Gonariu

I have a C8 SE, I think the mount is compatible but the problem is another: while the SE mount is fine for the C6, with the C8 it is barely sufficient for visual use and when focusing the optics it vibrates a lot.

Yesterday I took this shot with a smartphone next to a small 80/400 achromat. The smartphone was held by hand.

Yes, it is!!!

Good team!!!

A 127 mm Maksutov could be the complement to a 10" Dobsonian as it is much more easily transportable. If the one on the Skywatcher is in fact a 119 mm one could see if the Maksutov on the Bresser 127/1900 has the same problem which however for the longer focal length (1900 mm compared to 1500 mm) it should be less good for deep-sky. Regarding achromatic refractors, I have an old Vixen 102/1000 (the 102-M) which holds up very well to an EQ5. As a grab and go telescope I use an old 80/400 achromatic (the Konus Vista-80) on a photographic tripod which can actually be put out and used immediately, I think other optics require at least half an hour to acclimatise.

Before purchasing a telescope, the first thing to do is observe with the naked eye to learn to recognize the constellations, the main stars and the planets, the second step (not obligatory) could be the purchase of binoculars, such as 10X50 (or a 7X50 if one is twenty years old); only then can you think about buying a telescope.

Wonderful tool and beautiful photographs! I also really like observing the sun (in white light) both because I can do it even on quite cold days when I don't dare put the telescope (and my nose) out at night. In winter with the sun quite low and before sunset I experienced good seeing and had some beautiful visions of our star with a small achromatic 80/400; I therefore think that it is best to always try even at your latitudes (I am at around 40 N), if anything by observing at local noon, it might be a good time.

I have the Celestron Upclose G2 10X50, bought about ten years ago, I payd it 69 euros and I liked it; I didn't understand whay they why they fell apart.

A question: can you collimate a Schmidt-Cassegrain with the laser collimator for a Newton?

Surely these small fully computerized telescopes are very beautiful. However, this must be said: given that they cost quite a bit, if I bought it it would be to go beyond beautiful photography and to do something that begins to be of a certain level. An interesting study was done by an amateur astronomer with one of these optics on the luminous variation of a variable star. Surely there are other fields where these telescopes would easily find application.

A few years ago I found this nice review of the Sky-Watcher achromatic (blue tube) written by an American of which I put the link: http://affordable-astronomy.atspace.com/startravel150/page1.htm

I read that deep-sky object photography is quite expensive in terms of equipment (I am a visualist), it would be better to start with the visual and see what interests you most, then later choose for an upgrade. All the tools recommended so far are very valid for beginners, in addition to the budget you should see how much space you have in the house, how much weight you are willing to carry, where you would observe from (in the center of a city it is a bit difficult to go beyond the moon and planets and a few deep-sky object among the brightest, it is different if one lives on the outskirts of a village or can move in the open countryside).

Venus is always beautiful to see, even with a small telescope, when I was a teenager I saw it well at twilight with an achromatic 60/700; even an 80/600 at X100 will certainly give a nice view. By obtaining a special full-aperture solar filter either made of glass or with a special film (mylar, astrosolar or glass; ATTENTION: never without it, under penalty of irreversible loss of the eye) with an 80/600 one can make some nice observations; on my achromatic 80/400 I use a full-aperture glass solar filter that I bought a few years ago at half the price, on the X50 I often draw the visible spots on the disc.

For the 2020 opposition with an achromatic 80/400 on Mars I saw something (Syrtis Maior, Hellas, the south polar cap), but it was still a "good" opposition, the planet had a size of 22.6" at the minimum distance. In the last opposition (December 2022), Mars was smaller (a good 17") and more difficult, the next one will be in January 2025 and will be even more unfavorable (the planet will have a size of 14" at the minimum distance Your telescope, having a longer focal length than my 80/400, is better corrected for chromatism and spherical aberration. Bear in mind that planetary observation is difficult and it takes some training to distinguish the details you see shown in some drawings (I won't mention photography because with today's sensors more details are recorded than visual observation), at first a planet appears as a small and colored sphere. Start practicing with easy objects like the Moon , Venus (in the morning), Jupiter and Saturn (visible in the evening) are the brightest messier objects (M42 and M45 are very beautiful and always convincing).

