Advice sought (by the way thanks for warm welcome)

[dodge23]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome,

Received my telescope from FLO on Wednesday (ordered tuesday dinner time, excellent service) have been ot a couple of times in the back garden though I think the moon may be 'spoiling' my viewing,

Anyways I have a couple of questions if someone could kindly oblige:

Is, apart from the planets and moon, it worth searching for DSO when the moon is bright?

Can anyone recommend a Barlow (I currently have the stock 'Super' 25 and 10 mm eyepieces - that came with the Skywatch Skyliner 200p Dob)?

And, following on from that can anyone recommend a couple of (reasonably priced) eyepieces (I was thinking of one about 6 mm and another about 35 mm).

Ta.

Phil

[rwilkey]

Hi Phil, and welcome to the forum and to astronomy in general.

The common and easy DSO's are the best when the Moon is bright, such as the Orion Nebula (M42), the Pleiades (M45) and the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer, or even M67 star cluster below. Don't forget double stars, always interesting to look at and good when the Moon is about.

On Barlows, normally we would recommend the Tal Barlow but they are pretty scarce at the moment, but if you can find one I would recommend the 2x. Failing that the Revelation 2.5x is supposed to be very good, though I have not tried it myself, here: http://www.firstligh...25x-barlow.html

For a 6mm eyepiece, you are obviously thinking of planetary study, and for me there is none better than the William Optics SPL here: http://www.firstligh...l-eyepiece.html

If this is too much, then I would recommend you go for an 8mm BST Explorer/StarGuider, very good quality for the price here: http://www.skystheli... eyepieces.html

As regards your low magnification, i would not recommend a 35mm, the exit pupil will be too large and you will get the shadow of the secondary mirror in this case. The best to go for is a 32mm, a TeleVue Plossl s/h would be very good, alternatively, if you fancy a 2" widefield ep then the SW PanaView is great ep in your particular scope here: http://www.firstligh...-eyepieces.html

Having said the above, I would recommend that you have a little play with the ep's that came with the scope and get used to using it, it will then become more clear what your preferences are for viewing.

[Itabot]

Hi welcome to SGL

[fondofchips]

Hi Phil & welcome to SGL.

[dodge23]

Thanks Robin,

Great advice, I was intended to stick with the 10 mm and 25 mm for a while - they seem to be fit for purpose, i have looked at the Orion Nebula and Plaides but when I starterd to try and find other DSO's I was struggling (new to the game I think rather than any other factors) though at the time I put this down to the full moon. I did have a gander at andromeda, through the 25 mm, but was a little underwhelmed, again I put this down to the full moon and andromeda being low in the sky.

Yes, the 6 mm was, on my limited knowledge, was intended for future planetary views whereas the 35 mm was intended for DSO's (a wider field of view?), but again thanks for putting me straight on the 35 mm and the exit pupil.

Phil

[Eastridge]

I had the same thught when I first viewed Andromeda & have since found out that it is generally 'underwhelming' with light pollution and you really need to be at a dark sky site to see much more than a oval fuzz.

So, moon or really just general urban / suburban LP could be the issue. You are at Furness - is that the Cumbrian coast? - so the later may not be an issue for you?

[dodge23]

Hi Eastridge,

Yep its the cumbrian coast, in fact andromeda was located over the duddon estuary on viewing, had a look last night through binoculars and its not as bright as it 'normally' is when i've viewed it in the past so i've put it down to it being rather low in the sky and/or the moon.

Regarding the light pollution - due to my noviceness(?) I don't know how much pollution there is from my back garden, however I am lucky enough to be able to be somewhere quite dark within a 10 minute drive (kirby moor)and within 30 mins can be in the heart of the lake district (duddon valley is my preferred spot at the moment)

Phil