Jeff-Colorado

I had several disappointing sessions in a row a couple years ago and went on hiatus. I'm back at it, enjoying myself, and doing just visual and some quick cell phone images. My advice is take a break and come back fresh in 6 months.

Your images are lovely. Welcome and it seems that you've already made friends here. Dawlish and Dartmoor sound like wonderful areas to live and visit.

Your image puts mine to shame, but here is my first ever cell phone image. Bortle 7 skies with Orion near a half Moon (so basically, crap conditions) Pixel 7 8SE with f/6.3 focal reducer 25 mm X-cel eyepiece Affinity 2 to darken the image background As you can see, I've got a camera reflection, a gradient problem, and focus issues. Still, it is surprising to see what a Pixel 7 in night mode can do. Hopefully I will be able to improve on this in the near future.

Terrific images! I'm going to try some images with my Pixel 7 phone soon.

Got my first decent look tonight with 12x70 binoculars here in Colorado. Nice fuzzy greenish blob with a hint of a tail in Bortle 6 skies before the sky darkened completely (or as much as it does in Bortle 6 skies). I hope to get a better look this weekend with my 8SE.

Beautiful detail. I also have an 8SE and I'm getting back into observing. It's a great scope for the Moon.

Nice images. I'm looking forward to seeing the comet myself.

I like the simplicity and see the merit of the built in 4" display. It is intriguing to think of viewing a faint fuzzy DSO in my eyepiece and then plugging in this EAA EP and in a short span of time seeing the same DSO in more detail and in color.

Beautiful photo of Pond-Brooks, Vojtěch. I use Affinity Photo 2.x at work and had no idea these astrophotography macros existed. I will keep that in mind if I get back into imaging.

Update. Tonight I did a more accurate comparison of the X-Cel LX 25mm and 12mm, as well as the GoSky Plossl 32mm and Celestron 8-24mm zoom. The X-Cel LXs: The fringing (not pinpoints) around stars was gone. The 25mm was as sharp as the 32mm Plossl and since it is higher magnification, I'll call that a win for the X-cel. Stars in the 12mm (169x power) were not as pinpoint but since they are higher magnification, it should be expected. The 8-24mm zoom wasn't as sharp (no surprise there). So last night's subpar views were probably just a temporary blip in seeing. Conclusion: While the X-Cel 25mm doesn't blow away the 32mm Plossl, it is better so I am happy and will keep it and the 12mm.

Celestron 8SE. It is well collimated (the stars are nice pinpoints when I use my 32mm Plossl EP). I believe the 12mm is 169x magnification.

Thanks for the response, Louis. I just had expected more after reading this review in Love The Night Sky: "The clarity in the 12mm eyepiece is stunning. I was presented with a 1° field of view full of pinpoint clear stars which was truly immersive."

I tried out a new X-Cel LX 25mm tonight in Bortle 6 skies with slightly below average seeing and transparency (and a bright moon to boot). Not ideal conditions. I have a Celestron 8SE. I alternated eyepieces and was surprised that my cheap GoSky 32mm Plossl (stars were true pin points) seemed sharper than the X-Cel LX 25mm (stars are not quite pin points). Some it might be the extra magnification, but what else might cause the EP to not resolve stars (as pinpoints) as well as the 32mm Plossl? To be fair, the Orion Nebula did look a little better in the 25mm EP (probably from the extra magnification). I also tested out a new X-Cel LX 12mm which had the same problem as the 25mm but slightly worse. Stars not pin points. Perhaps that is just the magnification in non ideal seeing. The 12mm was not parfocal at all when I used it after the 25mm (despite the claim from Celestron). I will try again tomorrow night, but I'm thinking about returning them. Any advice would be welcome.

Welcome! What country are you from and what type of stargazing do you do?

I agree with Shimrod--October should give you aurora views and better weather. You'll have breathtaking views on your ring trip--bring a good pair of binoculars and enjoy. I've been 4 times and I'm returning in May to visit my son who is at the University of Iceland.