Chandra

As a user of the SVBony 3-8mm zoom, I join those who recommend it for planetary observation due to quality and comfort... although in my case I do not suffer from astigmatism but hyperopia, so I do not have your problem with eye relief... And yes, 10mm is a low Er if you must use the glasses, so you should be able to try it before you buy...

Barlow yes, Barlow no... It is difficult to make a recommendation without knowing what eyepieces you have, but a Barlow lens can be a good "trick" to extend the range of focal lengths without spending a lot on eyepieces... It has been speculated that you have 10 and 25mm eyepieces... We also do not know the focal ratio of your Dob, although we presume that it is the traditional f/6 or f/5.9. If this is true, a 2x Barlow will provide you with an adequate range of exit pupils for observing all types of objects. An inexpensive but decent Barlow Classic Q-2.25x from Baader will turn those same two eyepieces into a complete range of 6 different focal lengths, since it allows you to disassemble the lens cell to screw it into the barrel of each eyepiece as if it were a filter, also offering a factor of 1.3x. Forget, however, about 3x or 5x Barlow, which would be better suited for imaging applications. When it is recommended that the Barlow be quality, it is good advice. Any optics that bends light (objective, eyepiece, Barlow, etc.) better be of quality than not to avoid aberrations. But it would be useless to attach a Barlow Televue to entry-level eyepieces, for example, since you must consider that the optical performance of a system will be determined by the worst (or least good) of its components. So if your eyepieces are what came with your Dob's retail package, you shouldn't spend more than £50 on a Barlow.

Very welcome to the community. You'll tell us how things are going with your new "photo-scope" Dwarf II... Clear skies!

Welcome to the community. I agree that it is an excellent choice, a Newtonian is always a versatile scope, which will allow you, with the permission of the clouds, to observe DS and the Solar System with good resolution. Collimation is a matter of practice, although it is true that the first time can be overwhelming and even frustrating. But remember that to do visual it is not necessary for the alignment of the optics to be extremely precise, since an f/6 has a good margin of tolerance for collimation errors. Review the abundant information on the Internet about collimating a Newtonian to get an idea of the steps to follow, it is very important to be methodical in the procedure until you acquire the practice. One piece of advice I would give you is that before touching any screw you check the state of collimation in which your telescope arrives, it is possible that with luck it arrives checked and well collimated, or that, at most, you only have to adjust the alignment of the primary mirror with the secondary, which is perhaps the simplest part of the procedure. Another tip would be that for the first collimations you forget to use the laser collimator and only use the collimation cap and a chesire eyepiece (long or short, it doesn't matter). Later, when the steps of the procedure are mastered, the laser (as long as it is correctly collimated) will be useful to make small quick adjustments to the collimation. Regarding the range of eyepieces, this would be my recommendation: A 32mm for extensive DSO in dark skies. A 24-25 mm for open clusters. If it is wide angle (72º) it will give you practically the same FOV as the 32 but with more magnification, so you could do without it. A 16mm for galaxies. A 12mm that can be useful in some galaxies and globular clusters. A 7-8mm for globular (also valid with planetary). A 6mm for Moon and planets. A 4 mm for detailed observation of the Moon and planets when seeing is good. Of course, a single Barlow lens can save you from purchasing certain eyepieces. Enjoy your telescope and the clear skies!

I have found myself in a situation similar to yours. After almost three years since my return to the hobby, I am still assimilating the large number of changes that have occurred since the 80s in amateur astronomy... But hey, what is done with passion is always worth it... Welcome!

You are a lucky person. In my opinion, a Taka cannot look bad or bother anywhere...😏

I see that you arrive with a certain level of experience and excellent instruments. My warmest welcome!

I think most spouses don't find it convincing as a decorative item... so they force you to decide between two horrible alternatives, take it down and store it, or sell it 😟

You come to the right place to talk (or rather, write) and learn about astronomy... I really like the concept of "in the middle of nowhere", a bit of the feeling of being in the cosmic void. Good luck and enjoy those privileged skies (at least for those of us who have to settle for Bortle 7-8).

Welcome Chris!! The Moon is one of those objects that you will never leave because it is practically inexhaustible... and because it is one of the few that is unlikely to generate any frustration in you, on the contrary, it is always very grateful... For that reason you always come back to the Moon. For observation I use the detailed explanatory Virtual Moon Atlas, version 8 has recently been released, and it is free software. https://www.ap-i.net/avl/fr/start

I've been checking the thread. Despite the difficulties, some excellent images were obtained. From my location it could be viewed without problems. Thanks for sharing the link!

