Red Top Miguel

Good Morning Everyone, I hope everyone is safe & well given the COVID-19 situation. I’ve just been reading about the new photos by the Hubble Space Telescope which have shown a 'remarkable new storm' raging across Jupiter and wondered if anyone apart of SGL with a larger/better telescope than what I use have managed to get a look at it? https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/hubble-captures-crisp-new-portrait-of-jupiters-storms/ Have a great day Mick

Good Morning and welcome, Not sure on your budget but have you considered this: 1. Sky-Watcher Explorer-130PS AZ5 Deluxe https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az5-deluxe.html It comes with an AZ5 Mount which is great for beginners. The primary mirror is non-collimateable as it’s fixed, I’ve had mine at least 6 months and I’ve not seen a change in that time. It’s a great all-rounder and an ideal grab & go telescope. I bought mine following advice from JohnInDerby who is part of this forum and vastly more experienced than me! Hope this helps Mick

Good Evening/Early Morning! So I’ve managed to finally get out and see Mars for the first time in months! The Red Haze was fantastic tonight, a bit more detail than previously however still no ice caps! I think this might of been the position of the moon but will wait and compare between now and October. I will admit though, the moon was glorious! The amount of detail tonight was amazing, been able to follow the terminator and watch the shadows around hills and craters was fantastic. Well that’s me knackered, on a rather negative note my two youngest will have me up in four hours so I best be off to bed! Goodnight and clear skies Mick

Good Evening, So I’m no expert but I’m so glad I started to build my eye piece collection separately. I now have a collection of 8 eye pieces from a varied of makes including BST, Vixen, Baader, GSO & Explore Scientific! Surprisingly my go to eye piece is the 30mm Vixen NPL which is actually the cheapest out of all my eye pieces however still very well made. My advice as a beginner would be to buy as you go, spend a little and see where that takes you. Don’t get me wrong I loved my first night out with my telescope (blew my mind), but my experience has only grown now that I’ve upgraded my eye pieces. Hope this helps from a fellow beginner Mick!

Hello and a very warm welcome too! Mick

Good Afternoon SGL, So I’m hoping to get out tonight and use my additional eye pieces and 2x Barlow which have just arrived from FLO. I have also just purchased these fine books for a total of £5. One in particular has peaked a lot of interest as it’s a very old, used first addition by Patrick Moore! Its full of so much useful information, which given its age is probably not published in newer books these days! I do love a bit of history. I just hope I can put it to good use like it’s previous owner Has! Clear Skies to you all! Mick

Good Evening SGL, The eye pieces are great even with the miss print. Only used them a few times since they arrived as the sky has been poor lately but would throughly recommend then for anybody looking for a great upgrade from the stock eye pieces supplied with a telescope. I’ve also had another delivery from FLO which included a Vixen NPL 30mm, Astro Essentials Variable Polarising Filter and a Explore Scientific 2x Barlow! Meaning my next night out is going to be superb! Mick

Good Evening Everyone, Thank you very much for your comments, it’s definitely reassured my thoughts about the eyepieces and the miss branding. The eyepieces themselves are great and a big step up from what I’ve been using previously! Thanks Mick

Good Afternoon SGL, So I’ve just ordered 3 new eye pieces, BST Star-Guider 8mm & 12mm and a Vixen NPL 30mm. My question is I’ve just noticed the 8mm BST is branded Astro-Essentials for some reason! Is this normal? Thanks Mick

Thanks John, As always great help!

Thank you Peter, Would the Sky-Watcher EQ6-R PRO Go-To be a good choice? Mick

Good Morning Everyone, So I’m currently looking at moving into imaging as I love the visual but rarely get to share my experiences with my family. Im about to retire from the Navy, I’m only 40 however my time of 22 years is up and that means full pension and payout some of which I would like to use for a good setup. The equipment I’m looking at is: 1. StellaMira 104mm ED2 Triplet APO 2. Rowan AZ100 Alt-Az Mount (with encoders & NEXUS DSC) 3. Berlebach Planet with Double Clamps 4. ZWO ASI 294MC-PRO My question to you all as the experts is, is this a good start or would you recommend something else? Thank you Mick

Good Evening and welcome Alan! welcome to SGL Mick

Also welcome to SGL Pybo! Sorry to hear about the early retirement, that bloody Covid is hitting all industries!

