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is this the right place to order some clear skies?

MattS

By MattS
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MattS

MattS

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Hi folks!

I'm a relative newbie to astronomy - I've been interested for some time, but about a year ago, a relative gave me a TAL-1 (I think) that has really brought my attention to the skies (it's the white and black one on a big heavy post mount, not particularly portable).

Over the last 6 months I started trying a few phtographs through my scope, but haven't had very good results for varying reasons (probably the main reason being I'm guessing at what I should do).

- I took a few of Jupiter and could make out the moons, but the whole thing was generally too white and blurry. I was very happy though, for my first photo of a planet!

- A few days later I got a few grainy and blurred streaks that were supposed to be Saturn, then I took a break for about 8 months (I was distracted by the birth of my first nephew, in my defense)

- I got some cracking shots of the moon a couple of weeks ago (during the famous second UK Summer) - I won't post the pictures, as I'm sure everyone has seen the moon.

The telescope I was given has two eyepieces, a 25mm and a 15mm (and a 3x barlow) - but they do have a few marks on them which show up in my pictures. So, I decided to buy some new eyepieces.

I should really have done a little research before I did. When my 4 nice shiny 1.25 plossl eyepieces arrived, I figured that they would give a new lease of life to my 16yr old 'scope. Unfortunately, I can't get my new eyepieces in focus (boooo!) as the original ones are a lot shorter, and removing the nice shiny chrome extenders from the new eyepieces doesn't help, as the top part of the lens doesn't fit into the focussing assembly. I've since read that the only way to "fix" this is to move the main mirror...

I don't want to do that, so I've splashed out on a Celestron NexStar 4SE (I figured the motorised mount and tripod would give me greater portability and give my photographs a better chance). As I type, I'm waiting for delivery (I only ordered it 2hrs ago, I expect to be waiting until next week).

Looking to the skies with hope... and back to the original question... is this the right place to order some clear skies?

Matt :)

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Marki

Marki

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Hi and welcome Matt! Hope you enjoy your 4se when it arrives! As for the clouds..... . Well, I've searched all the main astro suppliers and it seems they're all out of clear skies :mad: ! On the plus side, there's so much cloud about now that surely there won't be any left for them to include as the traditional freebie with your purchase ;) !

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Welcome to SGL, Mat. Clear skies might be arriving on the next ship from China (but you never really know which ship). However, quality control is sometimes shoddy, and many nights which are promised to be perfect either need serious cleaning or recollimation or are so bad that the shipment has to be returned. The return policy is also aweful ;)

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Ronnie67

Ronnie67

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Hi matt, I too have a nexstar 4se, my wife bought it for Christmas, and like you I also am new to astronomy and also to astro photography, but I am going to give it a go, converted my play station 3 eye toy web cam, yesterday, no idea it will work until the sky turns blue, hoping Ralf Harris will give it a coat of paint , lol, welcome to sgl

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