Zermelo

Congratulations on M79, it's one of a handful of Messiers that have eluded me so far. You really need a decent southern horizon at these latitudes.

I think it's also true that there are some very decent zooms out there. I don't have the one you mention, but I do have four others, and they can all give my fixed EPs a run for their money.

It was the same for Gustav Holst. Removing Pluto from the list has had the accidental benefit of re-aligning with his suite. Was it this one?

15mm and 18mm in this range are very decent.

I'm no imager, but FYI this cheap one is at LIDL now: https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/crelando-led-light-pad/p10010516

Hello, What is your limit for "budget"?

Or bisect any two chords

First light for the 10" Dob was a damp squib. Stars impossible to focus, distinct triangular shapes showing, I suspect pinched optics. I'll have the cell off tomorrow and see how tight the clamps are.

Hello, You could have a look at some of the cheaper suggestions in this thread, especially the Starguiders if you can stretch to a little more.

... the thigh bone's connected to the hip bone, the hip bone's connected to the back bone...

And some second hand:

Ah thanks, I misremembered from a previous thread https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/402719-starter-equipment-advice/?do=findComment&comment=4315981 Also of interest: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/371786-mounting-skymax-127-mak-on-az-gti

My Skymax 127 OTA is 3.2kg. It is the version with collimation screws; I believe the non-collimatible version is a little lighter. Astro Essentials 9x50 RACI is 540g Telrad base and body 300g (I've added bits to mine) Revelation Astro 2" diagonal 530g (I've fitted a 2" visual back onto my Mak) Astrozap dew shield 165g Plus an eyepiece, say 300g for a biggish one which comes to just over 5kg I currently use this on my AZ-GTiX. If I mount it alone it doesn't turn very easily in Az, but adding 3kg or so on the other saddle makes it much smoother.

The plucky little 'copter has flown its last mission, but it's been another massive over-achiever for NASA: https://www.space.com/nasa-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-mission-ends

There's some discussion on page 2 of this recent thread. And more discussion here, and further links.

I got my 127 Skymax after my 150mm Newt, and have used it on two different goto mounts. I thought I would use the Mak less frequently, having double the focal length and corresponding smaller TFOV. In practice, it's been the other way around. The Skymax is around F/11.8, so it's not quite as specialist as others that are F15ish. The number of targets that it can't fit in are greatly outnumbered by those that it can. And, of course, it's particularly strong on planets and doubles. I've split several 0.9" pairs and seen the Cassini division and GRS. You may be aware that the Skymax, unlike some other 127s, loses a bit of light by not having an oversized mirror, so it's effectively around 119mm in terms of grasp. Though I've not yet seen anything in my Newt that I've failed to see in the Mak. It may be relevant to note that I'm in a Bortle4 area. As to what difference you'll notice compared with the 10" Dob - well, I've done the opposite and just got my 10", but no clear skies to use it yet, so I can't comment. Obviously I'm hoping to see more of the conditions are right. In UK skies, I'm expecting there will be clear nights where conditions are the limiting factor in any case. On Freedom Find, I've found it useful to have, in particular when I'm observing in the early hours when nights are shorter. I have some neighbours close by who sleep with windows open, so I push the scope close (guided by SkySafari) and use goto for the last bit - it's much quieter. At other times I just use goto, because it's a bit more accurate like that.

Assuming that you don't fit goto kit or transplant a Starsense, perhaps consider an inclinometer and setting circles.

Do you already have a red dot finder, RACI and adjustable seat? The dob won't be causing CA, so won't need correction. Anything you see might be coming from an eyepiece?

Welcome to SGL. You have a good starter scope, and there are no stupid questions here 😀

I may have missed it, John, but have you yet tried for the Pup with the Svbony planetary zoom? Light scatter was the main focus when I was comparing mine with other EPs, and I'm still undecided about how much was inherent and how much down to external factors.

I believe it's not that difficult to create this sort of geodata mashup these days, using services exposed on websites. Then there's a similar function built into SkySafari, and possibly other apps, that let's you share your observing session with others. I've not felt the need so far, and I imagine some won't want to share their locations, but it would be interesting to have a map showing in real time the locations where some active observing is taking place.

If you particularly want a comparable 10mm, you could get a Svbony SV190 10mm UFF (apparently measured as more like 10.5mm). They have the same 60 degree field as the Starguiders, they're sharp and have a flat field. The current Amazon price is just under £50, but it's about half that on Aliexpress for the next few days, if you're comfortable going there (that price may not include tax).

To close this off - and apologies for the slight diversion of the original thread - my Dob arrived today. The advertised price online was what I ended up paying, i.e. VAT was already included, postage was free, and I didn't need to pay any import duties. I've just checked eBay again, and the price is unchanged, but it's now showing as out of stock.

DHL delivered the Bresser 10" that I bought on sale: I'm glad I didn't go for a 12" ! This will be quite enough to handle. I've not used a Dob before, but I'm quite happy with the build and finish of this one, in the lounge at least. I'll be replacing the Bresser finder shoes with some Synta-type ones that I have already. I'll be using one of my RACIs instead of the supplied finder, and I need to decide whether to pair it with a red dot or fit a Telrad base. I already have a magnetic inclinometer, and I'll investigate some sort of printed setting circles. The Hexafoc focuser is decent enough, and will probably be sufficient, but I might swap in the fine focus kit from my Bresser frac.

Mine arrived today, very pleased with it. Thanks again to @GasGiant