Good Evening All, So this is really the first night since my last update, tonight is clear but still quite bright, However I will still get out and see what I can find though not wasting that clear sky. Will post my finding tomorrow!

Hello and welcome to SGL! Mick

Hi Patrick, Welcome to SGL! Mick

Hi Again, If you are referring to the Dobsonian 200p/150p then compared to mine quite a lot. I will post the telescope links below: This is mine: 1.https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az5-deluxe.html The 200p Dobsonian 2.https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html The Dobsonian is a great telescope and many people swear by it and the only thing that put me off it was it’s a lot bigger than I wanted and not as portable “The best telescope is the one you use”! I listed a few things I thought about prior to buying: 1. Budget (including extra bits like eyepieces, filters & Barlow). 2. What do I want to use it for? (Planets, Moons, Deep Sky Objects). 3. Where am I going to use it (Home, Dark Sites, Camping/Holidays). It might be worth stating what you want using the points above and I’m sure someone in SGL will be able to point you in the right direction! Hope this helps! Mick

Hi again, 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻 This book is a must, I got mine for Father’s Day and it’s so informative! My telescope is a “Sky-Watcher Explorer 130PS AZ5 Deluxe”. I bought this one following advice from “JohnInDerby” it’s been great since I’ve bought it, so much so my wife has even started to come out at night with me! I’ve since added to my setup with some new eye pieces as the standard ones only get you so far (remember to factor that into your costs as some are cheap and some or not, something I’ve not told my wife 😱) I also recommend at least a moon filter or variable polarising moon filter, a lesson learnt following my first night out the moon was very bright. I only asked about the HMS as I’m Navy! It’s definitely worth cruising around the other forums as you will learn so much! Enjoy Mick

Good Evening HMS Furious, Im a newbie so can’t really advise, but I’m sure somebody vastly more experienced than me will be here shortly. This is a great forum for all things astronomy and more! With a name like that your not Navy/Ex Navy are you? Enjoy & Welcome Mick

Thank you very much Ricochet, I will amend my order to reflect the 5mm, 8mm, 12mm and 2x Barlow BST Star-guilder. Any newbies reading this, please ask before a buy the guys/ladies here are full of so much helpful information and possibly save you from wasting you’re money Thanks again Mick!

Good Morning All, So I thought I would post prior to buying that way I don’t waste my money and end up with something that isn’t useable. Also the advice and help here is fantastic. My telescope is “Sky-Watcher Explorer 130PS AZ5 Deluxe” and I’m looking to buy the following items: 1. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-2x-short-barlow-lens.html 2. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-8mm-ed-eyepiece.html 3. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-18mm-ed-eyepiece.html 4. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-25mm-ed-eyepiece.html 5. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/moon-neutral-density-filters/astro-essentials-variable-polarising-moon-filter.html So the question is, will these add to my viewing experience, improve on the supplied basic eyepieces (I kind of know that answer), and would you recommend anything else or different? My budget is somewhat limited (£200) however I would consider a bit more if it was a benefit! Thank You Mick

Hi Monty, Great scope shipmate, I’m a newbie too and only had a few clear nights/very early mornings (2am) since I bought my first scope. SGL is a great place for help, advice and friendly chit chat. Hope you get a clear night soon. Clear Skies 🤞🏻Mick

Good Morning, So I stayed up and managed to get an impressive look at the moon for about 5 minutes before the clouds came over! Jupiter and Saturn were fantastic as always and if I’m not mistaken I found Mars just above the moon (please correct me if I’m wrong as it was hard with quite a lot of cloud on the horizon). Good night everyone off to bed as doubt my two very young children will let me sleep in! Mick!

Hi Sam, The weather has been fairly poor here too, however I have just checked the clear skies app and can see I’ve got a clear window from midnight till about 3am so I guess it’s gonna be a late one for me! I’m excited with what is mentioned above as the window means I should be able to check out the moon, Jupiter and Saturn! Enjoy Mick