Must haves for 3.5" Maks w/1250mm focal length

[Veegs23]

Hello everyone, I recently purchased the Celestron NexStar 90 SLT and was wondering what are some necessary accessories to get the most out of this telescope? It has a 90mm aperture, 1250mm focal length, f/14 Maks style and I live in central California which is very low altitude and lots of light pollution.

[Josh Wilson]

I have a 90mm Mak-Cass with a 1250 FL to, only mine is a Meade ETX-90 with Audiostar. I would suggest getting a solar filter if you don't already have one. MAKE SURE IT IS A FULL APERTURE SOLAR FILTER!!! DO NOT use an eyepiece filter. I have an Orion Glass solar filter and it gives a nice orange color to the sun and granulation is easily visible around the edges. I was able to watch the Venus transit and annular solar eclipse this year thanks to the Orion solar filter. I would also recommend getting some other ep filters for viewing of nebulae. Try a Hydrogen Beta filter or O-III filter and see if they help. And to help cope with your light pollution, get a broadband filter to filter out light emitted by common household lights. Also, view as much as possible!!! You will find that you'll need other accessories to fit specific needs during an observing sessions. And if you need a place to store all of it, look for a hard case from Orion. I have one and I have to say that it is one of my most useful accessories I have purchased.

Clear skies and great observing, Josh

Solar filter: http://www.telescope.com/Accessories/Telescope-Eyepiece-Filters/Orion-Full-Aperture-Glass-Telescope-Solar-Filters/c/3/sc/48/e/4.uts

H-Beta: http://www.telescope.com/Accessories/Telescope-Eyepiece-Filters/Orion-Hydrogen-Beta-Nebula-Filters-for-Eyepieces/pc/-1/c/3/sc/48/e/31.uts

O-III: http://www.telescope.com/Accessories/Telescope-Eyepiece-Filters/Orion-Oxygen-III-Nebula-Filters-for-Eyepieces/pc/-1/c/3/sc/48/e/27.uts

Broadband filter: http://www.telescope.com/Accessories/Telescope-Eyepiece-Filters/Orion-SkyGlow-Broadband-Light-Pollution-Filters/pc/-1/c/3/sc/48/e/3.uts

[Veegs23]

Awesome. I plan on starting out with that Celestron 1.25" ep and filter kit and was thinking of checking out an O-III. Thanks for your help man!

[Josh Wilson]

No problem! Hope you have a fun time!

[John]

Hi and welcome to the forum !

Awesome. I plan on starting out with that Celestron 1.25" ep and filter kit and was thinking of checking out an O-III. Thanks for your help man!

You will find O-III and H-Beta filters do not work well with a 3.5" scope as they filter out too much light. The Baader UHC-S has a similar effect but was designed with smaller aperture scopes in mind, letting more light through.

A 3.5" scope under light polluted conditions would be better used to view the moon and planets with rather than deep sky objects like nebulae and galaxies.

[John]

I'll move this post to the mainstream beginners forum where it will get more responses

[Veegs23]

Thanks John. I see Baader products pop up more and more as I research.

[PorkyB]

For my 90mm Mak I have bought a nice set of BST Explorer eyepieces (25mm, 15mm & 8mm), a 6x30 right-angle finderscope, a light pollution filter and a large messenger bag style camera case to hold everything.

[sgazer]

I agree that the narrowband filters will filter out too much for a small aperture (they are very dark for even long exposure imaging). For LP, I would recommend the Skywatcher sky glow filter (quite mild and very cheap) or a stronger UHC filter.