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I have a C5 sct a ED80 and a RCT 8" f/8, I also use a canon 600da and a asi120 as a guide scope and I wish to photograph as many objects in the sky as my setup would allow. I've been doing 10-20 3min subs on each object and the weather has been kind enough recently so I have a fair bit now but I'm running out of the bigger ones. The obvious method is just cropping in processing but that would give less detail, a good example of the perfect size is crescent nebula. A bad example is basically anything that takes up less than 10% of the picture like the box galaxy cluster, eskimo nebula, fetus, snowball, cat's eye etc. I tried a 2x barlow on my rct but I need so many extension tubes that it would cause many problems, maybe a dedicated CCD camera will have a shorter fov?

Hi, my current telescope is Celestron ExploraScope 70AZ, thinking upgrade to skywatcher heritage 130P(came with 25mm ajd 10mm EP) , if i do, can i use the eyepiece (4mm) and x3 barlow from my old celestron on the 130P? One more question, i ordered a eyepiece camera Svbony SV105, i wonder what is magnification of this camera and how it work to change magnification.

Hello, I recently purchased my first telescope and camera, and now I want to make sure I have the correct Barlow or reducer to couple them together to achieve Nyquist sampling on the camera (or slight over-sampling). In case it’s important, I’m interested in planetary imaging—in theory that shouldn’t matter for this sampling question, but maybe there are other considerations to take into account. I used this calculator (https://astronomy.tools/calculators/ccd_suitability) and plugged in my info: Telescope: Celestron 8 SE Camera: ZWO ASI462MC Seeing: experimented with this one, but would like to get optics that allow for poor or very poor Binning: prefer 1x1 to preserve spatial resolution, but could consider higher if SNR is a problem I’ve seen on several forum posts that people often use a 2x Barlow to couple the two. However, according to this calculator, that will always lead to over-sampling. If anything, it says I should use no intermediate optics or even a reducer. So my questions are: Binning: Will I be able to see anything with 1x1 binning, or should I expect to need to bin to collect enough light? Is there some other consideration that’s more important here than achieving correct sampling? It seems like most others are over-sampling, and perhaps there’s a good reason for this. If so, is there another formula that would let me determine the appropriate optics to buy? Thanks in advance for any help!

Explore scientific firstlight 127mm x 1200mm achromat with basler aca1920-155um camera Identical processing, Identical amount of frames. +1 difference in gain setting on the triplet. triplet set focuser position to about 17mm. quadruplet set focuser position to about 32mm. The focal point of the quadruplet barlow is nearly double, which was not expected. I think i see finer surface detail on the triplet in the white mottle's, but sharper overall image detail on the quadruplet. This could be a moment of atmosphere affect of better seeing condition, or simply a fumble by my hand with focus on the triplet. 2" Celestron Luminos 2.5x Quadruplet FPS (avg.)=149 Shutter=6.629ms Gain=13 (36%) Gamma=140 1500 frames / -90% / stacked best 4% 1.25" Celestron Ultima SV 2x Triplet FPS (avg.)=149 Shutter=6.629ms Gain=14 (38%) Gamma=140 1500 frames / -90% / stacked best 4%

I recently bought a 6 inch reflector, 750mm focal length and i want to get a barlow lens to get better observations. I have 2 eyepieces, one 9mm and one 25mm. My question is should i go for a 2x barlow with the 9mm eyepiece(about 160x magnification) or 3x with the 9mm(about 250x magnification)? I know that a 6inch can handle about 300x. Is the 2x barlow enough or should i get a 3x?

