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Hi all, I recently purchased a second hand WO Zenithstar 61, first version, that with the L-bracket. The idea is to use it as wide field lens for astrophotography, paired with a zwo asi1600 and a star adventurer mount. I then came across the post-market upgrade kit sold by WO to replace the L bracket with a Mounting Ring and CAT Handle Bar. Has anyone done the upgrade and can offer some feedback? Is it worth in terms of extra stability for astrophotography or it's just looking nicer? I'd appreciate any feedback based on direct experience. Many thanks, Michele
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Hi I have recently put this together, i hear mentions of flattners and reducers, yes im a newbie and have no idea. Do you think i will need one? Can anyone recommend one? Many thanks Any comments appreciated. TIA
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I’d posted previously about switching my 2 existing apos over to scopes that best suit my needs (and time). For a fast grab and go setup at home I’m going for the Takahashi FC-100DC (mount to be decided….) But I also want something for travel…binoculars don’t suit me (lazy eye, no binocular vision). I wondered about a small 50-60mm apo with the Baader 24-8mm zoom lens eyepiece (my previous experience with the a zoom eyepiece wasn’t great though - TV 2-4mm zoom)? Or alternatively a decent monocular which I’ve struggled to find…. Do any non-binocular “sufferers” like me have any advice in this area?? (p.s. I’m guessing a little apo could also be used for astrophotography at a later stage)
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I’m at a busy stage in my life (A&E job, teenage kids and their exams) where most of stargazing is opportunistic with a WO Megrez 72. I have some wonderful Delos eyepieces & I can’t fault them or my scope. I also have a fairly heavy WO flt 98 + HEQ5 that’s just rarely used due to time pressure. Ideally I want an apo that’s Grab and Go with more aperture for strictly visual use (best of both scopes) that could also later be used for imaging (when time permits). I emailed FLO who suggested the Takahashi FC-100DC might be exactly what I’m looking for. It’s obviously almost identical aperture to my WO flt 98 scope, but it’s half the weight & presumably at that light weight is fine on a decent quality Alt Az for G&Go observing? I’m nervous because it’s obviously a side-grade & I’d be switching from a Triplet to a Doublet….I also note at least 3 variants of the Tak FC-100 & don’t really get what’s the difference between all 3? Do any of you have experience with this scope? Does it sound like it will fit what I want? (Megrez 72 level portability & weight with much better aperture). What mount do you recommend and lastly are the Takahashi finder scopes worth it? Apologies for 20 questions!! Niall
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refractor Refractor size question…..
Neutrinosoup posted a topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
Pretty much set on a the Tak FC-100DC (from a previous thread). Its low weight is a huge bonus for me. Before I go ahead….are there any apos in the 110 to 120 zone that are similarly light or does size and weight start to spiral significantly upwards at that stage? (Pretty sure the answer is yes…) Thanks Niall -
Hi all I have a problem with deformed stars- see attached photo. This is on a newly acquired, second hand Skywatcher evostar 120 ed pro. The pattern is identical with or without a reducer/flattener and in whatever orientation I put the camera and whether the exposure is 15s or 120s. One corner of the image appears almost in focus with round stars, whereas the diagonally opposite corner has elongated stars. The camera and flter wheel plus extension tubes when on my newtonian give pin point stars. Tracking of the mount is around RMS 0.6. If anyone is familiar with this star pattern and can tell me the solution that would be fantastic!
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- mis-shapen tars
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I got a Orion Short tube CT80 recently for like half the market price( I guess I know why lol), and there's a pretty noticeable problem on the objective lens. It looks like a scratch and it's not on the surface, it kinda looks like it's under the lens.... Will it affect picture quality much or viewing quality?
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Hi all, just following on from another post… I’m about to pull the trigger on the 102 triplet, an upgrade from my SW Evolux 82 doublet. However the 115 has been mentioned and has got my wondering if perhaps that might be a better bet, as this will be my only imaging scope for a long time to come! Both scopes are from Altair, both SFPL-53 glass so are basically the same. Only difference is size and weight. I have an HEQ5 mount with about 2kg+ of accessories to attach. I would be buying a reducer so that’s going to add more weight. Really don’t want to buy more stuff after this and just keep the equipment I have. Checking on the site the 102 comes in at about 6Kg whereas the 115 is about 8Kg. Presuming the reducer is about <1kg adding more weight. Will that 115 be pushing the mount to the red line? Would it be better to get the 102 making it easier on the mount and possibly better guiding therefore getting better images vs bigger aperture? Alternatively save some money and get a 102 doublet if image quality is almost the same (say within 10%) as a triplet and a RC6 or Newt to cover the bases? Hope this makes sense.
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Hi all, I recently bought a very nice Tak FC-100DZ refractor, and wanting to keep it that way, have been looking for sturdy storage options. However as any of u who have one of the Tak family of FC-100 scopes will know, they are awkwardly shaped when trying to find a suitably-sized case, being quite long and thin. I couldn't find any of the cases from my usual ports of call, Peli Protector and Storm, and Explorer cases, which weren't wastefully too big in one direction or other. I would be grateful to anyone who has already carried out the same search and has any suggestions. Until then, the original Tak original, and admittedly quite good, triple cardboard carton packaging will do. Thank you, Astrodan
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From the album: WPF Observatory Images
The Lion Nebula, Sh 2-132 Telescope Equipment: Mount – Celestron CGEM DX, Hypertuned Telescope – TS-115 APO Triplet Guider- Orion StarShoot Autoguider Imaging System: ZWO ASI533MC Pro – Gain 100, Offset 70, Temp -15°C Filter – Optolong L-eXtreme Image Details: Light: 132x300s Dark: 50x300s Flat: 50×9.15625s (27,520 ADU ±5%) Dark-Flat: 50×9.15625s Software: Image Capture – Astro Photography Tools (APT) – PhD2 Pre-Processing, Stacking, Stretching – SiriL, Starnet ++, Photoshop CC Image Taken: October 29, November 3 & 7, 2022 Photographed from the When Pigs Fly Observatory© © 2022 - David Aylsworth - WPF Observatory - Earth
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From the album: WPF Observatory Images
The Heart & Soul Nebulae, Sh 2-190 & Sh 2-199 Telescope Equipment: Mount – Celestron CGEM DX, Hypertuned Telescope – TS-115 APO Triplet Guider- Orion StarShoot Autoguider Imaging System: ZWO ASI533MC Pro – Gain 100, Offset 70, Temp -15°C Filter – Optolong L-eXtreme Image Details: Light: 144x300s Dark: 50x300s Flat: 50×9.15625s (27,520 ADU ±5%) Dark-Flat: 50×9.15625s Software: Image Capture – Astro Photography Tools (APT) – PhD2 Pre-Processing, Stacking, Stretching – SiriL, Starnet ++, Photoshop CC Image Taken: October 28, November 8, 9 & 10, 2022 Photographed from the When Pigs Fly Observatory© © 2022 - David Aylsworth - WPF Observatory - Earth
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I wanted a thread for the long refractor (f/9 or more!) because it is linked to me. I remember when when my grandad bought me a 70mm f/10 scope, the moon was crystal sharp, Jupiter showing its band in some detail, and, most important of all, no CA. (You know there was a little bit of CA but not much to ruin the experience) And so I thought to see your story of the long refractor, so post it below! ( I also had a 60mm f/11.5-ish telescope!)
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Hello everyone, I'm relatively new to this hobby and there's a few telescopes I've been looking into across a few budget points. I'm most interested in the planets, the moon and double stars, though would definitely like the ability to explore other things, so a good 'all rounder' would suit me best. The first is the Sky-Watcher Explorer 150P F/5 which is relatively cheap, but seems to have good reviews. The second is the Altair Ascent 102ED F/7 which despite not having many reviews seems to be a solid choice The third is the more expensive option, the Sky-Watcher Evostar 100ED DS-Pro F/9 - which has better glass than the former. If anybody has any opinions on these choices or any additional options that aren't too expensive that might perform better I would love to hear everyone's input!
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Hello all, I've bought an old 80ED that had supposedly never been used. It was in its original box etc. There's *something* on the lens that looks white-ish. About 2mm by 3mm. Looking through from the focusing end it's jet black... Apart from that it looks ok apart from one speck of dust - also black when looking through it. What do I do? Also, even though the focuser action seems smooth there's a slight 'up/down' to the knob as it's turned. I wonder if it's been dropped and the rod has been slightly bent. So I'm also worried about 'soft' lenses if that's the right terminology. How can I check the integrity of the lenses? Thanks in advance. Context: I had an 8" dob about 5 years ago. Moon. Saturn. Jupiter. Star hopped to the great Hercules cluster. Failed to see Orion Nebula due to light pollution. I'm slowly gathering cheap gear together to hopefully dabble in a bit of astrophotography this winter.
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I recently acquired a Bresser AR-102S, a 4", F5.9 achromat. I was expecting to see colour fringing on brighter objects and that's what I did see, although not as badly as I'd anticipated. It was the usual purple colour extending past the limb of Jupiter, the moon and the very brightest stars. Those observations were done with a Tak 1.25" prism star diagonal, replacing the stock diagonal. Last night I used for the first time a 2" quartz-dielectric mirror diagonal. On the brightest stars I could still see a little violet, but on the moon I was surprised to see instead that the fringe around the edge was now a "fluorescent" green, or sometimes a green/yellow (I tried with several different eyepieces). Also, the fringe was narrower than before, almost a line around the moon's edge, rather than a band extending into the surrounding space. A quick search on here suggests that this green/yellow colouration isn't uncommon, but it leaves me with a question. I had been thinking about getting a filter to tame the CA a bit, possibly one of the milder Baader versions (and if I got one with the neodymium substrate it would also double as a contrast enhancer on the planets). I've tried a cheap yellow filter but I didn't like colour cast. But now that my CA seems to be green/yellow rather than violet, I'm thinking that the usual minus-violet filters aren't going to make any difference, are they? I'm also thinking that the switch from prism to mirror must be instrumental in the change that I see. I know that prisms can introduce some CA in faster scopes, so perhaps some of the fringing I was seeing previously was down to the diagonal and not the scope?
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Hi everyone, about a month ago i got my first telescope. Wasn't sure what to get but i wanted something portable and easy to setup and use. After some internet "research" i decided to go for a refractor on a manual alt/az mount. The telescope was on a 50% sale so i decided to go for it , the Meade infinity 90. The package: The scope came in one big box, everything was inside. Included was the optical tube, the mount, 3 eyepieces (6.3mm, 9mm and 26mm), a 2x barlow lens, 90 degree diagonal, red dot finder, an eyepiece holder for the mount and a few manuals. The optical tube: The tube has a 90mm (3.5in) aperture and 600mm focal length. It looks and feels as a quality instrument, it has a small dew shield and the focuser is smooth when you move it back and forward. As expected the lens looks to be coated. It has a dovetail bar on it with 3 holes for screws. The mount: Light but stable, made of aluminium. It has 3 extendable legs, and 2 slow motion cables (alt/az). One screw to mount the tube on on top (adjustable back and forward). The eyepieces and barlow: All 3 are modified achromat eyepieces, the lenses are made of glass and are OK for the beginner, but i would suggest upgrading if you can. The barlow is bad i even think that the optics are plastic (not sure), it is usable if you don't have other options but this should be the first upgrade in my opinion. Observing: First light: The telescope arrived in the morning so the first thing i did after a quick setup was to adjust the red dot finder. I looked at some mountains about 20km away, the view was nice and very detailed using all eyepieces. Combining the 6.3mm with the barlow got me a bit blurry view, but the barlow in combination with the other eyepieces was ok. Night came and it was a moonless and clear night (only light pollution from the city i live in). I saw orion right infront of me, "marked" it with the red dot finder where i thought M42 should be and looked through the 26mm eyepiece. It was a bit blurry but after adjusting the focus i could see some nice pinpoint stars and also something fuzzy, i realized it was the orion nebula. After letting my eyes adjust to the view for a few minutes i started seeing 2 faint "wings" on both sides and in the center were 4 very tiny stars, i didn't expect to see that on my first night. I followed my target for about 15 minutes using the slow motion controls , it was easy to do. Also tried the 9mm eyepiece and with it the 4 stars were more easily seen but the faint clouds got fainter so i moved back to the 26mm. Next target was venus, i tried all eyepieces + with combination with the barlow. It looked like a very bright half moon without any details. When using the barlow the view was ok but purple glow was showing around the planet, without the barlow the purple wasn't noticeable. I also looked at the star Sirius which looked nice, bright and much bigger then any other star i could see that night. After Venus went down i decided it was enough for day one. Moon: I expected it to look good, but not this good. I was observing the moon for a couple of nights until it got full. I could see a lot of details at the terminator , with low and high magnification. When the moon was full it was very very bright and it looked best with the smallest magnification using the 26mm eyepiece. Jupiter and Saturn: I got 2 opportunities to look at these 2, the first time i think the "seeing" was bad. I could only see Jupiters 4 moons and the planet was a bright disc without any details at any magnification i tried. Saturn also wasn't very good, i could see the rings but they were blurry and "dancing" around. But the next time i had the chance to look at these planets the conditions were much better, first target was again Jupiter. With the 26mm eyepiece i could see a white disc with 4 moons.With the 9mm i could see the moons again but now the disc had very faint 2 bands without any color. The view was best with the 6.3mm eyepiece, the 2 bands were clearly visible and on the upper belt on the right side there was a small dark dot, i am not sure if it was anything . Next target was Saturn, event with the 26mm eyepiece i could see that it has rings, i switched to the 6.3mm right away and wow there it was, Saturn and its rings clearly visible, i even think i could spot the cassini devision, but it might have been my eyes playing tricks. I tried using the barlow on both targets but it was making the image blurry, but at this point i had purchased a higher quality barlow and the views were very nice with it , but the max magnification i could use that night was 133x, anything higher and the image was getting wobbly (probably that was due to the atmosphere that night). After that some clouds came in and it was time to get back to bed (got up just to see the planets in 4am). Conclusion: I think i got what i wanted, a small and very portable telescope for some basic amateur observing. I do recommend this telescope to anyone as a first telescope or even to an experienced astronomer who is looking for something light, portable and being able to set it up and start observing in 2 minutes. Also i would recommend you replace all of the eyepieces and the barlow. I got me a few plossl eyepieces and a nice barlow, it was worth it. Feel free to ask me anything regarding this telescope i will be more than happy to answer. Sorry for any spelling mistakes this review probably contains Also i am attaching a few images i took directly off the eyepiece using my smartphone (handheld). The Telescope The Moon: The Moon: Venus: Saturn: Jupiter:
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Hi all! I'm looking for any recommendations for a good little refractor as a companion for my Star Adventurer for astrophotography. Little (in weight) being the operative word given the 5kg payload capacity of the mount! Currently I am shooting with an Sony A7S and guiding with an Orion Starshoot and Orion 50mm guide scope. So there's a little bit of weight on there already. Looking at refractors with a focal length of 400-600mm which are proven performers for imaging. So far contenders are: Stellarvue 80mm ED TS-Optics ED 70mm f/6 William Optics Gran Turismo 71 APO Refractor Any advice/images of rigs/example images/etc would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance :-)
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So I am fairly new to the hobby, what I mean is I have a Celestron Astromaster 114 right now but its hard to use because of the non computerized equatorial mount as well as the red dot sight is bad. I am mainly interested in looking at DSO’s because they seem very interesting. My question is should i get a refractor or sct for observing dso’s and sometimes planets? I want a computerized one with tracking so I don’t have to take a long time finding nebulae and galaxies. Also, is there a certain type of filter to see color on nebula when not using eaa and just viewing with your eyes? I am looking to spend between $600-900 thanks, drew
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I have already posted my first astrophotographic session report in the telescope review thread: Tecnosky 80/480 APO FPL53 Triplet OWL Series - Review. But since that is more of a general review/diary of my experience with the new telescope, I feel some of the issues I am having are being buried and they will probably get more visibility if I post them - in a more synthetic version - in a dedicated thread. So, a few nights ago (October, the 5th) I took out my new telescope for its first light. All the photos have been taken with the 0.8x flattener/reducer and the Optolong L-Pro 2" filter attached to the reducer. The camera is an astromodified Nikon D5300. The only processing the following pictures have consists in this: - AutomaticBackgroundExtractor - ColorCalibration - Stretch Here we have a 90s shot of M31. And here's a mosaic generated with the AberrationInspector script. What I do like: - tightest, smallest, roundest stars I have gotten since I started doing astrophotography at the end of January. Obviously comparing it to what I have been achieving with a kit 70-300mm zoom lens, these can't be anything else but better by orders of magnitude What I don't like: - star shape not consistent in all areas of the image - residual chromatic aberration, especially on stars that are not round: there's clearly some red and blue edges visible I didn't expect this from an apochromatic refractor, but maybe it's just because the stars are kinda "smeared", so not all light is focused at the same spot? I don't see this around the center of the image (or, at least, the problem is less pronounced). Maybe I have some tilting in my imaging train/sensor? I have been doing some reasoning about it and it seems like a combination of tilting and/or backfocus spacing. According to the following image about backfocus spacing: if the stars are elongated radially, the sensor is too close, if they are elongated tangentially, the sensor is too far. But to me it seems I have a little bit of both: in the top right corner, for example, the stars look radially elongated, in the bottom right, they look tangentially elongated. Top left they look tangentially elongated, bottom left also, but a little less. Seems like there has to be some tilting as well, otherwise they would all have a symmetric shape on all corners, correct? How do I determine - is there even a way - if the issue is due to tilting only, backfocus only, or the combination of the two? Is there a sure proof way of checking for tilting? Like, rotating the camera and taking pictures with, say, the camera at 0°, 90°, 270° and 360°? If there's tilting, the pattern of the star shapes should follow the camera, correct? I also tried splitting the channels in R, G, and B components, doing a star alignment of the blue and red channels with the green as a reference, and recombining the channels. The blue and red edges become a lot less evident, which is good, but obviously the star shapes remain the same. In my Telescopius gallery you can also find two other images, Capella and Capella Mosaic showing pretty much the same issues. Also, one issue with the guide camera: ZWO ASI 224MC. When attached to the guide scope (Artesky UltraGuide 60mm f/4), I can't seem to get a "sharp" focus, I even tried on the Moon, and the best I got was a soft lunar disc, with some major features visible, mainly by change of color/brightness (the maria, for example), but no details. The image still seemed blurred/bloated. Is it because of lack of IR blocking filter? I tried the same camera attached to the main refractor, with the L-Pro filter (which blocks UV and IR, as well) and I could focus perfectly. Do I need an IR block filter for guiding or even if the stars appear a little soft, the camera guides just fine? Matteo
