BaldyMan

Yo! Welcome!

You can always squeeze in another eyepiece, maybe some filters

On 15/02/2021 at 12:28, Danjc said:

I reckon you’re spot on there, maybe a slight drop but not back to what it originally was. 

Happened with graphics cards during the crypto boom. You couldn't get hold of a card for love nor money and prices sky rocketed. What happened is that consumers just got accustomed to the new prices and that was that. The performance increase that you expected for say £250 was now costing close to £400 and prices have stayed there since.

Look at smart phones too. A "flagship" iPhone or Samsung used to cost in the region of £600-700 for the latest model, now customers are expecting to pay over £1,000 for the latest handset (obviously rolled up into contract payments)

Once consumers accept a new price point then that price tends not shift.

19 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

Available here, if you choose to support our sponsor rather than a certain perpetrator of night-sky destruction.

Also a great website.

I wonder what we will fill up with junk first. The oceans or the atmosphere? 

21 hours ago, mikemarotta said:

That's pretty good work for the smaller aperture. What is the telescope and what are its specifications? I did think that my 102mm would be enough, but apparently, I need to spend more time actually looking and less time recording.

 

It's an 80mm refractor, 900mm in length. It's a tough ask to get anything to split but I've definitely got them on a clear night.

There has been a triple whammy of effects all caused by covid really.

1. Furlough has meant people stuck at home have decided to take up astronomy as a hobby. This is great for the hobby itself and hopefully they all stick around but it means all stock in the country has now been gobbled up.

2. Production plants in China are lagging behind due to covid lockdown. There is a lot of demand to meet and this is affecting every sector. 

3. The shipping container crisis. Since Western Europe still hasn't got to grips with the virus there are no products to ship to China. That means containers that should should returning to China with our products for their market (think Brompton bicycles and stuff like that) are all laying empty in our ports as nobody is willing to send empty containers halfway around the world.

So to summarise. Demand has rocketed up, supply cannot meet demand and costs have increased to get the products to market. It's a perfect storm and it is affecting all kinds of sectors.

3 minutes ago, Goldenmole said:

Really? That's incredible! I wonder how young you have to be?

There's a guy on YouTube called Astrobiscuit. He took his scope to a farm and the farmer's daughter claimed she could see it in purple too. I don't know how it works, I think it's something to do with the rods and cones in your eyes deteriorating with age.

My wife has glaucoma so astronomy is a no go for her, she got diagnosed at 27 which is really rare for her age at the time, but if/when I get a chance to speak to her eye specialist I'll ask the question.

3 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

@Goldenmole.  Your telescope has an erecting prism diagonal, the prism will show a bar across the middle when used at night, if you plan to replace it make sure you get a standard 90 degree star diagonal.     🙂

Wait. So the strange black bar I see is due to it being an erecting prism and not a manufacturing issue? I only notice it when I focus in a certain amount.

I'll be sure to buy a star diagonal then for night time observations 

7 hours ago, Kon said:

I cannot comment on your telescope, but my 25mm EP is fine like you said. My 10mm is also rubbish. I have got a 8mm and 15mm BST (if you are on budget) and they are performing excellent on planets and DSOs. It is probably better take your time, and feel free to ask questions here. Everybody is super helpful , try include a budget for any upgrades, you can do it 'cheaply' with some advise.

I bought it in the knowledge that I would likely need to upgrade the eye pieces pretty quickly. I'll be keeping the 25mm to attach to one of those mobile phone camera mounts. Having read and watched reviews of this particular telescope I do believe it is simply down to the manufacturing process and the cheap components bundled in whilst the actual scope and starsense kit is of reasonable quality.

I have arriving soon a SVBony zoom eyepiece. I had looked at the OVL, Celestron and Sky Watcher Zoom eyepieces but stock is very low everywhere so I took the plunge with a cheaper model.

Another thing I have noted is that the tripod is very short, I'm always having to kneel to view anything and that's not ideal on cold ground. I will be keep this scope to give to the children as it is light enough for them to handle and operate on their own. I'll be investing in an 8" dobsonian like the Bresser or Sky Watcher models. Wife thinks they're reasonably priced and has no concept of how big they are haha

On 08/02/2021 at 13:14, Kon said:

I second the Skyview or Stellarium on your phone, makes finding targets a bit easy for beginners (like myself). As others said, Mars looks like a bright orange disk (in my 8" Dob). I could see some dark patches on it the other night when the atmosphere seemed a bit stable. Menkar is near by which has an orange colour to it and that would show as a sharp point of orange light. A few dimer orange stars are also close by. Worth trying to find Pleiades first and then move down to find Mars if you are unsure.

