Pixies

here you go. It's the Hyperflex: There is one in the offers section of the FLO website, for £61

For the Mak, an inexpensive 32mm Plossl EP will give you the widest field possible. You could get (will need) a better one for a wide view on the Newt. Mind you, the PDS is designed for AP, isn't it? I have the Baader IV zoom and love it (got it secondhand). However, there are cheaper/smaller ones around that get great reviews. A zoom and a widefield are good ways to start, I reckon.

And to strain the metaphor even further. An expert driver in a Mini can beat a learner in a Porche around a track. Observing is a skill to be learned and I've probably reached my 'P' plate stage. There are lots of good instructors on this forum.

Snap with the Altair. How do you find the Hyperion works with a F3.75 scope?

Can you send a pic?

Cool, thanks. I've seen it in the scope but not the bins. It's on the list, now.

After 2 weeks of unbroken clouds, a hint of 'orange' on Clear Outside led me to check the skies at midnight. It was lucky I did, as I found the clouds clearing from the south, with half the sky perfectly clear. It wasn't particularly cold either; I was outside in a hoodie, no coat required (although my wife always moans that I don't feel the cold, especially when I'm turnign the heating down). So I settled down in a deckchair to watch for some Geminids and took the bins out too. After a half-a-dozen bright meteors (in less than 10 minutes) I started to scan the sky for some familiar sights. I've only had a telescope since lockdown started, but binoculars for many years. However, what I've seen this year in the dob means I can observe things now with fresh eyes and look for things that I never realised I could see with binoculars before. To start with - the usual suspects. Andromeda, Double Cluster, Perseus moving group, Pleiades, Hyades, Great Orion Cluster, Behive (first time this season). However, I paid more attention to M42 now that I've seen in up close, and I'm sure I could see some nebulosity around the stars to the north of it. Is the Running Man nebula visible is binoculars (Bortle 5/6)? Also managed to catch a meteor in the binocular view of the Beehive cluster. The sky was fantastically transparent and Auriga was directly ahead, so I thought I would try and observe the clusters around there. And lo and behold I could! M35, M36, M37 and M38 - with the 'leaping minnow' pointing the way. Just round grey smudges, but perfectly distinct. All the time, I'm aware of the shooting stars around me, too. But I have an early start tomorrow, so couldn't stay out too long. Who knows when it'll be clear again! I'm desperate to see the conjunction over the next week or so. Fingers crossed.

FLO have the Heritage 150p showing for delivery in 7-10 days! Perhaps you could contact them and get them to confirm when they are expecting them to come in.

I believe it is normal. The Heritage150p is similar.

That's fine. Sometimes it's frosted, sometimes it's mirrored. It's just the rear face of the mirror. I assume it's working OK?

FLO are showing the Bresser 150 planetary dob as in stock in 7-10 days, and it shows up in their new 'In Stock Telescopes' section. It's a little bit over-budget, but worth consideration. However, you might need to confirm with FLO whether it can be delivered with Santa. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/bresser-messier-6-inch-planetary-dobsonian.html

Be aware that this is what's known as a 'Bird-Jones' design. The hint is that the tube is shorter than its focal length (1000mm) and it's called a catadioptric when it looks like a reflector. The primary mirror is spherical and there is a correcting lens built into the focuser, to fix the spherical aberration caused by the mirror shape. This isn't a problem in itself, but these starter' type scopes are built to a budget and the saving is in the quality of the optics. I have used one and it's ok - but that's about it. Another acquaintance has one and it's awful. Everything is distorted and it's very hard to collimate accurately. I'd say it's OK for a starter scope, but you will be limited in future upgrades (such as eyepieces) as you will be stuck with the correcting lens in the focuser - which is a bit like a cheap barlow lens.

Right - going to do the washing up

Every time they say 'Starship', I hear this in my head (unfortunately):

If it's anything like last night, you need to look out for a ring of condensation appearing around the rocket body, just above the bottom fins. Once that appears (from loading fuel), it's about 30-45 minutes to go.