Congratulations to all the photographers!! Many of you, facing and overcoming meteo handicaps!! That is really a commendable attitude... The images seem excellent to me, even more so considering the circumstances in some cases... It seems that the "bite" was somewhat greater the further south, judging by the photo taken from Fuerteventura, latitude 28º... 👏👏👏

It seems that no one paid much attention to the slight partial eclipse of the Moon that occurred on Saturday night... The shadow of the Earth "ate" a portion of the S-SW of our satellite... The best thing about the phenomenon is that it did not happened at odd hours... Already in the early morning, the apparent approach between the Moon and Jupiter produced a beautiful conjunction that must have gone as unnoticed or more by most mortals than the eclipse a few hours before, except for night owl photographers like my brother-in-law from Paris (I share a photo he sent me)... So, what happened this Saturday was a kind of Saturday night astronomical fever 🕺💃

Welcome to this school of shared and fun learning... Let's show with our presence that the south also exists 😁

Reading this thread is quite depressing... I add to the frustration of all of you although not for the same circumstances... For those who are retired I would recommend coming to the south for a season every year, if you can afford it... Around here we long to see the clouds, including amateur observers, the rains are so scarce and the skies so clear day after day for months, that the authorities have had to begin to implement restrictions on water consumption. So that doing observational astronomy in the south is somewhat easier than in your lands... However, in my particular case, I am still more than 10 years away from my (supposed) retirement (unless the government in power decides to change the rules of the game and it be no longer possible to even retire for me), and I feel included in your group of frustrated observers due to the circumstances of my work, which is precisely largely nocturnal. With only one day of rest per week and sometimes not even that to try to get a few more coins from the company, I have much less time than I would like to watch the sky. In the end, and if I get the "okay" from my long-suffering wife, I end up using that extra money to buy some new accessory that I will probably take a while to use, becoming, like most of you, a frustrated somewhat compulsive collector of gadgets... Of course, the afternoons winter with mild temperatures and early sunsets are appreciated to take the gear out and do some real astronomy...

You're in the right place for good advice on purchasing a good first piece of equipment. It is true that Dobsonian telescopes offer a better quality/price ratio. There are also defenders of refractors, despite their limited aberture (I would include myself among them). Or those who opt for compounds for their manageability, quality and aberture. However, know that this is not an easy decision. Take it easy, be patient and educate yourself, distinguish well what the qualities and weaknesses of the different optical designs and the different mount possibilities are, read or watch reviews from experienced observers with their equipments, decide what you like to observe the most and how you want to do it (visually or through images), and assess your own circumstances as an observer (quality of the sky, need to move, size of your usual observation place, ability to move heavy objects, etc.)... And I think that then you will be in the best position to start evaluating specific telescope options on websites or in specialized physical stores that fit your budget.

You are both welcome!! And congratulations for injecting new life into the forum and into this hobby... your son must be among the youngest members around here, although he may not even be aware of it... You are in the place where for every answer you find, 3 new questions are self-formulated, so yes, this is going uphill, but who realizes when you enjoy learning? You will see that amateur astronomy in the 90s was quite different from today. I come from being an observer in the 80s, surely a hobby very similar to what you experienced. Today is another world, so almost everything is to be discovered... So feel like your little boy!

An absolutely spectacular image!! The level of quality of the details is impressive... It must not be easy to reach the conditions for such a high resolution... Congratulations!

It is known that in the practice of amateur astronomy there are many 'myths' that sometimes end up becoming dogmas... The conclusion I always draw is that what matters is the optical and mechanical quality, if something is well built, with good materials, it will work, and usually that comes at a price...

In Spain it is called an inverted U siphon, although the U does not seem to me to be inverted... The chimney tool is generally called 'sargento' (sergeant), it comes from the French 'serre-joint' which means precisely 'clamp ', although it sounds similar to the French 'sergeant', and hence the name due to phonetic proximity, nothing to do with military rank. The Barlow operation is somewhat cryptic to me. I always hear that it is better to use a long Barlow tube than a short one, since these vignetting and also require a greater bending of the beams, with the aberration problems that this can entail. However, I also have the Q-Barlow and another 2" Svbony ED shorty (I think it's the same one that OSG builds and sells) and they both seem to do a good job with Baader Ortho and Plössl from the Q-Turret pack, and with the 28mm 2" SW LET and the 42mm 2" OSG SuperView. I don't know how much of a difference in visual quality there can be between short and long Barlows.

Thank you @Space Hopper, I know the canonical language here is English, but mine is not so good and I have to help myself with the translator. I posted by a mistake the original version of the text. Resolved!

The "Chinese lantern" hypothesis seems reliable. Precisely in these days the remains of another Chinese rocket fell, it is possible that this fireball corresponded to one of them. Finally, they have fortunately splashed down in the Indian Ocean, with no damage to report. The intense aerospace activity of China, which is building the Tiangong space station, has begun to worry the international community, precisely because such activity turns deaf to the recommendation to avoid or, at least, control the fall of space debris. It is evident that it is infinitely cheaper to let the remains of the rockets end up leaving orbit and dislodging uncontrollably to the earth's surface than to make them land, crash or splash down with remote control. It is assumed that the risks to human communities are practically negligible, considering that a huge part of the earth's surface is not inhabited. However, considering the increase in aerospace activity not only by China but also by other actors with aerospace interests such as Space X (Elon Musk), NASA, ESA, etc., there are studies that put the risk of an accident at the next ten years around 10%, an already very considerable percentage. When orbital debris are large they have considerable mass and do not always completely disintegrate on reentry, but only "chunk" further. In 2020, debris from a Chinese rocket fell on a village in the Ivory Coast, damaging some buildings. Fortunately, there were no personal injuries, but it was a warning of what can happen when space debris gets out of control. Later, in 2021, new fragments of one of those rockets fell in the Indian Ocean, near the Maldives. And a little over a month ago we saw the remains of another one crossing the sky of Spain until they were lost over the Mediterranean. The events described by @Butterflies2000 maybe are part of a new episode of free fall of this space junk. I think the time has come to update the international legislation in this regard... and what is more important, to try to reach an agreement that be respected.

Views from that tube might be perfectly comparable to any ED or even shorter focal length 4" APO, assuming the Bresser's lens grinding and polishing are accurate. With this focal ratio it must to have a quite flat observable field... although that also always depends on the level of correction of the EP used. The loss of maximum visual field due to the high focal ratio is not important for Moon or planets, so I agree with you in considering this tube or similar can be a good option for our companion. Although I think the focuser goes against it (the quality of the Hexafoc is not among the best R&P), an element that is crucial to achieve the greatest possible sharpness at medium and high magnification, to better perceive the finer details. I'm not saying it doesn't work, sure it's solvent in the price range we're talking about, but in the medium term it's likely that he should upgrade to a dual speed Crayford. The 6x30 finder is also very basic, but in any case it is true that for the Moon or planets that is not important. I have a Skytee and it would hold that tube perfectly, although due to its length it will make lever in planetary observation (normally it is done around 40-45º), so I recommend a good balance beforehand with the accessories that will to be used in the session. If the mount is only going to be used with one tube (the Skytee supports aligning two), he should counterbalance it at the other end, in order to don't flex the mechanics in azimuth. EQ-5 / CG-5 and equivalent / EXOS-2 type equatorial mounts will also support very well this suggested tube. A budget of €1,500 is even enough for a computerized one. Anyway, the option of a Mak I think is also very valid for the purpose of @Antoinfletcher , planetary and lunar are the speciality of this design, with contrast vision comparable to long AC and ED, but with the advantage of being much more manageable compact tubes, and they don't usually require as much maintenance as the newtonian or SC. They are somewhat expensive tubes, but grateful. https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/bresser-maksutov-telescope-mc-127-1900-mcx-messier-eq-az-goto/p,62754 https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/bresser-maksutov-telescope-mc-127-1900-messier-exos-2-goto/p,54307 Maybe @Antoinfletcher doesn't contemplate a versatile Newton design, but at the moment FLO has an interesting offer of a Celestron N8" on a solid AVX computerized EQ mount (CG-5), a tube with excellent performance in all fields of observation, but, yes, with the typical "snags" of any newtonian... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/offers/offer_celestron-c8-n-newtonian-vx-goto_271928.html#about_this_product

😅 The music of Renaissance might have been a better soundtrack for Lovelock than for Jung... I meant that Jung seemed like a character from the Italian Renaissance because of his large list of interests, infinite curiosity and his great later influence in the Occident.. And don't be ironic, who knows if in his spare time (if he had any) he might have played drums in a jazz band...

Wow! Jung... A true renaissance man... 🧐