A red dot finder, Rigel or Telrad will also help you point the telescope in the right area. There a few discussions on this forum on how to align them.

I have the identical scope with the identical issue. I have used and not used the Starsense app. I can pinpoint Mars in the sky and have the same problem. The eyepieces and accessories are utter trash.

If you are using the 25mm eyepiece alone you can spot Plaedies and a few other open clusters quite easily, even punching through cloud to enjoy some clusters. But trying to magnify on to a planet or even use the 10mm and/or Barlow lens is an utter waste of time.

I have very mixed feelings about the scope. The app is great, when it works. You need very clear, dark sky for it to plate solve or you need to move slowly and star hop to help it out. You can't just view Orion and swing round for Polaris, it will just lose it's baring unless under very good sky.

The tripod is very lightweight and shakes in very mild gusts, it's also just too small and I believe designed for children. I have to kneel for everything I view through it. The only thing I can view standing is Sirius atm.

Eyepieces aren't plossl, not sure what they are but they're not fantastic. Will be saving the 25mm to use for attaching to a mobile phone mount. Everything else will get binned.

On 08/02/2021 at 08:24, Goldenmole said:

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well! I recently joined this forum for the express purpose of answering this question: Why does Mars look like a simple star through my telescope? I have a Starsense Explorer LT 80AZ refractor with a 10mm, 25mm and 2x Barlow lens, and my telescope has a max magnification of 189x! So why is it, on a pretty clear winters night, that the mighty Mars, the Red Planet , looks like a humble star. I love stars (who the hell doesn't) but i rather hoped to see a planet. What am i doing wrong? AM i doing something wrong or is my telescope inadequate (i doubt it though). I use the 10mm plus the Barlow, and still nothing. Is this just how Mars looks through a telescope like mine? Or maybe i'm not looking at Mars at all. Although, according to my research, the Red Planet currently resides in the constellation of Aries. Correct? Please. please answer my question as it is driving me up the wall. Plus, if anyone has the time, could someone recommend a good astronomy app, other than the starsense one, that you can just point at the sky? Thank you so much for reading this. Have a lovely day.

Hi, I have the identical telescope to you and am 100% sure I'm viewing Mars through it and seeing exactly the same as you.

My conclusion, the optics are trash. I've ordered a new zoom lens, for simplicity, and a new diagonal. My issue with the diagonal is that I can see some sort manufacturing moulding through it and I can see 3 lumps which I assume are screws when I tinker with the focuser.

I believe the scope itself is of reasonable quality but the eyepieces, Barlow lens and diagonal are little more than plastic toys and will be replacing the lot.

I've seen Mars as a rust coloured star through the scope and used all kind of aids to pinpoint it and still, as soon as I try to magnify and focus in I just lose it and can see a black bar down the middle of the eyepiece. It's definitely a manufacturing flaw that I believe is in the diagonal. Replace it immediately and I'd consider replacing all of the eyepieces and Barlow at some point too.

The thing was built to a price point and they bundled ultra budget accessories to accommodate the Starsense kit

On 11/02/2021 at 18:17, wulfrun said:

I can (just) discern the Orion nebula with the naked-eye and from a light-polluted backyard. Obviously I can't see any detail at all, naked-eye but I can see it looks like a fuzzy smudge with a bright centre. I'd agree you may not have been in the right place.

For your bugdet, if you really want one, you could get an 8" or so Dob. It'll be a beast, size-wise though, don't forget - compared to your refractor anyway.

I'm an utter newbie. I find the orion nebula with ease. If you look at Orion's belt currently in winter it is south facing and tilts diagonally down to the left. There are 3 small  stars just below it which make up "the sword". The centre of these 3 stars is the nebula and once you put any kind of scope on you should see it.

It took me a few seconds because you need your eyes to adjust but then it just pops out, a big grey smudge all around and you can usually see 2 or 3 stars in it actually. My 9yr old daughter insists she can see it in a pinky purple colour. I didn't believe her but she hasn't googled anything and apparently it's true that young kids can see it in colour

Managed to do Castor again tonight and get the older daughter out to have a go and separate her from her mobile phone. We got a chance to split Castor again tonight before clouds rolled in and taught her to find Polaris and Orion.

