wesdon1

Welcome to SGL Richard! I see you have a 130PDS ? I had one of those for my second telescope purchase, after first owning the Skywatcher 114/500 Newtonian Reflector. I had some amazing views of Planets and some brighter Nebulae with my 130PDS! and that was achieved in my Bortle 9+ Skies!! I now own my 3rd 'scope, a Skywatcher 200 ( 8 inch Aperure ) Dobsonian. The views are breath taking! Wes, Liverpool, UK.

I had exactly same issues last night with my 8 inch reflector! The brightness was insane and I tried all kinds to get the brightness down/details up! I don't own a ND filter but after Venus earlier in year, and now Mars, I'm definitely investing in some specialist filters! Stopping down the aperture with end cap will reduce glare but it also reduces resolution, so I wouldn't really recommend this a s a solution, as one member suggested. Best wishes and good seeing to all.

Yes i'll ask Moderator to move it to Planetary, Thanks. The view was/is indeed dreadful. No detail, just a blurry mess. Should be much better later in the year.

You descriptions of them are exact same as my experiences. After few responses i received so far, i'm 99% certain it's the seeing conditions combined with them both being too low at the moment. Thanks for your reply.

Hi all. Just wondering, has anyone else viewed Jupiter and Saturn recently in UK and had terribly blurry and distorted views of said Planets ? I have a big 8 inch Dob and i'm wondering is my collimation out, or is it awful seeing conditions causing my problems ? I viewed said planets through my 5.1 inch Newtonian reflector during last years best viewing times for said planets and the views were amazing. Now i do know that at the moment, said planets are relatively low on horizon, until later in year when they will climb significantly higher, but even when i viewed said planets low on horizon earlier in the year last year, i still managed decent views ? I'm at a loss to explain whats wrong tbh ?? So i would greatly appreciate anyone elses experiences recently, and whether they have noticed similar issues as mine ? Thanks. Wes, Liverpool, UK ( Bortle 8-9 ) Skywatcher Newtonian Reflector 130/900. Skywatcher Dobsonian Newtonian Reflector 200/1200. Skywatcher Newtonian Reflector 114/500. Skywatcher EQ5 Deluxe Mount. Skywatcher EQ2 Mount. Skywatcher EQ1 Mount. Various low end eyepieces. 2x and 5x Barlows. Infinite enthusiasm...

Amazing pics mate. I haven't the equipment to do Solar yet, but will do soon. Looks really intersteing. I currently do Night time viewing and plan to do imaging soon too. I love my big 8 inch dob,.

Hi all. Just wondering, is anyone else struggling to get good resolution/detail with Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in recent days ? I have a 8 inch Newt. and i am really struggling to resolve the aforementioned planets at the moment ? I was just wondering is anyone else having the same issues ? Last year i had amazing views of Planets with my 5.1 inch Newt. Reflector, but that was around middle to late in year when they were much higher up in sky. So i'm thinking is it just simply atmospheric blurring due to them being really low near horizon, or is there something else going on ? Like my 'scope being way out of collimation ? or something else i haven't thought of ? or is it just plain and simple bad seeing ? If it is the latter, will others please confirm they too are having very bad seeing with Planets at the moment please ? Thanks in advance for any replies. Wes, Liverpool, UK.

Hi, thanks for your comments! I was indeed like a kid at Christmas with the new dob! lol. i'll seek out M13 during next session thanks! Wes ( Bortle 8-9 )

Hi Phil. Thanks for the advice, i shall do that soon my friend! Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 8-9 )

Hi Baz! Thanks for your reply! I will take your excellent advice to improve further my viewing with the 8 inch dob! I also saw hints of blue and green in M42, but i have not yet tried to split E & F in the Trapexium, i shall give it a go too! I was sure i saw Uranus in the 8 inch, but Venus was very distracting! lol. I shall go at it again soon! I bettre hurry though! It's setting earlier and earlier every night now! Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 8-9 )

My goodness definitely do! I am so pleased with the difference in details, light gathering etc! You could even sell your 150/1200 to ease the financial hit of buying the 200/1200. Cheapest i've seen the 200/1200 Skywatcher dob is at Rother Valley Optics, for £289, as of 16/03/20. Maybe even buy used, just make sure it's optics are pristine. I've since seen Planet Mars, and i'm itching for Saturn and Jupiter to be higher in sky later in the year as they looked awesome through my smaller 4.5 and 5.1 Newtonians, so i absolutely cannot wait to see them with my new big 8 inch!

My goodness i had first light with my new 8 inch dob last night and it was awesome! I had previously been using a 5.1 inch Newtonian Reflector, and upgraded to a 8 inch Reflector. Anyway, i looked at M42 Orion Neb and it was lit up like a Christmas Tree!! I could even see some faint colours in the Nebulae!! I was blown away! Then i swung to Planet Venus and after dealing with the glare, i managed to resolve it to it's roughly 50% Phase!! Colours the lot!! I was so happy with the difference in details and resolution with 8 inch aperture instead of 5!! I can't recommend the 8 inch SkyWatcher 200/1200 highly enough!! What a Telescope!! I also saw a Globular Cluster, as well as countless stars, and even got a look at Planet Uranus right by Planet Venus!! Amazing considering we had an almost full Moon and in my awful Bortle 8 Skies!!?? Truly blown away and i CANNOT WAIT for Moon-Less nights and to see Planets Jupiter, Saturn, Mars...etc etc etc!! Wes, Liverpool, UK. ( Bortle 8 ) SkyWatcher 200/1200 Dob. SkyWatcher 130/900 Newt Reflector. SkyWatcher Newt. Reflector 114/500. SW 25mm/10mm/3.6mm EP's. SW 2x barlow Lense. Filters etc. Home designed and built Dobsonian Mount. SkyWatcher EQ5 Deluxe Mount. SkyWatcher EQ2 Mount. SkyWatcher EQ1 Mount. Infinite enthusiasm...

Thank You so much my friend!! I've been looking for some accurate weights for skywatcher EQ5 Head and Tripod!! Very very helpful even nearly 8 years after you posted this! lol Wes, Liverpool, UK.

Thanks so much peter. I am assuming then that i can stack just the lights and darks, with necessarily stacking bias and dark flats aswell, should i not want to ? ( Just to try simplify things ? ) My problems seem to start when i try stacking bias frames ? Thanks again for help Peter, i'll let you know how i get on sir. Wes.

Yes they;re all same camera, the guy who provided them is from an online site. Here's the link- http://www.astropix.com/html/i_astrop/practice_files.html The files are Zip compressed files, if that helps ? I'm thinking have i done something wrong to the files or do i need to change their format or something ? It's incredibly frustrating. Thank You Peter.

Please will someone help me!!! I'm losing the will to live!!! Basically i downloaded a load of Lights, Flats/Bias and Dark frames to practice stacking for when i start imaging myself. The problem i'm having is DSS keeps saying "The pictures are not compatible in length, width, number of pixels, etc etc etc" and won't let me stack said pics??? It's driving me mad!! Please does anyone have a solution please!?? Thanks in advance for any help.

yes i believe that would help. By reducing glare, i managed to see more detail/phase/

Thank You so much! You talk so much sense and wisdom! I will adopt your advice and let you know how i get on! And my goodness yes i will be extremely careful not to accidentally stray into sun light! Thats one area of this fine hobby i am actually really aware of, safety! Thanks again so much Waddensky, i greatly appreciate your help and advice! Wes.

Thanks for the info Waddensky. When we had a few hours clear weather recently, i was viewing Venus, but the brightness was simply overwhelming my 'scope/eyepieces, and i'm not sure why ? Admittedly, my eyepieces are bog standard SW 10, 25mm and a couple unbranded Plossl's, 3.4mm and 20mm respectively, so maybe my eyepieces simply aren't good enough ? It was my first ever time viewing Venus in my 15 Month Astronomy Journey ( though wanted Telescope for years ) so i was so disappointed when i couldn't get it to resolve/see phase(s) ? It's just so damn bright ! Which until then i always expected to be a great help cos i thought the brighter, the easier to see/resolve ? I suddenly feel as clueless as a first time newbie all over again lol. Wes. Skywatcher Newtonian Reflector 114/500. Skywatcher 130/900 Newt. Reflector. Skywatcher 200/1200 Dob mounted on Skywatcher EQ5.

Hi Knobby. You know i never even thought of doing that ?? I have done it with full Moons many a time but it never even crossed my mind to try with a Planet ? Thank You so much, i'll try that next time.

Hi all. Just wondering, anyone got any tips for seeing Venus without so much glare please ? I've tried different power eyepieces but the glare is stopping me see Phase ? My 130/900 Newt Reflector is well collimated. I'm wondering maybe a filter of some sort, but the few different coloured filters i have didn't help ? Any advice from more ecperienced members would be greatly appreciated ! ( By the way, if anyone has a device to Banish those damn Clouds, i'd be over the Moon ! (( Well, strictly speaking, UNDER the Moon ! But you get my point ! haha )) ). Thanks, Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 8 )

Just throwing this one out there. Anyone got any tips for both finding Uranus, but also "knowing" that you're actually looking at Uranus and not a star very close to it? Uranus and Neptune are my Achilles Heel at the minute! I consider myself "Semi - Newbie" lol. Been using 'scopes for over a year, and have Skywatcher 114/500 newt. reflector. Skywatcher 130/900 newt. reflector and ( you guessed it! ) Skywatcher 200/1200 Dob ( mounted to SW EQ5 Deluxe ). I'm just not ever sure that i'm actually looking at Uranus, even though i've star hopped my to "it ?". Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated! Wes, Liverpool, UK ( Bortle 8-9 Skies )

That's a good point actually! I assume the theory being that when it's barely visable to naked eye, you will get less glare and see more planetary detail when veiwing through telescope ? Intersteing? I shall bare this in mind for future! Thanks!

my goodness that dosen't surprise me at all! But is kinda funny when you think about it! lol

haha that's the spirit Marvin! To heck with all the faffing about! and why bother cutting a hole in the roof, why not just blast a hole out instead!?? Much more fun!! haha ( on a serious note, i honestly, sincerely have an amnazing time veiwing out that window of mine. I'm very very lucky in that it face due south, and i have roughly 160 degree angle of veiw from east to west.