Will these be any good for me??

[M3 Andy]

Hi peep's.

Im new to all this so i need your advice/help.

I had my first telescope friday (celestron nexstar 127 slt) and i love it!!! but i want to see the moon closer and more deeper into the sky.....so what's next for me? Is a barlow the next thing?

Was thinking of these First Light Optics - Celestron Eyeopener Eyepiece and Filter Kit.

Any help would be brill. thank you.

[Bazzaar]

Congratz on the new hardware! Those 127 Mak scopes have a brilliant reputation, particularly for planets, and there are loads of happy owners.

As to ep set you mentioned, a couple of thoughts,

the eps you get with scopes are not highly regarded, very basic, so buying decent ones is a good move,

but the ep sets that are available always strike me as a box of compromise, some items you will never use/need, the filters, except the moon one, spring to mind, and the ones you do use still aren't the best available.

Now I haven't ever bought one of these sets so cant speak from experience, it just my preference is to choose items individually and hunt out the good ones.

Ive had my two scopes three months now and only just bought a better barlow I realised I needed.

You will probably get people trotting out the perceived wisdom that Maksutovs are no good for deep sky objects, as if the light from these objects knows it travelling through a Mak and vanishes! Obviously not so, what the issue is the longer focal length means any ep you use will produce a larger, dimmer view. Your scope is gathering exactly the same amount of light as any other 5" (127mm) scope. You will just need to use the right ep to keep the mag down.

Regards

Barry

[M3 Andy]

ok mate thanks for that. For now as im just getting to grips with the kit i want to study the moon i.e close up. tbh im getting amazing views at the moment but im always looking to go that little bit more lol.

[JamesM]

Eyepiece selection can be very subjective which means you have two choices. The first is to buy off the shelf from a good retailer after reading some reviews/recommendations and taking a chance that you will like it or secondly, to join a local astro club or better still, a local observing group to see if you can 'try before you buy' namely, having a look through eyepieces belonging to other observers. A lot of money can easily be spent on a brand name, on a wide field of view be it 82 or 100 degrees! Are the stars that you see in the eyepiece sharp to the edge of the view? Does the view appear flat or is there a kind of pincushion effect and lastly eye relief, how close does your eye have to be to the eyepiece to view effectively - particularly important if you wear glasses. Many eyepieces now have a facility by which you can adjust the eyecup to allow your eye to return to a comfortable position in order to avoid what is termed 'beaning'. This is where part of the eyepiece blacks out into a bean like shape should your eye move from the sweet spot. Some people aren't bothered by this whilst others may feel this spoils the view. I see you have 80 posts, so once you've made up your mind on which one to get you might take a look at the For Sale Section to see if you can pick up a bargain.

Hope that helps.

James

[M3 Andy]

thanks mate. after about 40 min my eye does start to go blurry and hurt. i realy have to get ontop of the ep to get a good view. the star that iv been looking at alot if capella as its right infront of my on my balcany and it seems sharp and very bright.

When does the for sale section open then and any more advice on what iv said?

thank you.

[Gina]

You have to be a member for a month and have 50 posts. Just checked your profile and see you joined on the 24th April. So you won't see the For Sale and Wanted forums until after 24th May. So you've got 12 days to go.

[rowan46]

magnification and going deep are not necessarily the same thing, one of the effects of magnification is to dim the image. This is fine on bright things like planets, the moon and some clusters but not so good on some of the dso's. and less bright clusters. I would recommend a good 32mm eyepiece (theres no point getting bigger as the baffling will not show any more) and a good 7mm for magnification. the only time I use a barlow is for webcam imaging.. you may find a moon filter makes viewing the moon more comfortable.

[M3 Andy]

ok mate thanks for that. yer it does make sence now thinking about it. will wait for the for sale section to open and have a nose about there.

[bm1980]

Highest mag eyepiece for your scope would be 6.5 mm for visual,which will give aprox 250x magnification, it will however reduce the eye relief a lot but wil give some stunning close up views of the moon and planets.

Regards

Ben

[DoctorD]

Hi Andy

I have a Skywatcher 102mm MAK and can recommend the GSO 32mm Plossl - a quick Google search should show you few UK suppliers.

Unlike to 32mm supplied in the kit ou first mentioned the GSo has 52 degrees field of view compared to 44 degrees of the Celestron - with the longer focal length you are going to want the widest field of view for many deep sky objects.

This will give you the widest possible views with your scope and wil allow you to see more deep sky stuff.

Clear skies

Paul

[twotter]

I think the kits are quite a good idea. You get a decent selection of, usually, plossls that are a good base to start with. The advantage being that you soon realise which focal lengths are the ones you use the most, and then if funds permit, you can upgrade to the more expensive eyepieces, rather than jumping in without really knowing if they will suit.

When I got my telescope I couldn't afford a kit, so built up my collection of plossls over time. They are a mix of GSO Revelations and Meade 4000s. Out of those I have used the 32mm GSO the most and it's given me some lovely widefield views, so another vote for one of those - for £35 you can't go wrong

At the other end of the scale I have a 6.4mm Meade 4000 plossl which I use most when viewing the Moon. Since the 127 Mak is so well suited for lunar observing, I wouldn't restrict my viewing to 250x magnification. The Moon can definitely take more

Best of luck, whatever route you decide to take

[M3 Andy]

thanks for the advice people its all taken on board now and will be looking around for a 32mm Plossl and a 6.4mm Meade 4000 plossl. this will no doubt start off the collection i will end up with lol.

On a noob note. do all ep's fit the end of the scope or are there diffrent size's?

[beamer3.6m]

Eyepieces are either 1.25" or 2". I think the 127 has a 1.25" holder as standard so goes for those I would say.

I would also recommend a Barlow lens (Celestron ultima 2x). This would increase the eyepiece by 2 so for example a 32mm eyepiece when used with the Barlow becomes an 18mm eyepiece, a 25mm becomes a 12.5mm etc. It allows you to double your collection very cheaply.

[M3 Andy]

arrr right thanks for that mate.

[inksmithy]

Andy, I got my scope the same day as you, but before it arrived, my Revelation Eyepiece kit arrived, which has a 32mm, 20mm, 15mm, 12mm and a 9mm, as well as a Barlows, moon filter and four coloured filters, along with a t-adapter and a lovable case.

If you look at my sig, you'll see I'm quite taken with the 32mm. I don't have anything to compare it with, but its definitely the first ep I go for.

The Sky at Night did a review of it, said it was better than the more expensive Celestron set.

I've been getting some fantastic close ups of the moon as well, though it was a bit bright last night.

The report is in the DSO Observing forum, but last night, I got M13, M57 AND M10, which I was pretty pleased with.

Alan

[M3 Andy]

Right now iv started lol. iv just bought a 32mm Plossl and a moon filter. will give it a week or so then go for the 6.4mm Meade 4000 plossl, and a barlow.

thank you.

[M3 Andy]

Andy, I got my scope the same day as you, but before it arrived, my Revelation Eyepiece kit arrived, which has a 32mm, 20mm, 15mm, 12mm and a 9mm, as well as a Barlows, moon filter and four coloured filters, along with a t-adapter and a lovable case.

If you look at my sig, you'll see I'm quite taken with the 32mm. I don't have anything to compare it with, but its definitely the first ep I go for.

The Sky at Night did a review of it, said it was better than the more expensive Celestron set.

I've been getting some fantastic close ups of the moon as well, though it was a bit bright last night.

The report is in the DSO Observing forum, but last night, I got M13, M57 AND M10, which I was pretty pleased with.

Alan

hi again mate. thats cool! i will go and have a butchers at the report now thanks.