Both beautiful!

True, I am a physics teacher and I must say that with the students it is a constant war in the classroom due to the smartphone!

Comfort is definitely important, I always look for a suitable chair among those I have at home, I like watching standing up much less! As for objects for a "guest at the telescope" I would make the following classification: 1) Moon (first ever); 2) Saturn (for its ring that always elicits a "wow" of wonder), 3) The sun (by projection or with a special solar filter); 4) Jupiter (more for the Galilean satellites and less for the two equatorial bands); 5) the most conspicuous objects of the deep sky such as the Pleiades, the Hyades, M42 etc.) 6) some easy abseils (Albireo, Mizar, Castore etc.).

For me, Jupiter was a planet from which I got very little with few exceptions. In one of these, a couple of years ago, I diaphragmed the Konusuper 120 to 90 mm both due to a lateral chipping of the achromatic doublet and to reduce too many aberrations with the free aperture of 120 mm; I had seen a certain number of bands without problems and had made a drawing of them which I still have. On the contrary, looking at Mars in the opposition of 2022, I could see something even with the Konus Vista sent to 200X with an achromatic Barlow and mounted on a photographic tripod (it was a bit too inconvenient for tracking.....) . On a beautiful and cold night I looked at Jupiter three days ago with the Konusuper 120 always diaphragmed at 90 mm, I used a 6 mm Plossl and I could see, in addition to the two equatorial bands, also a temperate one to the south with some black condensation on it and on the northern equatorial band which seemed slightly irregular in its upper edge. I'm not using the Nexstar 8 SE both because of the bad seeing that often occurred last autumn and because I would have to make myself a lens hood with a black cloth inside to absorb the humidity which I haven't done yet (the hairdryer is a good solution if the correcting plate fogs up, putting in cold air?).

I have 17 eyepieces, the ones that I consider to be of some value are a 5 mm OR by Unitron, a 4 mm Vixen LV, a 12.5 mm OR Vixen, a 5 mm OR by Unitron and an old Vixen 8-24 zoom . What I use most is the zoom, very convenient and practical.

Nice shots! Did you use a smartphone or a planetary camera?

Dopo pranzo, ho avuto un po' di tempo per vedere il sole prima di un incontro on line per la scuola alle 15, poi ho portato in terrazza il mio acromatic 80/400 con un filtro solare a tutta apertura messo su un treppiede fotografico. Appena vedo il sole dico "WAW!!", ci sono un sacco di spot e volevo fare (come faccio sempre) uno sketch ma non c'è abbastanza tempo. Decido di fare uno scatto con il mio vecchio smartphone e, guardando la fotografia, rimango stupito dal gran numero di spot che c'erano, altre volte i risultati sono stati scarsi. Condivido con voi la fotografia.

Ok, thanks to alls.

Nice telescope! About a year ago I bought a used Bresser 60/900 with which I saw the Moon and Castor well. The kit included 5 eyepieces, a 90 star diagonal and a solar and lunar filter which both screw onto the eyepiece. Being an f/15 I thought that the solar filter had to be safe but I trusted it up to a certain point, perhaps now that the sun is at around -20 declination so it doesn't exceed 30 degrees above the horizon even here in Sardinia I could trust you......

In recent years I have bought a few too many telescopes, so I decided to say stop. If I spend more money it will be to buy accessories that I need and are worth spending on. I will try to resist the temptations when I see one......

A few years ago I solved the double-double ε Lyrae with an old 80/400 (the Konus Vista), at difficulty; putting a Barlow X2 in it also split it without problems. I had used an old mirror diagonal supplied with the Konusuper 120.