Raph-in-the-sky

4 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

# looks like a telescope rather than a dustbin (only joking! 😉)

Liking the look of a dob is definitely an acquired taste ... but mine looks beautiful (yes it is the standard issue 10'' SW but it's MINE!)

I don't know much about AP but this looks great!

I am yet to find M81/M82 in my light polluted sky. I'll give it another go soon (Yes, this is highly controvertial but I want to beleive we'll have some clear nights soon)

1 minute ago, F15Rules said:

- Looks great

- Tighter Stars/sharper images- important for example on tight doubles' separation

- no diffraction spikes

- Better contrast

- Easier to mount on a tracking mount (less important on an AZ mount)

- permanently collimated, very unlikely to ever need adjustment

- easier to look through (I know that is subjective, but I honestly believe that)😊

- Looks great (did I say that before?)🙃😁

Dave

 

It does look great... did you already say that?

Quick question: What are the advantages of this kind of scope? Is it better than a 10'' dob at anything besides transportability?

1 hour ago, RobH2020 said:

Thanks John. I've an F/8 150mm dobsonian - a Skywatcher Classic 150p. Yep it has a 2" focusser! 

I very recently got a used 32mm SW panaview (70° AFOV) for £50. In my f4.7 dob it's far from perfect edge to edge but it gives very pleasing wide field views. With your telescope it should be excellent.

52 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Hi JOC,

I also have an 8" dob and used a 5mm BST to achieve x240 - I have managed to locate the F star with this set up. As mentioned above it literally is the smallest spec. No joy with E yet but I am hoping with the right conditions it will be possible.

In another thread we have been speaking about eye pieces for splitting stars and I am considering the SW 4mm planetary eye piece to achieve x300 in my 8" - However this might not necessarily be suitable to spot the E  star as it could be a big to much power.

Baz

I have the SW 4 mm planetary and a SW 250 px... For the last 10 months (ever since I had that scope), I've never had a night that was clear enough to get a good resultwith these together.

Yay no more neck breaking!

Thank you @MimasDeathStar

17 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Pick’n’pluck foam. 🙂

Where did you get it?

3 minutes ago, Stardust3 said:

Hi again

Just looking at eyepieces.  There are so many to choose from, would this one be a good choice or are the skywatcher ones not as good as other makes?  The one I'm looking at is a 7mm.  The spec is below.   I don't want to get the wrong one and find it doesn't work as I would like, which is to see the planets with as much magnification and detail as my scope will allow.  Thanks again everyone, you're all great for taking the time to help us newbies out.  

Specification

• UWA Planetary series eyepieces are ideal when high magnification is required for the observation of fine planetary and lunar detail.
• Based on a modified Plossl design, these fully multi coated eyepieces are constructed with five lens elements, and are characterised by their wide 58 degree field of view, low distortion, high contrast performance and comfortable operation.
• Each model features fold down / screw off rubber eyecups and a generous 16mm eye relief, making them suitable for spectacle wearers.
• They feature the security of rubber grips and the eyepiece barrels are threaded for standard 1.25 inch filters.

This has routhly the same specifications as the BSTs but are considered by many (especially on this forum) as inferior in terms of quality of views. I have a couple of these and a couple of BSTs and I would say go for BSTs first and if you can't find the right focal lenght go for the Skywatcher... Again I beleive that an 8mm should be close to your max magnification but still usable on most nights (the max power will only be usable on the best nights, I would leave this for later))

8 minutes ago, Stardust3 said:

Thanks again guys.  You've all been really helpful.  It would seem that I have a couple of choices, one to get a  6mm eyepiece or/and a 12mm and a 2x barlow to get me to my max usable magnification for viewing the planets.  As someone suggested BST starguider I may look at that.  I was looking at a 6ml plossl but as it's much less expensive around £24 at First Light Optics I wondered if it would be as good as a BST star guider 6mm?  Anyone have any experience of these with a Skymax MCT 127?

 

The plossl design for short focal lenght (ie. less than 10mm) have very short eyerelief which means that you will have to jam your eye very close to the lens making it uncomfortable to use.  The apparent field of view is about 50° with this design.

The BSTs have comfortable eyereleif and a 60° apparent field of view and are generally great value for money.

2 hours ago, Stardust3 said:

Thanks to John, Ricochet and John (Moderator).  I'll just buy a Barlow then as then it will take the 10mm down to 5mm.  I assume that a Barlow lens and a 5mm eyepiece would be the same as using a 2.5mm in terms of upper power limit of the telescope?  I know what a Barlow lens does but don't understand how it works, i.e. does it just magnify the image after it's hit the mirrors, thereby not affecting the upper power limit of the scope, like using a magnifying glass on an image or does it count towards the magnification re  upper power limit of the telescope?  A bit difficult to explain this concisely but hope the above is clear?

Again many thanks for taking the time to read and help with the question.

If I were you I would invest in a decent eyepiece before a barlow. If the 25mm you got with the scope could be considered half (or a quarter) decent the 10mm is absolute dog sh*t. I think that an 8mm BST Starguider would be great with your scope

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-8mm-ed-eyepiece.html

Just now, Stu said:

Typically I'm in Brussels for most of the week, always the way!!

