Pixies

That was one well-lit village!

The North East, here. I was observing Mars last night with an 8" dob and 250x magnification. The seeing at times was very good, with fine details coming into 'focus'; a lot better than the previous attempts over the past few months. The local weather was still and damp, with some mist around to start with. Transparency was poor. I think this all helped to provide the good views. Tiny, sharp details would suddenly appear - at a fine level that I hadn't seen previously. Now - I am a newbie to all this, but I have been observing Mars at any opportunity these past weeks, and last night was completely different. The area around what I believe is Aurorae Sinus, was particularly good:

I use the Baader Neodymium filter, which helps. I also deliberately kill off my dark adaption, by putting the kitchen lights on. I had tried my ND moon filter, but that was to much. Mind you, I know what you mean and I think there's still scope to reduce the brightness a little bit more. I might see if a variable polarising filter helps too.

Thanks. There were brief periods of really fine detail.

Seeing was good. Transparency was poor but improved. Very still and damp. 8" Bresser dob. Could take up to 350x but most done at 227x Extended periods of clarity and good resolution. Could make out some fine detail. Disk is still obviously getting larger as we approach opposition.

Tonight's clear skies seemed to be threatened by some mist arriving at 10pm. I had to make a quick DIY dew shield in a proper Blue Peter fashion, as the air was so damp. But this was the first clear night in what seemed ages, so I didn't want to miss anything. Started with Albireo for a change. Then Epsilon Lyrae: I split it at 86x, so the seeing was good. After @IB20's report, I thought I'd try and find the Blue Snowball as I hadn't observed that since this spring. It was nice and bright and easy to see. Unlike M56 - this cluster was very faint; the southern light pollution from my garden made worse by the moisture in the air. So seeing was good but transparency wasn't. Checked M27 the Dumbbell nebula and it was pretty faint too. So - on to the main event. Shifted the dob to the bottom of the garden and set up for Mars. I was hoping that the still and damp air meant that the planetary seeing was going to be good, and it was. I could get up to x350 with some detail still clear, but that was pushing it a little too much. 227x was perfect and I settled down for an hour sketching. When I was happy, I had a quick scan around and had a peek at the Pleiades. Then remembered Neptune from the other report. Unfortunately it was obscured by tree branches and I didn't fancy moving the scope again. Next time I'll try and find it a little earlier. But Uranus was in the area, so I star-hopped from Menkar in Cetus and found it. This was the first time I have ever seen it - a pale blue/grey disk at 150x (little fist-pump moment). I am looking forward to the rude puns around the breakfast table tomorrow.

The only time I've seen one was during a 24 hour mountain bike race at Trentham Gardens, near Stoke. I was doing a nighttime lap and it ran alongside me for about 20m! I don't know who was more surprised.

Tonight the 2 apps have different forecasts: I'm hoping CO is correct.

It is on Android. Not sure if it's exclusively, though. You maccies have DarkSky, though - don't you? That was pulled from Android after Apple bought it.

I have started using 'NightShift' in conjunction with CO. They both give slightly different forecasts, so I'm trying to compare the 2. Nightshift's display is better than the CO app, I think. But I like the CO webpage display the most.

Oh, you will get used to that! Yep - filters help. There are a few suggestions and recommendations on here for different types. I use a Baader Neodymium filter, but one of the best ways to cut down the glare is to make sure your eyes aren't dark-adapted.

Hi Paul. Mars is coming up to opposition in a few weeks - and it's a good one too. You won't see it again like this for 15 years or so! I'm relatively new, too - but with a history of interest and general stargazing too, again like you. Normally I would suggest taking your time to get used to your scope and not rush out to buying anything. But perhaps now is not that time, considering the opportunity with Mars just now. I would imagine your eyepieces aren't great, especially with a fast scope like yours. They are 'Kelners' and are typical of the ranges you get with new scopes. I think you would really appreciate a modest upgrade in them, or at least the 10mm. Lots of advice in the observing forums about how best to observe Mars. It's not just a case of finding it and having a look. But the rewards are great and I've discovered something that I was originally not that interested in. My original interest was with DSOs. Another benefit is that Mars will be visible from London. You don't need dark skies to observe it, in fact some say it's a hinderance, as it's so bright. Anyway - sorry to witter on.

Try https://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBoot

At last. The old cardboard boxes are consigned to the recycling bin of history...

True. But it's not a fair comparison. For example, when doing some planetary viewing, you are swapping between high powered EPs to find the ideal magnification for the current viewing conditions. That can change quite quickly over a period of time too. Last night I was using the zoom to view Mars, but mainly at the short fl end. In fact, the seeing was so good, I used the Hyperion Zoom Barlow too. I got down to around 300x, the seeing was so calm. Had I been using my EPs, I would have been constantly swapping 8mm, 7mm, 6mm, 4mm orthos - and transferring the filter between them too. The zoom is much easier. Of course, once you have found a good power, and things are relatively stable, you can then start using a prime EP.

If you are using the Hyperion Zoom Barlow, it's a 1.25" filter, as the Barlow extends below the 2" barrel.

As another who came into the field from a few years of binocular viewing, you should have a good knowledge of the skies? Do you really want a GOTO mount? Fair enough if you've had enough of that and want to be taken to your targets. However, these scopes do allow you to follow a target as it passes through your field of view. It helps when trying to observe a planet, which requires higher magnification and so passes by more quickly. For a manual mount you have 2 ends of the spectrum: A dobsonian where all the money goes into the optics. You will be able to get a very large scope for your budget. To get the benefit, though, you will need darker skies. An EQ mount. Harder to set up, but even with manual tracking, is much easier as you will only have 1 slow-motion control to use to follow the object. In the middle is the AltAz type mount. A bit of both worlds. Having been in a similar position to you, I went for the biggest dob I could afford. I have no regrets, but when trying to observe Mars, do fancy trying an EQ mount to make it easier to just sit and observe with just the occasional twiddle, rather than nudging it along. Of course, if you decide for a mount and not a dob, you then have the decision to make about the type of scope you want!

Bear in mind that the star test will only work accurately if the star is central in the view. If the star is off-centre, the shadow you are seeing will not be concentric. I'd also suggest that the image is too far out of focus. You are seeing the shadow of the secondary (and vane), not the Airey disk and diffraction rings. What magnification are you using? It should be very high. https://garyseronik.com/no-tools-telescope-collimation/

I put the third in as the second is pretty hard to get unless you have very good seeing. Really - I was wanting to check that the OP's star-test wasn't just the out-of-focus image of the secondary. It appears to be, but the fact that this is oval is a good pointer that the secondary might be rotated and clipping the image of illuminated primary.

If you are wanting easy DSO to find manually. You can't get much easier than M57 (the Ring Nebula). It's small and bright, so easy to see (and image if you are into that sort of thing). Also - M13, the hercules Cluster. M81 and M82, Bode's Galaxy(ies) are a simple star-hop too:

The Explorer 200p is f5.

Yeah - it's the image of the secondary that reveals the offset (red). There are some pictures in the A-B guide that confuse matters too. In this one, it shows the vanes (blue arrows) as offset, too. But this is rarely the case with modern scopes

Yep - concentric is what you are looking for. A Cheshire makes this easier to get precise. It or a collimation cap will make sure your eye is centred in the focuser, too.

You can also make a simple collimation cap yourself. Lots of videos on youtube.

The secondary should still present a circular shape to the focuser, though. The oval will appear in the primary reflection as a silhouette . In the Astro-baby guide: