Orange Smartie

Unfortunately, heating or a dehumidifier would not be an option for me as I don't have a shed close enough to an electricity supply.

Thanks both. @fifeskies, you don't have an issue with moisture causing mildew or fungus? Pete

Hello, Who keeps their reflector telescope outside in a shed or outhouse? Do you encounter extra problems with insects in the tube, or is this not something to worry about? Pete

Thank you for taking the time to answer. I'm very lucky to live in an area without much light pollution, so in truth I probably need portability a lot less than many people. You have made an important point though - I'm not very good at finding stuff yet, so I might really struggle with a narrow field of view. I hadn't considered that.

I'm guessing the Mak is good for looking at double/multiple stars too? When I started out, I imagined that galaxies would be a favoured target, not factoring in the issue of moonlight spoiling everything for me.

I'm following this thread with interest, because although I'm a beginner and have only very recently acquired my first (well, second) telescope, it looks likely that I'll be able to expand my collection as some members of my family have said they'd like to buy me a "nice present" as a gesture after what has been a fairly testing year (guess it has for a lot of people). I know this has all been done to death elsewhere, but I was interested in opinions on say a Mak (could probably afford up to about 127) vs a larger Dobsonian than the one I currently have for when I can get a longer night's viewing in. I appreciate the limitations of Maks with wide field views, but I admit I'm attracted to them for their portability. I know it's not comparing apples to apples and all that, but any Mak 127 opinions would be interesting. Just curious really. Pete

Thanks, that's a sensible way to do it. I have recollimated using that method just now.

Hi all, Another collimation question here. My Heritage dob seems to require a bit of twiddling, which I suppose is unsurprising given the collapsible nature of the telescope. I haven't touched the secondary at all but I've moved the primary a bit to centre the dot I see through my collimation cap. My question is, is there a point at which the mirror will fall out if I unscrew the adjusters too far? I.e. what would happen if/when I reached the end of the thread? Pete

Before anyone points this out, Pegasus (or at least some of the square) was no longer in the sky! Must use planisphere next time!

I did manage to get out for a very short session last night after a week of heavy cloud in my area. With the bright moon, actually finding the guide stars to orientate me was a challenge - I couldn't even find Pegasus with confidence, even though I knew more or less where it should be! Added to that, a sharp wind shaking the telescope around made viewing less than ideal. For this reason I chose to stick to the most obvious things I could easily find, but I was delighted to take a long hard look at beta monocerotis - beautiful! My wife even braved the cold to take a look with me at Sigma Ori (another new favourite). I'm forecast clear skies for next Saturday, when hopefully I can work through some of the other new doubles suggested in this thread. Pete

At least I have a very portable scope, so I have the option to take it out at a moment's notice. Two other negatives - I have started to obsess about dirt and also to plan my next instrument - poor Mrs Smartie, I really don't know how she puts up with me.

Not fair! My forecast is showing red for the foreseeable. Of course it's sunny and clear NOW! 😖

The standard eyepieces are not all that great, which is what I was expecting. I bought myself a couple of BST starguiders and they are really nice - they have a bit that you screw out if you don't wear glasses, so that you can rest your eye directly on the eye cup - this works nicely for me as I tend to favour using the scope without specs, even though I'm a wearer. If you go here: https://astronomy.tools/ You can get an idea of how big your target will look based on the eyepiece you choose with the field of view calculator. So far I've got a 12mm and an 8mm eyepiece, which give me 63x and 94x magnification in my heritage 150p (750mm focal length). The eyepieces are about 50 quid each, with postage and came from first light optics and skies unlimited on ebay. I have a cheapo barlow 2x, but it's not great. May upgrade it at some point.

Hi. I've come back to astronomy after a long gap. Originally I bought a smallish (4.5inch) reflector on a very heavy equatorial mount. My new scope is a flextube 150p and I'm delighted with it. Yes, you do have to put it on something, but you could use an upturned bucket, table or whatever - I have a triangular table my son knocked up for me. It only weighs about 6 or 7kg, so it's dead easy to move outside when necessary and because the tube collapses, it doesn't need masses of space to store. I appreciate it's not for everyone, but I love mine. Plus, being a simple mount, it's very easy to point it at what you wish to look at, unlike the equatorial mount, which I found a bit of hassle. Pete

This is really nice, thank you. With such a full moon and not yet having made a lightshield for my telescope, this was the best direction to be looking tonight.