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I have been waiting for this telescope for almost five months. Since May, 19th, to be precise. The day I went to the TS Italia store and saw for the first time the SLD model, model now discontinued. I even missed the last available piece just for a few days, once I finally placed my order, June, 25th. It was to be replaced by a newer model, available at the end of the Summer. Boy, am I glad I did miss it. The wait was definitely worth it. The new and improved model is simply beautiful. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it on the Tecnosky website a few weeks ago, when they posted the product sheet. But in person, it's even more beautiful. So, the people from the store emailed me Friday, October the 2nd, telling me that it was finally available for pickup. I read the message only a whole hour later and it was soon going to be closing time. I started calling at 4:30 PM and I finally managed to get my phone call through at around 5:05 PM. The store closes at 6:00 PM and doesn't reopen until Monday. And it's 40 minutes away from where I live. I made it there in 35. There was no way I was going to have to wait till Monday, knowing my scope was only a few minutes away. So, here's the pre-unboxing picture: - top left, brown box, behind: Vixen clamp for guide-scope - top right, white box: 60mm f/4 guide-scope - top left, white boxes: T2 Nikon ring, 30mm spacer, adjustable spacer - center, behind white boxes: Optolong L-Pro 2" filter - right of filter: spacers mounted and already calibrated for 55mm backfocus, for eventual use of the ZWO ASI 224MC camera with the refractor - top right, Bahtinov mask - underneath the white boxes, top left: Losmandy bar to attach telescope to my NEQ6 Losmandy saddle - big box underneath all of the above: Tecnosky 80mm f/6 FPL-53 OWL Triplet, with carrying case and 0.8x 4 elements flattener/reducer - ZWO black case: ZWO ASI 224MC guide-camera / planetary camera - front left: Talisker 57° North and two glasses (don't mind the shape of the glasses, they are the closest to Whisky suitable glasses that I currently own...) ready for me and my wife to celebrate the end of the wait - front right: box for the aforementioned Whisky I actually waited for yesterday (Saturday, the 3rd) for the unboxing, because I wanted my best friend Omar to be present and help me with filming and taking pictures. We have been friends since we went to kindergarten and we always have had astronomy as a common interest. It just so happens, to my immense surprise, that my telescope is actually SN. 0001, so I own the first telescope ever produced of this new series. The certificate is also very promising, with a Strehl ratio of 0.974 and a Ronchi test that seems very well behaved. I like a little less the red edges on the lenses, but I guess only time and a proper visual - and astrophotographic - session will be able to tell. Obviously the "new equipment curse" didn't help, but we got almost a whole hour with clear sky patches and obviously I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I quickly setup with the bare minimum necessities for a visual observation and me, my wife and my best friend Omar - who helped with the staging, recording and directing of the unboxing event - took a quick look at the Moon, Saturn, Mars, M31 and Perseus Double Cluster. I can definitely understand now, even if the seeing wasn't perfect, and my eyepieces didn't offer enough magnification (25mm and 10mm give me 80x and 200x, with my C8, but with a native focal length of 480mm, even with a Barlow 2x, we could only achieve about 38x and 96x, respectively), what people mean when they say that an apochromatic refractor brings out the objects from the background sky. The contrast was stunning, the stars were absolute points, pinpoint, small and sharp (with my C8 they always have kind of a "blob" feeling), the contrast on the Moon was fantastic and I could see many details, despite it being almost full, and only at 48-96x. I think it passed the visual test with honors. I was also very happy to be able to see the Double Cluster all in the same field of view for the first time. Saturn was well defined, could clearly make out the rings - don't recall, in all the excitement, rush and cycling between me, my wife and my friend, if I saw the Cassini division, but I'll definitely try again next clear sky night. Mars was also beautiful, could clearly see its rusty red color, the polar cap and some darker, black features on the surface. I really can say it's a beautiful telescope, very well made and machined. The attention to details is really of another level, the paint finish is very nice and matte. Also very lovely all the different red and black anodized surfaces, they really give it a nice finish and personality. The focuser is also the best I have ever had on a telescope. Very smooth, precise, with no backlash. Coming from a C8 where every touch of the focuser throws off the image all over the place and the backlash is quite