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Hello From Rochdale...

bjm38

By bjm38
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bjm38

bjm38

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Hi all...

My teenage daughter's new-found interest in astronomy has been the trigger (or at least, excuse to the wife!) for me to get back into a hobby that I've not dabbled in for years.

I had an old 4" Meade reflector that had been ill-advisedly consigned to the garden shed some time ago - when I dug it out from behind the piles of tyres and assorted boxes, I found that years of damp had pretty well done for the mirror. I found that I could have the mirror re-silvered but, given the sorry state of the rest of the 'scope, I decided to do a bit of rooting around t'internet to see what would be the best replacement. One of the reasons that the old telescope ended up in the shed was the level of light pollution around here, as we're only about half a mile from the M62. I figured that a larger aperture instrument might, at least in part, compensate for that. We also now have a car that can accommodate more than a couple of bags of shopping, and so I settled upon one of the collapsible Skywatcher Dobsonians since we don't need to drive very far from here to find near-total dark. I found a nearly-new 10" on eBay, which I'll be picking up tomorrow - this new acquisition can live in the conservatory since there's no tripod to trip over.

Many stupid questions to follow!! :laugh:

Bernard

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JamesF

JamesF

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Welcome to SGL. Children are a handy excuse, err, reason for buying new kit :laugh: If you have a lot of light pollution from sodium lighting it might be worth investigating suitable filters. I'm told they can make quite a different (no knowledge of them myself, as I'd have to go a couple of miles to find a streetlight).

James

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Mr Q

Mr Q

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Hello Banard and welcome to the SGL.

Lots of times dirty, grungy mirrors can be easily cleaned with a simple rinse of isopeopll alcohol and a very light wiping with a tissue. Another rinse and the mirror is ready to go. Though you have to remove the mirror from the scope (with its holder cell). It might be worth a try if you are going to get rid of the scope.

Buy going to a larger mirror size, the light polluted sky will only appear brighter than with a smaller mirror. Best bet is to invest in some light pollution filters.

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Doug

Doug

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Hi Bernard

A warm welcome to the SGL, congratulations on your new scope

and a warm welcome to your daughter's hopefully they will get a kick out of looking at Jupiter and Saturn ect

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