Still too much light pollution and I'll be round the neighbour's tomorrow to fix her nuisance floodlight once and for all. I'll even buy her a new one myself if needs be

I got a good look at Castor Aa and Ba on Wednesday night. I haven't the scope or experience to go for the 6 but will target it in the near future once I have some upgrades arrive.

At the moment I'm just looking to identify points in the sky. I can spot Castor and Pollux immediately, all of Orion, Taurus, Plaidies and then northward I can pinpoint Polaris via the big dipper and Cassiopeia.

Had a good first proper session  last night. I've had the scope out other nights but cloud cover has made it difficult. Actually got Starsense to align and guide to a few objects but light pollution seems to affect it a lot and I needed to star hop to help it along.

Got a good look at Plaedies and the Orion Nebula, my little girl actually claimed she could see it in colour saying it was purple not grey.

Light pollution made anything dimmer just impossible but I was able to see the beehive cluster and split Castor. So all in all a good first proper night I'd say

7 hours ago, Pixies said:

Hi,

There is a thread where members have been purchasing these scopes in order just to get hold of the Starsense adapters and (more importantly) the software key. The scope and mount may be a bit ropey, but the software is proper plate-solving tech and very much of value.

 

That's interesting to know. I have plans to get an 8" dobsonian eventually but that's dependant on whether we are moving house or not. If I do get a better scope I can cannibalise the old one and rig the mount up to a new one. The Celestron isn't terrible, its just not anywhere near as good as I'd anticipated but at least I know any purchases I make for eyepieces etc won't be wasted as they can be used on any scope.

Not the Celestron Starsense Explorer LT 80

I've just received one and intend to keep it but I've noted some glaring issues with it on the first night out.

1. The erect image diagonal has been made out of 2 pieces of plastic, when looking through it with the 10 mm eyepiece focused in you can see the join as a tiny black line through the centre. Looks like a faulty LCD display.

2. Biggest, daftest issue of them all. The phone bracket is attached to the top of the OTA, when you align your phone to the mirror it completely covers the red dot finder making it useless. If you remove the phone attachment you will need to recalibrate it again.

3. The tripod is made out of wafer thin metal. The slightest breeze will move it.

I'm going to perseve with the scope upgrading all the optics as I go as they'll be useful on any future scope and I'll keep this one for the kids to toy around with.

9 hours ago, Tiny Clanger said:

You may already have a good idea of what you hope to see, but even if so, this is a nice set of targets to consider in a couple of printable PDFs

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/skyatnight/moore-winter-marathon-guide-1-25.pdf

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/skyatnight/moore-winter-marathon-guide-26-50.pdf

the Moore Winter Marathon is an old document, but everything apart from the planet info (Jupiter is not in that part of the sky now) holds true still.

Thanks, thats a big help. I need to start collecting resources on what to go looking for at what time of year

2 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Confucius would no doubt have said something sage along the lines of   "Amateur astronomer with actual telescope at hand is  closer to the stars than amateur astronomer with am plans for expensive purchase at some time in the future."

The weather will clear, and you will be ready !

Heather

I already have Saturday and Sunday night pencilled in as my weather apps are saying it should be clear skies. Plus its a full moon this week. I might try to get out Thursday to observe it if a break in the clouds appears

Thanks everyone. My scope arrived today. Its the Celestron refractor with the mobile phone doohicky that points to the stars. It was the only thing I could lay my hands on due to massive stock shortages everywhere. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get it put yet due to bad weather

Hi all. I'm also new to astronomy and am still using what is effectively a toy until the arrival of my proper scope. I have downloaded the FLO Clear Skies app and also have downloaded Nightshift. Nightshift is a bit of a basic weather forecaster but will show you optimal viewing times based on your location and if you input your telescope specs it gives recommendations of what is available to view and what magnification will offer best performance.

Hi everybody how are you all. I'm so excited to get started in the world of astronomy after humming and hahing about of for months.

I have purchased for my kids (myself really) a Celestron Starsense Explorer LT80AZ from FLO. I had been actually waiting for the Sky Watcher Heritage 100p to come back in stock but there is nothing available anywhere so I couldn't resist and made the plunge.

I'm hoping that the scope will do a grand job for me and I'm sure I'll be getting hooked and buying all manner of upgrades to annoy the wife in future.