I believe the flextube is heavier than the equivalent standard Skyliner, it's just the former packs up smaller. Do you know the Bortle rating of your local area? Mine is 6 (close to 5) and the 8" dob is fine for a lot of targets. Sure, faint DSOs will always be better at a dark site, but I can still see, Andromeda, Bodes's galaxies, Orion Nebula, even the Dumbbell nebula. It's great for the planets, too. And it's not that heavy, if you ask me. If you can keep it somewhere near the back door, it's a 5 minutes job to set up. Here's a good post about the slightly larger sized Bresser 10" (grab and go!): Of course, if you are in a 2nd floor flat, please ignore the above.

I'd go for the Bresser. The dings won't affect the view.

I can only see them if I stand on a table (using binoculars). I have a new (to me) tripod, so I might end up on the table with the Skymax 90 during the next few weeks. If there's a clear night near the conjunction, I might try finding a high point to the west of Edinburgh. Hopefully the tier3 rules (Scottish) have been downgraded by then.

The Orion Nebula is an obvious target and will be visible in your scope. You will need a dark sky to get the best of it though. There are some good open clusters in Auriga just now. M35, M36 and M37 will be nice.

Try "Awesome Astronomy", too.

Sounds like a tumbling satellite. I've seen a few - some with the naked eye. As for cold weather. I can recommend a podcast called "Actual Astronomy" - it's 2 Canadian chaps just chatting about visual astronomy (twice a week) and I find their descriptions about observing at -20degC makes me feel that I have less to complain about when there's a hint of a frost around! https://actualastronomy.podbean.com/

A bit rattley box arrived for me this morning, so I got a bit excited thinking I had forgotten about something I had ordered! A little disappointed it wasn't astro-related. But if I drink it all at once, I'm sure I'll order something I'll forget about by the next morning! (ps - not really disappointed)

The only way you can adjust it is along the axis of the arm holding it. I would expect that it will be central perpendicular to that - unless the arm has been bent. I mean - make sure this bit: is not twisted - ie. the top face of it is parallel with the plane of the end of the tube. It does sound like you have had issues with this. How is it fixed to the arm normally? Is it screwed in? Assuming the above is OK, a good way of doing this is to wind out the 3 adjusters and tighten the central screw, which will gradually bring the mirror back up the tube. Keep going until you have brought it all the way up and it is flush with the bit arrowed above. Then, bring it back down the tube by slackening the central screw and taking up the slack by tightening the 3 adjusters by equal amounts each time. The mirror will move back down the tube but remain parallel with the top bit. Keep going until it is centered under the focuser. yes - loosen the 3 adjusters, or slacken the central screw slightly. This open design makes it easy to see the orientation of the mirror. You are trying to rotate it so that it is 'facing' the focuser. The elliptical shape should be aligned so that the 'long' direction is in line with the focuser. It is shaped so that it appears as a circle in the focuser, when it is facing it like that. This all appears very complicated at first, but once you get your head around what you are trying to achieve, it should make sense. The fact that your secondary assembly could rotate on the arm is a problem that needs sorted though. Perhaps another heritage owner can comment?

Hi, You might want to have a smaller eye-hole. On a Cheshire or collimation cap, the hole is usually around 2mm in diameter. You really need to make sure your view is dead-centre of the focuser. Can I suggest you google "Astro Baby Collimation Guide", it'll really help. But I can see a few things that should help too. Before you start, you really need to make sure that the secondary assembly is central in the tube. Measure the distance from the middle of the centre screw to the outside of the tube in several directions, it should be the same distance in all directions. Also - which only applies to these types of secondary assemblies that have a single arm attaching them to the tube - make sure the outer surface is completely parallel with the outside edge of the tube end. I hope you understand what I mean - that it hasn't twisted around the rod. I can see that the secondary mirror holder is tilted away from the other part (with the screws). Here: and here: This has happened because you have tried to align with the primary, when the secondary was twisted. I would suggest that you try and get these 2 parts parallel right at the start. The 3 secondary adjuster bolts should all be at the same depth to start with, before you try to rotate the secondary to get it looking circular in the collimation cap view. Does that make sense? Drop me a PM if you want a hand

I think your secondary is rotated. It looks like the top of the secondary (in the picture) is rotated away from the focuser. You can see this in the reflection, too. Can you post a picture of the above view, rather than a video. Also, how big is the hole in the collimation cap?