celestron8g8

http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/research/telescopes

A serious scope is the best you can afford without going broke or deep in debt , that will be used the most with the best view possible giving you best time in your life ! To me my all time dream that will never happen is a Celestron 14” SCT on a Go-To mount with the best EPs’ i could afford ! I have viewed through one at McDonalds Observatory in FtDavis Texas and it blew my mind seeing Saturn in full color just like the best images I’ve ever seen !

Excellent captures ! Absolutely no reason to be depressed over those !

You have that right to disagree , to each his own opinion . However had you been with me and my friend that night i think you also would have agreed between our two scopes , unless you were just partial to Meade . As i mentioned we were judging between our two scopes . You might also recall back in the early 2000’s there were lots of reviews concerning the new coating that Meade was adding to their scopes with an extra $200.00 cost . There were alot of discrepancies over whether their cost was justifiable or not . Some studies showed at that time that it was basically up to the buyer whether or not to pay the extra $200.00 ? Meanwhile Celestron continued at that time using their same coating as proven to be effective for them at the time . Meade even tried to sue Celestron over their coating challenge and Meade lost the law suit . Since then Celestron has continued to produce top notch optics without trying to copy any other manufacture . Now as i mentioned everyone has a right to their own opinion and reviews are done the same as well . What counts and makes the difference is reputation of the reviewer and there are thousands of reviews on the internet so the reader themselves has to make a decision based on reviews and personal experience . I’m not a pro reviewer and never claimed to be . I merely state what my opinion is with my personal equip and other friends equipment i have had experienced with . I just merely try to enjoy amateur astronomy best i can for what i can until I finally call it quits . Have a great day !

I have a 8” Celestron SCT . I had a friend who had the Meade 8” LX200 . We compared all night one night on all the milky way area . As far as optics my Celestron won . It had the clearest more crisp viewing . Meades are good but something about the optics are not as good as Celestrons . Honestly tho if all your going to do is view and never image i would choose a good refractor 4-6” on a good tripod . They give the best crisp image over an SCT . The best thing about a SCT is portability tho . Most easy to carry and setup other than a small refractor .

Very nice captures of two fine GC’s ! Those have been my favorite DSO. Thanks for sharing !

WOW , very nice capture !

Nice captures ! First I've seen of Neptune image like that . Well done !

Congratulations ! I've never attempted Pluto but I have attempted to find it in my C8 with 10mm and 2x barlow . Not an easy task just to observe . But it takes some time observing and if you can image it say next month to see if its' moved . You wont see evidence over night from what I have read about observing Pluto . Good luck and look forward to more updates on this !

For me it was adverted vision , time and patience , and being later at night and darkness . Living in town i think most ppl went to bed and turned off lights after midnight . But a proper EP is a big help to . I’ve not found alot of galaxies but my favorites were M65&66 . But i never found the one to make the Trio set NGC3628 . It was just too faint . This was using my Celestron C8 with a Celestron 32mm Plossi and sometimes a 2x barlow . But usually just the 32mm did best . Seldom but i did use a dark towel over my head . That’s what help me find M65&66 . But it is a learned technique the more you observe .

Is that scope a Newtonian ?

Yep lens flare for the most part depending what equipment and how you have it attached to your scope . But reguardless it’s internal reflection which somestimes can be caused by light leaking in through a loose connection . I’ve also known some Newts and Dobs that needed to be flocked to keep down internal reflection .

I won’t recommend brand names cause many others here can suggest name brands but i might mention sizes . That particular scope should handle high power pretty easy . I would suggest anything from 18mm and up with the use of a good 2x or more barlow . I have a Stellarvue AT1010 (80mm) i use at times with Celestron Ultimas that are discontinued now but i have 18mm, 10mm and 7.5mm used along with a 2x Ultima barlow which all give great views ! Can’t remember the eye relief size but they are very comfortable . I wear glasses but when scoping i take them off for best views . Good luck finding some good EPs’ , i know many here will suggest some very good brands and sizes . I might add i also use a Celestron 32mm Plossi with the 2x barlow and it gives great views also !

I have imaged Uranus in my 8" Celestron SCT @ PF back in November 2008 . Not imaged Neptune tho . But as mentioned don't expect a lot but it is very neat to look at .

I agree , add some eye-pieces to your collection and a good barlow whether it be 2x or higher . You should get some great views with higher mag.

I checked them out in PS and from what I could see didn't need any noise reduction . However on different computers show different things . But when noise reduction is done enlarge the image to 100% and no more then reduce noise . If you have several frames of each stacking will eliminate most or all noise to acceptable levels . But on these two frames I would leave alone with noise reduction . Too much will make it soft .

Still nice capture .

Very nice capture ! Thanks for sharing .

Ok , then just scratch all I said and ignore it and i'll just bow out of the conversation here . Don't mean to cause problems . I made those suggestions cause I use to do a lot of editing but I haven't messed with PI due to my preference . But I had trouble with some of my editing software and updating the graphic card driver was suggested and that fixed part of my problem . So as I said i'll bow out , have a great day !

I have basic knowledge , no college training or tech training . What I know is what I learned on my own or from techs updating me .

Graphic Cards are what runs the processing of your software . If your problem is taking too much time to process then you need a faster computer and that's not always ram to fix the problem . That's why for gaming computers they have a different graphic card to add speed to their games .

First check and see if there is an update for your driver for your graphics board. If not see how much a new graphic cards is compared to a new computer. Right now school starting back you could possibly pickup a new computer cheaper . Check with qvc.com and hsn.com . They been running alot of sales lately .

Watch this short video , gives good ideas .

Great capture ! Loved the video .

Very nice ! Thanks for sharing .