Hi, I am pretty much new in Astronomy. Recently I have bought Meade Polaris 127mm telescope. The Barlow(2x) which Meade has provided is pretty basic. It gives pretty blurry view. I have read few blogs and get to know that for 127mm, 2x-3x magnification is more than enough. Now I’m confused in its specs(element in it). Wondering which one I choose, 2.5x Barlow 3 element or 2x Barlow with 2 element to get clear and crisp viewing. Ryaen

Greetings All! Very Short Explanation: I'm disabled (43) and desperately trying to find ways to still bond/spend time with my youngest son (13). My son expressed an interest, about two months ago, in Astronomy after watching a few YouTube videos on the subject (specifically, the moon and our neighboring planets). He asked if one day we could get a telescope. I was somewhat surprised when, over the course of the following days/weeks, he didn't forget about his request or shift his attention to other, "more 13 year old pressing matters." In fact, he became increasingly MORE excited, despite our lack of progress on the subject (except for many hours of questions and research regarding all things space). So, I decided that somehow, someway, I would discover the means in which to make this dream of his a reality. However, due to our financial situation, I wasn't sure it would ever happen. Well, lo and behold, I stumbled across a Vivitar 76700 Reflecting Telescope, while killing time before a drs appt, at the local Goodwill, for only $14.99. I immediately withdrew my "Emergency $20" from my wallet, and I purchased it! When I finally arrived home, I began the process of putting it together. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that it lacked everything which is placed in the "lens hole/slot" on the top, back of the telescope (just a hole, no lens, barrel, or anything originally included to fill said hole. !!!EDIT/CORRECTION!!!: It DOES have the piece which screws onto the side of the telescope that has "adjustor knobs" below it for, I'm assuming, extending/retracting the lens(?). There is just nothing INSIDE this piece except a hole/space. Sorry! This is our youngest son (13), who is a "loner." He is very quiet/shy/lacks self-confidence, and suffers from mental/learning disabilities, but truly is "sharp as a tack" in many, many ways. So, when we discover something, anything, educationally speaking, that peaks his interest, we try our hardest to encourage him! Now, I don't really have any/much money to spend on getting this telescope in complete working order (I am NOT asking or soliciting for ANYTHING!!) , but I refuse to pass up this chance to bond with him, encourage this budding passion for Astronomy, and help get him OFF that blasted PlayBoxCube more frequently, and into something more beneficial for his young, developing mind! Now to my question(s)... What further (inexpensive) equipment would suffice in completing his new-to-us telescope, and increase his allure to the wonders awaiting his discovery in the heavens above? Quality vs Price? Trade-offs? On-topic/slightly off-specific-topic advice? Links, articles, groups, periodicals, videos...ANY suggestions gratefully welcomed! Thank you, in advance, for indulging my attempted-to-be-brief background/relevant personal info, and for taking the time to help this guy be a (better) dad again. I feel blessed to have found this particular site/group. Live Long & Prosper, -Larry

Hi, I am a newbie to astronomy and I have a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ (The scope is f/5 and accepts 1.25" eyepieces) which I had bought for my daughter but is now my hobby . I wish to buy a Barlow (perhaps a 2x?) that will stand by me long term. I have read reviews which say that Powermates are the best (but expensive) and many other reviews that suggest that the Omni, Celestron, BST barlows are good/great and this has confused me. I am not about to commit to the Powermate just yet, so looking for advice on which of these other barlows are worth investing in. So would be interested in your advice please.

Recently purchased a Celestron 127EQ PowerSeeker Telescope and watched some videos saying its good to have a performat Barlow lens. My thinking was if it was good enough I could reuse it on the next best telescope if it ever came to that-if it even fits. I was originally looking at this Celestron 93428 X-Cel LX 1.25-Inch 3x Barlow Lens but am uncertain(is it fairly safe to buy used?) whether there is something else out there that is better for not much more because of the lack of personal experience and knowledge in this field. Not sure if i need to make another forum post but I was also curious about any price effective aftermarket lenses to purchase, assuming the ones that come bundled are not that great when trying to view distant stars. The only other products I purchased was the Celestron PowerSeeker Accessory Kit Telescope, and a laser collimator. I'm just trying to make the most out of this telescope. Thank you for all the support

