ScouseSpaceCadet

Yes, I was tempted by a customer return Skymax 127 for £200, but decided to keep things small (and spend as little as possible hah). Although, adding in a dew shield, another eyepiece and L-bracket has eaten into the bargain...

One telescope just isn't enough... From RVO, a new unused customer return Skymax 102 for a third cheaper. Accompanied by a dew shield (Yes I know they're easy to make for buttons, but I couldn"t be bothered...).

It shows in a 9x50 finder as a round grey smudge. When I was using an 8" dob I usually started with a 1.25" 25mm Celestron Xcel or 2" 30mm Aero ED to resolve the grey smudge into a grey blob (lol). Then 15mm and so on.

Nice report. A good night. Have another go at M3. It's actually one of the easier targets later on in the night when it's higher. Start at Arcturus and star hop to it.

Have a go. It's an object I've tried to observe on a few occasions through the telescopes to no avail. This time it was a lucky find using the 10x50s.

Tonight was a frustrating couple of hours under a clear sky ruined by city light pollution and a neighbour's unnecessary, so bright they make you squint insecurity lights activating. I was hunkered down in the darkest corner of the garden with a Startravel 120 and AZGTI that wasn't playing ball, then swapping to an AZ5 mount, but the back was starting to ache and I was on the verge of looking for bricks to smash the laser beam lights! At around 00:50, giving up almost, I decided to go for the Olympus DPS-I 10x50s. Nearly horizontal in the garden chair scanning the sky, Melotte 111, an open cluster in Coma Berenices really caught my eye. Lovely and what's this smudge to the left. Keeping the binos firmly planted on this big smudge, it was obviously a galaxy! After several minutes it resolved into a distinct rectangular shape, tailing off at the tips. Looking it up, I'd found an object I haven't seen from my garden with a 120mm refractor, 130mm and 200mm reflectors. Lo and behold, NGC 4565 the Needle Galaxy! It made my night. I even pointed the 120 frac loaded with a 2" Aero ED 30mm right at the spot and couldn't see it. Binoculars rock!

All the time I owned a 130PS, it didn't require collimation. This system has been used for years in other 'starter' systems including the Star Discovery 150i goto scopes. The ABS and fixed mirror cell saves weight and is robust.

The AZ-GTI, or other similar goto systems need setting up and manual alignment before you start to observe. After that, they're still not 100% accurate, may miss the target a little, requiring you to find it, or at least it will only be on the periphery of the field of view through the eyepiece. If you want to find easy targets, you will be better off with a wide field telescope rather than the narrow field of a high power Maksutov, an alt azimuth manual mount and a book like Turn Left at Orion and/or an app like Sky Safari. I've both an AZ-GTI and alt az mount. The alt az is used more. A 150mm telescope on a Dobsonian mount will save you £100 and is easy to manage. A 200mm even better, and still a money saver but it's quite a bit heavier to move about. However if you are set on goto and the AZ GTI in particular, the 130ps would be the more versatile option and it will not strain the mount/tripod combo quite as much as a 127mm Maksutov. I've owned the 130ps and I really enjoyed using it.

Something I'll observe from my back garden if there's ever a catastrophic winter power cut; Horsehead Nebula. On November 5 in 2012 Horsehead Nebula The backlit wisps along the Horsehead Nebula's upper ridge are being illuminated by a young five-star system just off the top of this image, taken in infrared light. Harsh radiation from one of these bright stars is slowly evaporating the nebula.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az5-deluxe.html will knock the socks off an ST102 and Evostar 90. I had this scope and regret selling it. I still use the mount with other scopes and the tripod for binoculars. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html A lot of aperture for the money. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html Very cheap, leaving spare cash in your budget for a acessories. Easily stored and transported. The tube has an integral dovetail, so it can be fitted onto an AZ manual mount and tripod should you wish to in the future. The base can also be fitted to a tripod.

The simple answer is yes, a Heritage 130p will fit right onto an AZ-GTI. Bear in mind you're still observing in alt-az mode using the AZ-GTI. However, if you're comfortable with tech, there is an EQ flash upgrade available, a counter balance arm and weight can be attached. There's more expert people here than me who can explain how to bodge polar alignment. 😀 Also, for imaging especially, the aluminium tripod supplied with the AZ-GTI kit will be pushed to its limits. There is a stainless steel version available.

I've had both of those eyepieces, used in a Startravel 120 and Skyliner 200p. The Vixen definitely had an edge over the Aero ED, but then the Vixen also costs a lot more. Using the Vixen I did have trouble reaching focus with the ST120 and I didn't get on with the open style eyepiece so it was replaced with the Aero. The Aero has a twist up rubber cup eyepiece which I prefer.

Some lovely pics there. I popped out several times with th 10x50s last night for a look. Even phoned my dad, told him to go out with his 8x40s and look at Venus. He seemed impressed...

Not a bad result for Bortle 8. The light pollution here seems to have gotten worse here in the last twelve months. Not helped by cutting my two lylandii down. I'm kicking myself now. Should've left one up to at least partially block out an LED street light. DSO hunting has been pretty fruitless and frustrating this week, both with an ST120 and 8" dob. The first night out this week M81 & M82 where great through the ST120. Second night M3 and M53 smudges and no luck observing any other DSO. Third night using the Dob, no luck again, although M3 and M5 almost filled a 15mm BST eyepiece, they were still just smudges. It's frustrating when you just know the scope is pointing right at an object, but there's not even a glimmer of light coming from it. It seems anything over mag 7 is a waste of time even trying.

Keep a box of mansize tissues handy... 😢

The second half of the last season 1 episode was great imho; massive space fleets squaring up, Riker back in uniform, existential conversation with Data, annihilation diverted, the assembled crew flying off into the galaxy. Great! Looking forward to season 2.

Just remember to take them off before picking your nose...

Goto accuracy isn't always spot on, but the object will be in the fov. Tracking is great for what it is. During my last session, the mount kept Venus in view for 45 minutes without adjustment. I even went back into the house, lost connection and went back out to carry on where I left off. Sky Safari Pro works well enough also.

Pcdunx wins the PSP2020 Trooper award! Fair play m8 I had 7(!) layers on when I packed up and was still chilled to the bone. I'm glad your efforts were not in vain. Take care everyone amidst the apocalypse.

I hope Duncan's extra night's stay is worth it. It's the best night's observing I've had this year at home. If the sky is as clear at the Peaks, it will be amazing. He deserves it for braving the cold! The consolation for me is picking off M81 and M82 this evening through a Startravel 120 despite the light pollution. Both smudges in a Celestron X-Cel 25mm, then swapping to a BST 15mm, their shapes resolved very well, both just fitting into the fov. Fantastic! They just whet my appetite for more dark sky trips.

The video reflects my first experience on Friday night, observing under rural skies through 10x50 binoculars. Especially the nebulosity in the Pleiades not seen from home. So imho you've not over sold binocular use. Nice vid.

Crawling out of the tent at 9am Saturday Wookie (Paul I was expecting at least a beard! 😉) had gone. I hope your back's alright. The observing we did manage Friday night was hampered by a bitter wind and intermittent cloud until we were eventually clouded in and a nice warm sleeping bag beckoned. Most of my observing was done through Olympus 10x50 binoculars. The usual treats were a delight under the rural skies; The Double Cluster, Orion Nebula and Hyades, with not seen before nebulosity in Pleiades and extra detail seen in Orion through the Startravel 120. M51 through Nick's 8" newt was another Messier ticked off. Steve arrived late afternoon and we all hunkered down in Duncan's posh living room for a good chat, but with clouds showing no sign of shifting and a rubbish forecast, I bottled out starting to pack up at sunset, arriving home at about 9pm. I'm still cold. It was a pleasure meeting the chaps, Nick's a walking astro encyclopeadia! It's just a shame the weather didn't play ball.

Thanks chaps. Probably safer there than anywhere else. Get in car, drive to field three miles from anywhere, get out of car, stay in field for 3 days, get in car and come home. Hard to get more socially distant!

Afaik mid week it was confirmed as on. My car's loaded and ready to go.

Great! The 20 bottles of beer I just picked up from Lidl in preparation wasn't a waste of time. I will be solo. The other half's just finished chemo 3 weeks ago and had her last radiotherapy today, so for once is going to follow advice! Looking forward to seeing everyone.