This looks good! Thank you.

Thanks for the heads up Zermelo and for the specific list of easy doubles, SSC. I've added those to my list.

Thank you both for your suggestions. I'll have a look at those next time I get a clear night. I'm using a 6 inch dob, which I guess is not the ideal telescope for using at very high magnification - I struggled to keep anything centered at 180x - but those two look like they won't need high magnifications anyway. And I will most definitely see if I can get a copy of the double star atlas.

I was really hoping to get some more DSOs ticked off tonight but unfortunately the moon was doing its best to spoil that for me. So after a quick look at the moon itself and the Orion nebulia I had a pop at some of the doubles that I've read about. I spent ages trying to see Almach - I had planned out a little diagram of where it was in relation to the square of Pegasus, and I thought I'd found it, but whatever mag I used it was still one star.... so I went back inside to warm up and look up on t'interweb what magnification should be necessary to split the two stars. Then it hit me that I'd drawn my diagram wrong and I was actually looking at Mirach. In fact it was possible to see two distinct stars of Almach at only 62x magnification, and very pretty they were too. Perhaps not as obviously coloured as I had expected, but maybe that was due to the very bright moonlight overwhelming everything. Back to Orion briefly, and I managed to see Rigel B as a double again. Very satisfying. I took a quick look at Castor and then, finally, Algieba made its appearance over some nearby trees. Nice to see this new one too, but now I've got to see more of Almach, preferably on a really dark night to show it at its best. Can anyone recommend any other nice beginner double targets? Especially ones with an obvious colour difference. I can really see how this becomes addictive. Pete

Hi. In case no one has already mentioned it, it's worth checking clearoutside.com (or getting the app) so that you can plan your viewing sessions. So far it seems very accurate information, at least since I've been checking it. Best of luck! Pete

Hi. Another beginner here! I can totally relate to the frustrations of not being able to find things! I have a red dot on my scope and I see the same thing - the target disappears when it's under the dot - I guess because the dot itself is brighter than the target. On mine, it's possible to dial down the red dot intensity, so that might be worth doing if you have a brightness control. Have you aligned your red dot to a terrestrial target in daylight (like a distant chimney pot or whatever, avoiding looking at the sun!!!)? If you do, at least you'll know that when the dot covers the target star, you're looking in the right direction. Also, maybe start with something easy but nice at low power, as John says - I had some great views of M42 last night and that's pretty easy to find. Pete

If it helps, it just took a little patience and close watching. The brighter star is so bright and the seeing was very turbulent, such that the main star was sort of boiling away continually. If I let the star drift across the FOV and didn't touch anything, every so often the atmosphere would be good enough just to see the tiny star lying close to its larger companion....and once I knew what I was looking at, it was much easier to see again.

Thanks for the tip, I will have closer look at M37 next time.

Hi Heather, Yes, I believe I'm doing it right - both lens types have an internal thread at the base, but the one in the old eyepieces is maybe 0.5mm smaller diameter so the filter simply doesn't grip in the BST thread. It's so long ago (like 25 years or more) that I bought them, that I really can't remember how they came, but as you suggest, may have been as a set. No matter, I'll get a new one to fit 1.25". And good idea about using the filter above rather than below the eyepiece. Pete

Hello everyone, I can't believe how exciting this is: I've just seen a very small, very bright light, millions of miles away and seen that it's right next to a much smaller (or dimmer) light! I've had such an amazing evening, I have to tell someone - mountains on the moon, the straight wall, an alpine valley, M42, M36/37/38, Rigel B, M41, M35, seeing Castor as a double, Andromeda and very faintly, M81 and M82. Sorry if this is cross-posted. I'm still buzzing. Pete