C6-SGT XLT or Nexstar 6SE?

[osbourne one-nil]

I started a thread a couple of weeks ago seeking some advice on a suitable easy setup for my son and I to complement our Sumerian 10" dobsonian. Initially I was thinking about a Meade Lightswitch, but haven't been able to get my head around spending that much money on something which might not work and features I probably don't really need.

Since then, I've been doing what everyone does...balancing a nice small 3" refractor on a decent mount against a 6" or 8" sct for a similar price and weight. I've become very tempted by the Celestron C6-SGT XLT goto as it's very nice and compact, has a decent aperture, and a good, equatorial driven mount. However, for £200 less, I could get essentially the same tube assembly and goto features, just on an alt-az mount, in the form of a 6SE.

The purpose of the scope would be a grab and go for use in the garden, and to allow us some astrophotography potential. To be realistic, we're probably going to be limited to the planets and Moon and would therefore be using a webcam camera.

1. Am I right in thinking, therefore, that an equatorial isn't particularly better than an alt-az as you're taking lots of short exposures which you then stack?

2. Would the CG5 mount offer a chance to do some basic long-exposure photography (M42 etc) with my DSLR?

3. Is a 6" SGT suitable for any deep sky photography in the first place?

4. With a CG5 mount, I assume you have to polar align roughly before you carry out the software's alignment routine?

My head's telling me to get the Nexstar; same tube, quicker & simpler setup, lighter weight, but my heart's saying go for the CG5 mount as it could be useful in the future for mounting a wide field refractor...should I ever decide to go down that route.

Can someone please just tell me what to do?!

[malc-c]

Hi,

I was considering the 6" SCGT on an CG-5 before I opted for a SW200P on an EQ5 mount. The things that put me off the Celestron was that it was more expensive, and the noise the celestron mounts, be that EQ or Alt/Azi make in comparison to SW versions.

If you are looking at imaging the Moon and planets then chances are you'll be using a webcam and therefore the field rotation associated with Alt / Az mounts would not present a problem. The SGT will show you the brighter DSO's without a problem, but because it has a long focal length, it would not be as suitable for fainter DSO's as an f5 6" newt (at least in theory).

The CG5 / 6-SGT is a nice combo and would get you some decent exposures with the DSR of brighter DSOs, such as M42 and M31. A lot depends on your location and the quality of the skies you have too. The good thing about the CG5 is that should you then opt for a larger scope in the future, you only need to replace the OTA as the CG5 can carry quite a payload.

At the end of the day we can't tell you what to do, but we can try and answer your questions

[osbourne one-nil]

Thanks Malcolm,

People do tell me what to do all the time, but I'm thick-skinned.

Your comments make me err a bit more towards the CG5 set-up as I'm in deepest Cumbria and have very dark skies (albeit with stupid streetlights in the village itself), and do like the idea of reusing something in the future. I have wondered about a Newtonian, but like the idea of a long focal length for the Moon and planets....would allow me to make use of those nights when the Moon makes a nuisance of itself for deep-sky observing.

Having said all that, just seen a Televue85 on UK Astronomy buy & sell!