Starwatcher2001

Welcome aboard SGL and welcome back to astronomy. Good to have you with us. I also took a 20+ break from astronomy for various reasons, but it's great to be back. All your old favourites are up there just waiting to be observed again. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself again, especially with that Dob.

I've got the Pentax and it's one of my favourites. In your dob it will give ~1.38 degrees 51x. In my view that's border line for a finder, unless you've got good skies and the RDF will get you close to your target.

Welcome aboard SGL Jese, and welcome back to astronomy. Good to have you with us.

Welcome aboard SGL Rob. Good to have you with us. Really nice drawings fella.

Welcome aboard SGL. Good to have you and your family with us. Wow, what a great intro and a great sounding family. I don't think I've met anyone who's exploded the solar system before, but I think you'll fit in quite nicely here! The skies in Hindman sound very nice and just what you want to see the best jewels that the universe has to offer. One could spend a lifetime observing the moon alone and never discover all its secrets. I'm sure you've realised that there's no such thing as a daft question on here, so if you need any help or advice, or just want to hang out and chat - fill your boots!

Welcome back Mike - from an unfamiliar face 🙂

Welcome aboard SGL Damien. Good to have you with us. Totally agree with everyone else, that it's a very sensible question to consider. I've got a 925 scope which takes around 15-20 minutes to get outside and set up. If the sky wasn't especially brilliant (most of the time), or I didn't have the time for a long session (school nights), I wouldn't get it out. I went out and bought a little 80mm frac on an alt-az mount as a "grab and go" telescope and it's seeing much more use, particularly lunar stuff during the summer. If storage and costs aren't a problem, maybe keep the dob for the times you might want to go deeper? The other good point about a smaller scope is that they are more transportable - dark sites, nature watching, looking out to sea, on holiday... Definitely get yourself a sky atlas of some kind and get yourself outside when you can and just learn your way around. It's fun in itself, but will pay big dividends when you're hunting for cool objects to observe.

Welcome aboard SGL Heater, and welcome to astronomy. Good to have you with us. Hope your telescope won't be long, but do be aware of the astronomers curse. Whenever you take delivery of any piece of astronomy kit, it's almost certain to be cloudy for a while afterwards. 🙂

Erect image diagonals can also be had in 90°. eg: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/diagonals/william-optics-125-90-degree-erecting-prism.html 90° is certainly better than 45° for astronomy.

I'm pure visual. Many years ago I got involved with making my own scope and motorising it with home brew electronics and stepper motors and the like. Although I enjoyed it and learned a lot, I realised I'd spent than much time on techie stuff that I'd not done any actual observing for a long time. I'd probably enjoy learning AP, but know it would take my eye off the ball again. I use goto and tracking mostly now, but there's nothing like nudging a dob to counteract the spin of our planet, to make you really feel connected to the universe.

Hi Kayle, did you manage to get your telescope sorted? If you didn't and still need a hand, don't hesitate to post again and we'll try to help you. No need to feel stressed, you're surrounded by friendly folk in here. Oh, and don't worry if you did something daft like leaving the cap on the end of the scope, we've all done something like that in the past - me several times. Cheers, Mark

Welcome aboard SGL Mr Blue Sky. Good to have you with us. I still have the little 60mm telescope I started out with, and had some cracking times with it and learned a lot. Have fun with your observing.

Welcome aboard SGL Lyndon. Good to have you with us. It's never too late to take an interest in what's up there. The moon never disappoints and there's so much more up there - clusters, galaxies, globulars, double stars, variable stars... oh, and planets too. Enjoy the site and feel free to ask any questions you may have. Lurking is welcome but it's more fun when you get involved. Cheers, Mark (Suzuki & Kawasaki).

Welcome aboard SGL and the wonderful world of astronomy. Good to have you with us.

That worked out well 🙂

I believe you have a stronger case if the light trespass is into a bedroom, where it could cause sleep problems. Is there any chance that that might be the situation? Edit: could a "mobile" light shield work? There's some threads on SGL where people have had success by temporarily hanging a strategically placed tarp from the washing line to create a dark zone.

Great advice so far. If you've got a particularly good astro image that you're proud of, put it in a nice frame for them, and maybe even sign it. If you've understand exactly what you're doing that might ease things.

I'm using the AZ5 with a C80ED and with the grub screw all the way out (effectively removed), the scope can't fall out of the dovetail laterally. It can slide along it's length, but not sideways - if that makes sense. Once the screw's fastened it's secure.

You can get away with quite a lot of obstruction as long as it's not in focus. One evening I was admiring the rings of Saturn when I realised it was now quite low and I was now looking through a privet hedge. 🙂 Sorry to hear of the injury Siouxsie.

The difference between horizon and zenith position obviously depends on the pivot point of the OTA. That might be minimised if you can keep the OTA low in the rings and possibly balance it with a weight. You might then be able to cover that distance with a chair with a good range of height adjustment. I got one of these recently and it's been superb with by frac and SCT. I can get further range by sitting upright to view near the horizon, or putting it further back for the zenith and leaning over. Both extremes are quite comfy even for my creaky back. What I like about the swivel type of stool is that you can put it close to the scope and climb on board by cocking your leg over, if you'll excuse the phrase! It's easy to swivel around to get to my table with maps and eyepiece case etc - neither of which I could do easily with a fixed legged chair. (Apparently I'll also be set if I want to take up tattooing). https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074FW96C1

It probably wouldn't work against the glare of the sun. In fact I'd be tempted to cover it up or not fit it, along with any RDF or Telrad type finders people may have. While it's pointing at the sun, the sun is also pointing at it. Admittedly such finders are not getting a magnified view of the sun but I do know that direct sunlight is bad news for any reticle (warning that came with my Telrad).

Yeah, I think the tubes are the same. It's just the mount and tripod that differ.

Blimey just like buses, two very similar answers come along at the same time.

This isn't the best time of year to go galaxy hunting as it only gets properly dark for a short period. I'm in a Bortel 7/8 and can see a few fuzzies, mostly in the winter. Try to look for the ones closer to the zenith as you'll be looking through less atmosphere. Good dark adaption is a must (blanket over your head and eyepiece really helps. You might feel daft, but it really works). Try gently tapping the eyepiece as the eye can often pick up movement better than static objects. Instead of looking directly at the object stare to one side and try to detect it in your peripheral vision. This is called "averted vision" and relies on the fact that the rods in your eye are better than the cones at night, but they are around the outer part of the retina rather than at the centre.

The evolution has Wifi built in, and also has a built in rechargable battery which makes setting up a lot easier. The evo also has a more sturdy mount - but they are both alt-az.