Hello all! I am a total noob and I have an eyepiece and a Barlow lens question: I have the Gskyer AZ70700 Refractor Telescope that I bought from amazon for my father and we have been using it for a week. It came with the 10 and 25mm eyepieces and a 3x Barlow lens. My father's old "BRESSER TRAVEL 20-60X60 SPOTTING SCOPE" that our cat destroyed had a zooming option that my father loved so after some research, I've also ordered the "Celestron 8-24mm Zoom Eyepiece (1.25")" from amazon and I hope it will work well with the telescope when it arrives in a week. I also assumed it would be a better quality eyepiece than the eyepieces that came with the telescope. Now my question is: Do you think a 5mm eyepiece would work well with my telescope? If so, what is the best 5mm eyepiece that I can buy below $30. Another question I have is that the 3x Barlow Lens that I have is making the view blurry and not clear like when I don't use the Barlow lens. Do you think a 2x Barlow lens would be better for our telescope? If so, what is the best 2x Barlow lens that I can buy below $30. I saw 2 Barlow lenses that were made by SVBONY and Solomark that are around $16 but I don't know if they are the right ones for our telescope and I wouldn't know which one to buy. I assume maybe I won't need to buy the 5mm eyepiece for better viewing if the 2x Barlow lense will work with my 10mm eyepiece or with the Celestron 8-24mm Zoom Eyepiece. What do you guys think? I would really appreciate any answers.

Hello, i am a relatively new astronomer, got my telescope just a few weeks ago, along with a barlow, that came later. At first i thought my barlow had just 1 lens because it was only 1 piece, didnt know they were sticked together, than i saw a barlow review video on yt and realised how to find out how many lens my barlow had. I realised it actually had 2 lens, for a fair price. And my question is, is a 2 lens barlow at least decent for planetary viewing. I imagine it is since i saw good quality expensive barlows, also good brands, who had 3 lens in the barlow. Clear skies!

Hey guys I'm an aspiring beginner astronomer and observer, and I recently inherited my grandfather's old telescope. It is a Meade Quartz with the LX Pulse drive. Only one problem, he left me with no instructions. I learned about the Barlow lens, and how it magnifies the normal eyepiece, the only problem is I have no idea how to attach it. The hole where I normally fit an eyepiece is far too large for it to fit. The size of the hole can fit a 26mm lens. Is it because I have brands mixing and it can only fit a Meade Barlow? I appreciate the help.

Hi there everyone, So I have just purchased today a Skywatcher Heritage-130p Flextube from FLO (Would have loved an 8'' Dob which I had previously bought for my mother as a retirement present, with much help from you guys through the whole novice buying scope process, and who then rather selfishly moved to deepest darkest Normandy, thus depriving me even a glance through the thing, which had kinda become to feel more like my baby! But funds and space were too much of an issue) and it comes with 10mm and 25 mm EP's, brand unstated, and I read in one of the reviews on the page that a barlow lens was a pretty essential bit of kit to get the most from this scope. I was just wondering what you guy's opinion on this was; whether its better to buy a barlow lens, or just save up and invest in more, better quality EP's? I'm pretty much wiped out financially with all the little extra's needed for a 1st scope- collimator, suitable surface for the dinky thing, couple of books, you know how it is, but if a barlow would make the difference this particular reviewer seems to think it does, I'd find that last £30 somewhere...) Many thanks in advance for your thoughts on this, Victoria.

Greetings, I am new here at the longe. My telescope is an ES ED 127mm F/7.5 Apochromatic triplet (fl=952mm). Had first light Friday. This is my second scope as I spent about 10 years with an 8-inch schmidt-cassegrain, and then about 15 years with nothing, now this. I have a rather low quality 2x barlow and am considering replacing it with a 2" 2.5 x Barlow (which will also accept one and a quarter inch eyepieces with included adapter). My diagonal is 2". Right now I have a 2" Meade series 5000 20mm widefied, 9mm Celestron X-el LX and a cheapo 6mm Plossl. Now, the 2" barlows are really not much more than the 1-1/4" ones. I have only found 1 lens in the 2" 2.5X style. The question I suppose is : Would it be decadent to replace a 2x 1-1/4" Barlow with a 2 inch It seems like it would be brighter and perhaps have less the distortion?