Hey! 

I'm in Brussels too ... well I live here!

I'll probably take my dob out on Thursday. If you wanna join, just let me know!

On 02/02/2020 at 21:12, ukskies said:

Hi everyone,

I am currently scopeless and live in light polluted skies in town. I have been going around in circles trying to choose a scope that I will use regularly. I am thinking about a Takahashi refractor later in the year but funding is not in place yet and may take several months, meanwhile I thought of a second scope to compliment the refractor in the shape of a used reflector.

I'm considering purchasing a dob mainly for cost v aperture. I'm a bit daunted by the size and transportability of a larger dob and am considering a skywatcher collapsible one. This looks ideal as it will fit in the car so I can transport it to a dark sky location sometimes.

Does anyone on here have one that they use regularly and if so is it a good design or are there collimation problems with this design?

Also I would like to know what is the largest size one may consider as transportable? Finally I like the idea of tracking for higher power viewing of solar system objects and wonder what your thoughts are about the synscan.

Gary

I would say that up to 10'' is transportable, however I don't think collapsible makes it more transportable... It might be useful for storage though.

But if you don't want to delay the Tak for too long I would go with 8''. An 8'' dob is amazing value for money and views in a 10'' are only marginally better.

1 minute ago, Space_man said:

Hey everyone thank you very much for all the replys and help I will deffo check the BST's now 😁

Keep in mind that you probably wont need the whole range. For your scope, I would say 5mm (that pushes the power to the max for your scope, won't be usable on every night but when the weather plays ball wow!),8mm and 15mm + the Aero 35mm (or a Skywatcher Panaview 32mm).

You can always buy more later and if you re not in a hurry you should check the used market (astronomers tend to be very careful with their equipment).

Just to be sure that it's clear for you BST Starguiders 😉  

Otherwise you could have a look at the Skywatcher Planetaries (for different focal length than BSTs) and if you want something better you could have a look at the Explore scientific 82° range (although they are a bit above your budget... maybe for later or for a focal length you particularly enjoy)

9 minutes ago, Stu said:

Here you go!

https://stargazerslounge.com/calendar/4-celestial-events/

Feel free to add anything you think is worth watching out for. The calendar automatically creates a thread for discussion in the Celestial events forum as the event approaches, so it is actually best to create the event rather than a thread in the forum first.

This community is really great... endless amount of information and friendly people willing to give great advice. LOVE IT!

5 hours ago, Stu said:

Thanks Chris. I noted that one whilst perusing Skysafari a few weeks back. Would you mind creating an entry in the Celestial Events Calendar? Happy to do it if you are not sure how.

Wait... there is a Celestial Events Calendar on this site? Where can I find it?

5 hours ago, JamesF said:

I think that's sorted the weather forecast for 21/12/2020 then

I shall also put it in my diary, as I'd not want to miss not being able to see it.

James

Not seeing the transit of Mercury was AMAZING!

22 hours ago, Martin McCarthy said:

... but I am no astronomer...

Up to you to become one! For about £200, you could get a Skywatcher 130p + a few eyepieces which would give you great views of the planets and the moon + some bright deep sky objects whenever you want (as long as the weather plays ball 😢 )

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

13 hours ago, saac said:

At a simple level I would suspect that centripetal forces from the rotation of the matter in the "proto" galaxy flattens the material out similar to a pizza being spun by the pizza dude.  I bet it's more complicated than that though - good question though  

Jim 

All hail, the grand cosmic pizza dude

!

My advice is to look for golf clubs or model aircraft runways. They usually have nice flat, maintained land and are often quite remote.

15 hours ago, Louis D said:

Can you buy from Telescope House?  Their Revelation version is only £65.10.

Sadly they don't ship to Belgium 😢

$75 sounds pretty good. 

If I cannot find it used, I will get the Omegon copy which seems identical but cheaper (at least for me when shipping costs are taken into account).

https://www.astroshop.eu/flatteners-correctors-reducers/omegon-pro-koma-korrektor-fuer-astrograph/p,53821

Just received a vintage Lumicon OIII... I hope it will be a noticable improvement from my Omegon OIII. 

Thank you @Saganite

6 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Ideally, put a piece of vellum/tracing paper/thin copier paper across the focuser opening and focus on the moon.  This can be difficult if the magnification is low due to a short focal length.  Note the focuser tube position.  Next, insert each eyepiece and refocus to see if they require in-focus or out-focus relative to the native focus position that you just determined.  Note the direction and how much.

Alternatively, start with your 11mm Nagler T6 and focus on anything.  All of the T6s focus 1/4" (~6mm) below the shoulder.  Note where each eyepiece focuses relative to the T6 and add or subtract the 6mm offset appropriately to determine each offset from their own shoulder.  If one focuses 10mm further in, that would be 4mm above the shoulder (10-6=4), for instance.  On the other hand, the 12mm NT4 would be 19mm-6mm=13mm further out (what you would measure), thus 13+6=19mm below the shoulder.

It might sound like a stupid question but I ve got to ask at one point or anouther... What do you call the shoulder exactly? 🙂