significant, I really appreciated how easy it was to fine tune focusing with a proper focuser, especially with the 10:1 focusing knob. I can't wait to be able to take the first pictures of some star field, to check if even photographically the telescope lives up to my expectations. I hope to get pinpoint stars corner to corner and that the backfocus won't be something too hard to make perfect. Here's some accessories. Optolong L-Pro 2" filter, Bahtinov mask, Losmandy dovetail to replace the Vixen one the telescope comes with, Nikon T2 ring and spacers to use the ASI 224MC with the correct backfocus directly on the telescope, instead of a guide-camera. Here's the 60mm f/4 guide-scome, with Vixen clamp. And the ZWO ASI 224MC guide-camera. Here's the mandatory celebration beer, at Corte dell'Orso (the Bear's Courtyard). It's a Belgian sour beer, lambic style. Oudbeitje by Hanssens Artisanaal, with added strawberries. A very nice beer, sour, tart and fruity. Could definitely taste the strawberries. Cheers! Here's a couple of pictures of the full setup, with everything mounted on my Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro. The setup is in its astrophotographic configuration: mount, telescope, guide-scope, guide-camera, filter, flattener/reducer and at the end the Nikon D5300 astromodified. All controlled by Astroberry on my Raspberry Pi 4 4GB, conveniently mounted on a bar across the two telescope rings. And finally a close up of the rig.
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Hi. I am looking for some advice for my cousin who is looking at getting a new telescope. He is not the type to go for a cheaper option and is looking at the 120 esprit, as i said not cheap. I believe that his intended use for this scope is lunar/planatary viewing and possibly some astrophotography of the moon/planets, he has a unmodified canon 5d mk iv DSLR. I instead recommended the skywatcher 120 evostar ED since it's a lot cheaper, but still supposed to have good optics. Would there be much difference in visual between these two scopes? e.g more chromatic aberation in the doublet, or in pictures. I have no idea on what mount to recommend either. Would appreciate some direction and recommendations on these two scopes, or possibly other scope/mount combinations. As a dob owner, i have no idea on the photography side, or mount types.
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Hello! I have been really inactive here, so apologies. Here are a few images of the Solar Eclipse, happened on 21 June 2020. It was annular, but partial from Mumbai region (around 60% covered). Maximum phase of the eclipse was at around 11:30 a.m. IST. This is actually onset of our 4-5 months of monsoon season, so getting decent skies was a tough part. Luckily got decent cleared patches here and there with occasional rains. I had to use whatever I had to make a comfortable view of the eclipse, thanks to the lockdown. I simply took a box, made a whole of the size of the eyepiece on one end, cut the opposite side and attached a paper. I had to do little bit here and there attachments for perfect angle. But was really happy with the results. One of the best experience was when I was seeing the Sun while it was drizzling at the same time. Thanks! -Rhushikesh Deshpande.
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I saw the StellaMira shown off at IAS, and it's incredibly exciting. They're a bit a lot out of budget for me so I'm thinking I may save for one of them in the future. Wondering if any owners of the 85 or 104 have had any hands on time with one yet? Just to wet the whistle. I wonder how they'll compare against the Esprit 80 or 100? I put it on Twitter and got a few comments about how it'll have to out-perform the Sky-Watcher.
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Hello all, New to the hobby and eager to learn information about where to start. Mostly interested in planet viewing, especially the moon. Looking to start out and need the portability as i may have to get out of town a ways to really get a good look at the heavens. I'm considering either a set of 20x50 or 20x80 binoculars (tripod mounted) or getting a Meade StarPro AZ 90mm telescope. Both are within 50$ of each other online. Wondering what would be my best bet for starting out, I will be staying focused on the moon for now, and thats my #1 priority (seeing the moon in extreme detail) but may soon get into farther planets/galaxy observation. I greatly appreciate any advise. thank you.
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Skywatcher skymax 90mm mak or Skywatcher evostar 90mm. which one is better for planetary?