AstroNebulee

Hi ricochet Thankk you all sorted now and got it just about spot on now with only a slight offset and a sharper image now.

The secondary now I think I've got in centered as best I can in ficus tube, still could do with going yo the right a bit I think (towards the mirror but needs to undo the central screw)

Hi this question will of been asked before, I think I've collimated my astromaster 130eq well but as the secondary is offset a little on these models does my attached photo looking through my collimation cap look OK, I know the offset thing and doesn't look to far out, does this affect the view into my ep or can I move it closer to the centre by undoing the dreaded centre screw they say never to touch.

Hi John, I have collimated it with my laser collimation tool and checked the laser for collimation and is fine, I centre marked the primary correctly as astromaster 130eq wasn't centre marked, I've a Cheshire on order from flo just waiting on that to check collimation, the star collimation looks good aswell, I've read on the net that the secondary in the astromaster is slightly offset for a reason that escapes me, the top Jupiter and bottom Saturn were stacked and processed but middle Saturn was live view in the ep and venus, can't remember what combination of ep now

Hi John Yes I read this aswell, I will continue viewing the planets as much as I can and already with a photo taken and stacked of Jupiter with my webcam I can see the beginnings of the hrs, but when looking through the ep it's just very overexposed due to chronic abberation and low down, I have used a baader polarising filter aswell before a bit marmite I know

The focal length is 650mm so for 5mm= 130x or with x2 barlow =260x which is a very step push put plausible I think. And 8mm will be 81.5x so will go with the 5mm starguider.

Thanks Mike, I may try a couple of starguider eps first as much cheaper than a new scope, but I like the sound of 30% more light than my 130eq (just 20mm makes that much difference) I like my 130eq and a good scope will give it a chance with the starguiders. The astro essentials plossls are medium grade and affordable to have a few in the collection I guess and thought I'd go for these first before going for starguiders. The starguider are either in 8 or 5mm Mike do you suggest the 8mm as my first as cannot afford both

Hi Mike Thank you for your reply. The only thing about the 130eq is wanting to get more detail on the planets and moon, I have no issues with the mount per say, I have 4.7, 7.5, 10, 20 and 32mm astro essential plossl from flo a celestron 2x barlow and a 3x barlow on order so this may suffice, I know staguiders are highly recommended on here but we're out of my price range at the time. I was thinking how much difference a 150mm scope would be considering its not much bigger than a 130mm but if you say the difference is considerably better I'd think of the skywatcher explorer 150 as smaller in hugeness than the 200p

Hi This question will of been asked a bazillion times so here goes. I have an astromaster 130eq new style on a cg3 eq3 mount I've had it for 3 months now so still finding dso or planets to look at and plenty of life in the scope. But whenever I think of upgrading to another scope I'm looking for some help, I was looking at a skymaster explorer 200p Inc eq5vmount for £469, this is a beast of a size, I live in a first floor flat so this will probably be a bit cumbersome to lug up and down the stairs, I would love this scope but the size it a bit off putting, is there anything in this price range that's better than my 130eq that may be a bit smaller than the 200p explorer I'm open to refractors, maks etc, I realise these are costlier than newts and apperature is king, I like astrophotography but only using my smartphone or webcam to capture images so not worried about using a dslr on the scope. I have been looking on the sale sites for alternatives but require some great advice from the friendly people on here as they've guided mecvery well in the past. I know each scope has disadvantages and advantages.

Thank you Craig, that's cleared that one up for me, as I'm new to using my webcam on my scope just wanted clarification.

Yes the nexyz maybe a bit bulky and may not fit on your focuser properly as it's one that rotates rather than up and down focusing for your scope I think, is yours a skywatcher heritage and that put me off when I was thinking of the heritage

I use a celestron nexyz phone adapter a little pricey but let's you adjust on all 3 axis so much easier to centre And perfect for astrophotography with a smartphone but could be an issue with the focuser on your scope maybe, use a combination of pipp or autostakkert with registax to process images and polish off in photoshop but your are way better than mine on my astromaster 130eq

Thank you for your reply and help, I always thought if it was being filmed on higher definition then you get more detail but at least I know now, so if I was imaging the moon is use a higher Res because the moon is bigger

Hi Yet another question from me for advice. I have searched the forums before posting but couldn't see a difinitive answer. I have an astromaster 130eq and a svbony sv105 webcam when I was imaging Jupiter the other night I was wondering what resolution is best to use as it's a HD webcam I can get 1920x1080 but see a lot have used 640x480. I know Jupiter is low down at the moment and very soupy atmosphere to get through but I'll attach my image that I stack and processed, though I suspect I have pushed the limits of my set up at moment.

I have quite dark skies to one side of my flat which is good, thing is I don't drive either but within short walking distance of an ace spot

It's a fantastic photo I've not heard of the nexiimage camera.

That's amazing, the sv305 was out of my price range but that's a good photo

Yes cant wait for autumn when skies start getting darker earlier aswell so not up so late or early in morning, thank you for your advice ill go with the 32mm , i can only afford the astro essentials fro FLO at the moment but will upgrade slowly to Starguiders now i know which ep i use mostly.

Yes one heck of a smudge to think of what we are just seeing and how long its taken to get to our eyes today. I like your prediction on the time of collision being 1.5 billion years earlier, i wonder if anyone or anything will ever see it!!!

Yes I was reading about when it will collide something like 6 billion years I think, it was a fascinating and mind blowing experience to see that faint smudge knowing like you say it all the billions of stars there. Would you recommend a 26mm or 32mm ep for viewing I can't decide

Hi I finally managed to view my first dso last night, the M31 andromeda galaxy. I used my 7x50 binoculars at first to locate cassiopeia and turn left at orion, then using the bottom star in the 'w' to find mirach the followed up two stars and then saw it a dull grey patch, do switched to my astromaster 130eq with 20mm ep as the lowest I have, after a struggle got to where I should be as sky is still quite light for observation of dso's. I did barlow the 20mm to get closer, as I said still to light sky and street light was annoying, but I was blown away by viewing my first dso. I've been mainly concentrating on planetary and lunar observations since getting my telescope in May but this has given me more incentive to chase and find other dso's especially when the nights become darker and earlier in autumn and winter so will plump for a new lower ep thinking of a 25mmor 32mm one from flo to get better field of view to starhop easier. Sorry if I'm waffling on about such an it's easy dso to find but it's fascinating and a passion of astronomy that keeps on giving to such a new astronomer in me. Clear skies everyone

Agree here the iso and exposure look quite high just alter them a bit and should clear it up but Jupiter is low down so lots of atmospheric soup to get through

I think it's an invaluable forum, I know for one that wouldn't make some purchases or how to take images without the vast knowledge base here and always someone ready to advise and help you. All members are polite, friendly, informative and not condescending in anyway of inferior scopes or set ups compared to theirs, everyone is equal and share the same goal of enjoying astronomy and sharing our passion for everything astro. Keep up all you do here it's my one and only place I trust the views 100%

That's an amazing photo, what kit were you using. Yes it would of been quite soupy last night, things can only get better

Thank you Paul, when I was taking the video last night Jupiter just looked overexposed and I was getting frustrated that it looked rubbish, but with the use of pipp and registax with just altering the first wavelets setting and not photoshopped yet, I managed to get the bands to show through. I must of took 8 videos last night and this was the best. Probably just fluked it but at least sharpcap saved the settings in a file so can replicate and fine tune next time. Don't give up as I've taken many videos before and looked a mess. I've always wanted to see Jupiter's bands with one if my images. Clear skies (first clear sky I had for weeks last night)