AstroMuni

I have used Skeye which also can be used as a PUSH-TO device when strapped to the scope. Skysafari is also a good software but doesnt have push-to capabilities. Synscan Pro app is also available which shows you position of Polaris in polar scope reticle. If your budget allows it, you might wish to purchase Celestron Starsense.

The other consideration when viewing thro the window is - as the OTA is a Reflector, you will need to be at front end (ie sticking outside the window), if you know what I mean. If this were a Refractor you would be at the far end behind the OTA. If you are imaging then you are fine as its the camera which is there, but in practical situations there is sometimes a need for you to view through the eyepiece as well, at times.

This is not the ideal way to view as the warm currents can create eddys and cause the views to shimmer. So if you want to do astrophotography (AP) I would suggest you take your scope outside somewhere. The scopes you mention are good for AP - 130pds and 150pds. If you have a DSLR you could get started. I dont know how good the mount on your powerseeker is and if it has a Vixen style dovetail. If it has then the 127 OTA can be removed and replaced with the 130 OTA (as an example). And that would be your least expensive route.

Looks like quite a few 7 year olds are getting into astronomy this Christmas 🙂

Thats a good one. @Matthew Ansell If you feel thats too heavy / bulky, there is the 150P flextube https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-heritage-150p-flextube-dobsonian-telescope.html

Is there a particular reason to go for a telescope? Your son is quite young so thinking that a good pair of binoculars maybe easier for him to handle and manage on his own.

Thats how it all starts 🙂 and then the parent takes over the hobby. Not sure if its just our excuse as a parent to foist the 'interest' (read, own unfulfilled interest) onto our children. 😉 Good luck

Hi, I have the same scope. The setting circles are not the easiest to work with. I would suggest using an app such as Skeye to help guide you (it has PUSH-TO functionality), or use the good old way of star hopping. Use a low magnification eyepiece to start with to locate the object and then you can use higher magnifications (if you wish). First and foremost, have you aligned your finder to the scope? That was my first challenge, hence asking Good luck.

I would suggest you learn to use your existing scope and enjoy the experience. I have used the phone to capture pictures of the moon & larger planets using a non-driven mount, so it is feasible Good luck!

A lot of us who are primarily visual observers, use smartphones to capture pictures, but you are limited to what can be captured with this. The moon and bigger planets is certainly possible with this outfit but when it comes to DSOs it will be tricky. You could perhaps get pictures of things like Orion nebula but they wouldnt be as spectacular as ones taken with DSLRs. Having said that smartphones are evolving rapidly and I am sure in the near future the cameras will have all the features to be able to take better images.

That depends on the light pollution in your area. Here is a good place to start https://binocularsky.com/newsletter/BinoSkyNL.pdf It shows you what can be seen in binoculars so definitely visible thro a 6" ! As you are going to be viewing with your eyes, dont expect to see the lovely colours that you see in pictures 🙂 Good luck.

Hi, I am new to AP and wanted to start small. I am interested in capturing planets and the easy to view DSOs. I read that folk have used the ASI224mc with the SW130P, so wondering if it would work with the Celestron 130. I have a HQ5 Pro mount for better stability and tracking. For those unfamiliar with the Celestron 130 - its a newtonian with 650mm focal length and 130mm mirror (not parabolic, I know 🙂 ). Any help appreciated.

Hi @keora You can remove the erecting prism on the 20mm eyepiece. That should slightly improve the image quality.

My suggestion is get it all aligned with the Cheshire and then do a star test to check the airy disk pattern. Laser collimators can have their own alignment errors which need to be corrected before using them. Just out of interest, did you have the same problem before upgrading your focusser?

I was assuming you would do the adjustment of the secondary in daytime, hence my question about red filter 🙂

Is there a reason for the red filter?

Main differences are - EQ3 is manual, less payload capacity EQ5Pro is a Go-to with higher payload For AP, I would go with one that can track objects. So you have the option of adding a tracking motor on the EQ3 if it meets the payload capacity that you are planning to load it with. Gut feel says you are better off with the EQ5 series. Good luck.

Sorry missed that. Good luck with getting the reticle back in place and held flat. I had to use a pair of dividers from my kids compass box to hold it it place while I adjusted the screws to centre it. Mine has the tiny grub screws so harder to get hold of

Are you looking at this site? http://skywatcher.com/download/software/motor-control-firmware/ Does seem odd that yours is reporting a totally different version...

Great news. What did you do to fix it? That info would benefit others who maybe in similar situations.

I have the HEQ5-Pro and the Polarscope is similar. As others have said yours may not have the built-in light to illuminate the reticle, but otherwise the same. You should be able to see the reticle in daylight! Be careful when you rotate the polarscope eyepiece. If you overdo it and remove the eyepiece, the reticle is likely to fall out into your hands. As you bought the polarscope separately and attached it yourself, I would suggest you remove it from the scope and that way you can easily point it at bright lights to see the reticle, get it into focus etc. Once that is done you can install it back into the scope and then do the alignment. I had written an FAQ when I went through this journey myself and its here ... Good luck.

Hi, I have the same scope and the two eyepieces that come with it are not that great. I purchased a Barlow (the Baader 2.25x https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlow-eyepieces/baader-classic-q-225x-barlow.html) ) and a couple of eyepieces and that improved my viewing. A quick method to slightly improve the quality is remove the erecting prism in your 20mm eyepiece. 🙂 But even with the 10mm one that came with the scope you should be able to see the banding on Jupiter (albeit quite faint). I can see this from my garden in Bortle 6 skies with street lamps etc. If your collimation is off, the image may not be crisp but you should still be able to see the hazy details. Sometimes you have to keep staring at it for quite long before the details leap out, so have patience. Do the stars show up as dots rather than blobs? If so thats a good start and you can enjoy seeing DSOs while you sort out the eyepieces for observing planets. Suggest looking at the Double cluster in Perseus, Andromeda galaxy and the Globular cluster in Hercules to start with. Good luck

If you are looking for something to view objects that move around quickly like drones, helicopters - you are better off getting a pair of binoculars. Suggest something like a 50x10 (thats aperature of 50mm and magnification of 10x). You can get more powerful ones specially built for astronomical objects with 20x etc. but you would need a tripod to keep them steady. For the planets you need the higher magnification that is possible only with telescopes. Otherwise you wont get to see the details that you would expect. Good luck

And it allows you to add alignment stars to correct for any Polar alignment errors or the way in which your phone has been mounted on the scope. So your phone can be mounted with its back to the OTA as well.

The 1200pl is quite long as well, hence you will need to have a sturdy mount that wont shake too much with the wind.