"nd post and its a question

[Blueearthling]

I could do with some advice please.

I have a Celestron nexstar 6se and I want to get the most out of it for viewing planets and the moon mainly and I hear I may be able to get some great views of Orion nubula and others?

So at the moment I'm looking at getting the best eyepieces I can afford for the scope. I assume I will need at least 2 and possibly a Barlow? Been looking at the Celestron Ultima LX range and someone suggested something along te lines of the skywatcher nirvana UWA 82-degree FOV.

I guess at the moment I just want to be viewing but having seen some of the amazing pics on here I may well want to start taking a few pics as well.

Would appreciate all the advice you can give, thanks.

[rowan46]

I assume you have the essentials first. a power tank , maplins ones are fine and a dew shield.

[Demonperformer]

I had a 6SE for a couple of years and spent a FORTUNE on eyepieces, most of which subsequently got sold on at a loss. I finally settled on building up a set of Pentax e/p's, but at ~£250 a go, you might think that a bit extreme.

I guess my best advice would be start by using what you have until you find yourself looking at something wishing you could get more (maybe higher magnification, maybe wider fov, maybe something else). Then, whatever it is you feel you are missing, target an eyepiece that does that job. That way, all the eyepieces you buy will be ones that get used.

HTH

[Ags]

Your scope is F10 so it is a slow scope. This means you can use less expensive EPs and still get good performance. I use hyperions in my mak - you could get two of them new for the price of one nirvana.

Another option are the speer-waler EPs. These are more future proof as they are corrected to F4.5 and offer the 82 degree experience for just slightly more than than the hyperions. The hyperions by the way have a smaller field and apparently are not corrected down to F5, butthey do have the better multicoatings of these two types (you get slight lens flare when viewing planets with a speer-waler).

You scope is too slow for DSO imaging although you can partly correct that with a reducer lens, which some people like to use for visual as well (the reducer gives a wider field of view and less magnification). Even with the reducer your SE mount is not capable of long-exposure images unless you buy the rather expensive wedge (which I would not recommend, based on my experience of wedges). Your scope is well suited to planetary imaging as it has a long focal length and sufficient aperture.

[Blueearthling]

I assume you have the essentials first. a power tank , maplins ones are fine and a dew shield.

Hi, I'm halfway there, I have a power tank. How essential is it to get a dew shield? And what do you recommend?

Thanks.

[Blueearthling]

I had a 6SE for a couple of years and spent a FORTUNE on eyepieces, most of which subsequently got sold on at a loss. I finally settled on building up a set of Pentax e/p's, but at ~£250 a go, you might think that a bit extreme.

I guess my best advice would be start by using what you have until you find yourself looking at something wishing you could get more (maybe higher magnification, maybe wider fov, maybe something else). Then, whatever it is you feel you are missing, target an eyepiece that does that job. That way, all the eyepieces you buy will be ones that get used.

HTH

Thanks, yes they are a bit (like a lot) more than I was thinking of paying!

Can I ask why you got through so many eyepeices and why you sold the 6SE?

Cheers.

[Blueearthling]

Your scope is F10 so it is a slow scope. This means you can use less expensive EPs and still get good performance. I use hyperions in my mak - you could get two of them new for the price of one nirvana.

Another option are the speer-waler EPs. These are more future proof as they are corrected to F4.5 and offer the 82 degree experience for just slightly more than than the hyperions. The hyperions by the way have a smaller field and apparently are not corrected down to F5, butthey do have the better multicoatings of these two types (you get slight lens flare when viewing planets with a speer-waler).

You scope is too slow for DSO imaging although you can partly correct that with a reducer lens, which some people like to use for visual as well (the reducer gives a wider field of view and less magnification). Even with the reducer your SE mount is not capable of long-exposure images unless you buy the rather expensive wedge (which I would not recommend, based on my experience of wedges). Your scope is well suited to planetary imaging as it has a long focal length and sufficient aperture.

Thanks for the rsponse.

OK this has got me thinking, actually confused lol So, I wont be able to do DSO imaging unless I buy a reducer lens and a wedge for the mount, and it still wont be a very good experiance. Guess I may as well forget that with this scope then.

So lets assume with this scope I want to have an enjoyable viewing experiance of the planets/moon/DSO and then get into imaging of planets. What eyepieces would be good?

[Cunhaval]

Sooner or later, you will find a dewshield essential - especially with your SCT, or a Mak like mine.

You could just buy one, or do what most of us do, and make your own from a closed cell foam camping mat (£2 -£10), and some duct tape or velcro. Easy!

Your SCT will be excellent at moon and planets, viewing and photography (though you might want to consider a webcam such as a Philipps SPC 880/900 for the latter, rather than a compact or DSLR camera).

For deep-sky (nebulae, etc) it will be fine for viewing, but perhaps not the weapon of choice for photography.

Deep-sky photography in general will require a very substantial mount, and a "fast" (low F number) scope.

Absolutely loads of threads on SGL on these issues - 'fraid you've got a lot of reading to do!

[Ags]

Assuming you stick to 1.25" EPs, you could go for a Hyperion 24mm for the widest field of view possible with your scope. If you want to spend more money, the Televue Panoptics are an option.

For planetary viewing, you need a couple of short focal length EPs, say a 10mm for 150x and a 7mm for about 200x. (I would also get a 5mm, but other will tell you this is too much magnification - it depends on your eyes). There are many options for these EPs. Baader Genuine Orthos are the best optically but have a narrow field of view. BST Explorers are cheaper with a wider field of view and very popular. Celestron XCel LX EPs are all the rage right now (but avoid the old XCels which were not very good). You can also buy hyperions at these focal lengths, or get a speer-waler 12-8mm or 8-5mm zoom.

[Blueearthling]

Thanks Cunhaval, yeah a lot of reading lol I can only read and take in so much. Without actually doing it, I seem to stop absorbing the info.

[Blueearthling]

Thanks Ags, I'll look at those.