Mr Spock

It wasn't fun. Spending the evening in the cold with just a candle...

I remember when... back in the '70s when we had power cuts and there was zero light from anywhere, I had some incredible views of Orion. I remember three faint stars near Betelgeuse which I see in CdC listed as 6.8, 6.9 and 7.2. I was younger back then and was known for seeing faint stars through my scope. Not so now

Hi John, welcome to SGL That's a lovely image 👍

A low power opens up many star fields to observe. The wider you can get the more immersive the experience. What kind of budget do you have?

Hi Nicola, welcome to SGL The NEQ6 + 200P is a nice combination. Mounts are everything - there's nothing worse than the wobbles!

Hi, welcome to SGL I have a 120mm f8.3. They are excellent at low powers but bit of an unwieldy beast. An EQ6 is the minimum I would say. If you are after inexpensive low power views, how about this https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-ds-ota.html At £179 it comes with a (basic) 28mm 2" eyepiece giving x23 and a 2.4° field of view. It is also a capable imaging scope should you choose to venture down that route later.

Hi, welcome to SGL

As a general rule x1 per mm gives you the best balance between detail retrieval and contrast loss on an SCT. Any less and you miss detail, any more and contrast reduces. I'd increase that to x1.5 per mm for an apo refractor or Mak; both these types have better contrast than an SCT. That isn't to say you can't go higher on nights of excellent seeing, but, the detail/contrast relationship still applies.

My thoughts exactly.

Hi, welcome to SGL

Hi Darren, welcome to SGL

Hi, welcome to SGL

I fitted Bob's Knobs to my C9.25 and never looked back. It makes collimation so much easier. Get the scope close enough indoors. You can do that by looking down the corrector end from at least 2m away and making sure all the various rings you can see are concentric. Then go outside and do a star test. At this point make only small movements. The first time might take a while but it will be worth it.

Hi, welcome to SGL

I am Locutus of Borg. There are FOUR lights!

This thread is over three years old!

Hi Geoff, welcome to SGL

Same here. Other colour filters are quite useless to me. Mostly I prefer no filter.

Oi m8-e, I got me bd i on u 😜

It's best not to try and answer if you are unsure of the basics yourself. It could confuse people.

A quick snap from yesterday. The wind was so strong it was difficult to get sharp. Nikon D7200 & Nikon 55-300VR @ 165mm.

Hi, welcome to SGL

Hi Katie, welcome to SGL

Hi Mike, welcome to SGL

If you read previous articles on him you'll see he didn't believe in science either. He believed the science behind rocket propulsion was fake.