150-PL, but most other objects will. Again, as David said these objects are best observed with a wide angle. All the other Messier objects should fit well within your field of view.

Thing to remember here is, as general rule of thumb, max magnification is around 2 x aperture in MM - so 76 x 2 = 152 x. So, with your lowest mm eyepiece of 6.1, and the Barlow you magnification would have been around x 200 - too much for your scope to handle I think. When viewing M31, let your eyes become adjusted to the dark, pop in the 26mm and spend time at the eyepiece. Its amazing what detail can jump out!

Happy viewing!

Nige

Living as I do in the East Midlands, light pollution is very bad - i have two LED street lights along the edge of my garden. Only a small area of the rear of my house is out of direct street lighting. However, like you a two hour drive will take me to some very dark sites!

I hope you manage many successful nights stargazing!

First light is always a special thing! Congratulations! Sounds like you had a great evening and your viewing spot sounds impressive!!

Got back from work early! Yay!

Thanks for the replies both of you! That's just the info I was looking for! 

Morning all,

Just a quick query here. Been looking over FLO and RVO websites for an adaptor to fit my Canon 400D to my SW 150-PL. I have the standard SW 2 x Barlow, which after a little play, I have found I can unscrew the lens element off the bottom, leaving me with a T mount. However, unsure what I need to fit that to the Canon. Think it might be this:

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rother-valley-optics-m48-t-mount.html

But I can't see what diameter thread the Barlow has! Could a fellow Canon user help please?

Cheers

Nige

P.S - won't be able to reply to comments until tonight, so thanks in advance!!

What a great scientific analysis of the cloud problem! Love it!

May have a try at imaging the Moon over the next few days. 

Yep . . . all getting a bit predictable isn't it!! Maybe its a chance for me to try my butchered webcam to see if I can capture a full disk image of the moon?

Been cloudy for the past several days here, so why when the clouds clear, does it seem to coincide with a full moon:

Typical isn't it!!

19 minutes ago, Thor92 said:

Yeah twice what im already bidding at the moment. I'll stick at the cheaper end for now, some amazing results with the 450 and 3300 alike tbh hopefully these will be enough for a beginner

That's a wise choice - I am doing 'Astronomy on a Shoestring'! Its amazing what you can do when money is tight!! I am currently carrying out a little conversion on my EQ3-2 mount and OTA. I am making some tube rotators out of 200mm jubilee clips and some old cable trunking!! Total cost £8!!

There is a used modded EOS 600D in the SGL classifieds at the moment. . . . .

A rare site indeed, but one I will always remember!

I recall one night while on the north Norfolk coast seeing a bolide. It seemed to be slowish moving with pieces breaking off it as it headed for the horizon. It appeared green and as you say, surreal to see it with no noise! 

Just seen this report on the BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-49626084

Anyone here see anything? Looking at the visible trail it left behind it must have been spectacular!