Advice on First Light

[ak785]

I got the moon in sight last night, which was the first thing I have viewed through my scope. I noticed however with the 25mm it was often detecting some sort of vibration and losing focus, then coming back into focus. So i swapped it out for the 9mm to get a higher magnification and i lost the moon totally. So i've got a couple of questions below if someone could help that would be great.

• if I focus in the 25mm and swap out to the 9mm do I need to refocus?

• i noticed when viewing through the 25mm there appears to be a little vibration / loss of focus then it refocused is this normal?

[Digz]

I think you will need to refocus when swapping EPs unless you get some parfocal rings which can help.

Sounds to me like you are describing potentially poor seeing conditions with the lose of focus. Vibration could be down to the mount. What scope and mount combo are you using?

[upahill]

I make sure the object is dead centre before changing to a higher mag, with the crescent you could probably see the whole thing in the 25 and then when you went up to the 9mm you were lookking at the shaded part in the centre.

Seeing was bad for me too last night, especially noticeable on the moon.

[ak785]

I think you will need to refocus when swapping EPs unless you get some parfocal rings which can help.

Sounds to me like you are describing potentially poor seeing conditions with the lose of focus. Vibration could be down to the mount. What scope and mount combo are you using?

I make sure the object is dead centre before changing to a higher mag, with the crescent you could probably see the whole thing in the 25 and then when you went up to the 9mm you were lookking at the shaded part in the centre.

Seeing was bad for me too last night, especially noticeable on the moon.

I think it was the smallest crescent ever, it was literally only a tiny bit of the moon i could see. I wanted to get the 9mm into the shaded bit to really see some detail.

Im using a Celestron 127 SLT with the mount it came with, its an alt azimuth mount I assume its a standard celestron mount it all came in the box together. As its the first thing that I've seen through it i was struggling to understand why it seems to shudder out of focus and then come back. Could that really be atmospheric conditions?

When i switched to the 9mm i couldn't get it focussed, do you know if i want to turn the focus knob clockwise or a-clockwise when i goto a higher magnification? It was very clear, so i missed a great opportunity. Do you happen to know if i want to view nebula, do i just plug in my 9mm or do i need to get a barlow lens to magnify it?

[Digz]

As mentioned above seeing will have a big impact on what you see and could give rise to the effect you describe. Alternatively it could be down to what you place the mount on and any vibrations you may cause moving around.

With focus, I couldn't say if its one way or the other and I normally end up twisting the focus dial both ways to get focus.

With nebula I think you want to start off wide and use averted vision to get the most. If your start with too high a magnification you may miss your target, unless you have superb dark skies. Filters can also help to some extent.

[Peter Drew]

The eyepieces with the shorter focal lengths (smaller numbers) usually have to be focused in a bit further. Your low power eyepiece (25mm) will be best for nebulae.

[M4lcs67]

Also the 127 SLT can suffer from a bit of vibration especially when focussing as the mount and tripod are not the best ever. The mear fact that you are touching the scope is enough to induce a bit of wobble. I bought some anti vibrationn pads off Ebay which you sit the tripod on. It helps to eliminate some of the shake.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=anti+vibration+pads+telescope&rt=nc

These are them. Celestron do them as well, but don't touch them with a bargepole. Silly money. These ones are far more sensible.

[ak785]

Thanks for all of the advice. I'll buy some of those pads definately. To be honest, I wasn't touching the scope at all, i didnt even have my eye in the rubber thing of the eye piece because i didn't even realise it lifted up to rest your eye in.

[Stargazer_00]

Just an FYI. Some eyepiece ranges supplied by manufacturers claim the ranges are Parfocal. This means that if you collect the set then each eyepiece should come to focus at more or less the same position on the focuser therefore requiring little, if any, refocusing between eyepiece swaps. Just so you know what that means if you see it again

Parfocal in eyepiece range A does not mean parfocal in range B, they are only ever parfocal within the same range/set.

[ak785]

Just an FYI. Some eyepiece ranges supplied by manufacturers claim the ranges are Parfocal. This means that if you collect the set then each eyepiece should come to focus at more or less the same position on the focuser therefore requiring little, if any, refocusing between eyepiece swaps. Just so you know what that means if you see it again

Parfocal in eyepiece range A does not mean parfocal in range B, they are only ever parfocal within the same range/set.

That is very interesting, i've wondered what on earth that meant!

So does that mean that if i buy a set of Celestron eye pieces they are parfocal as they are all by the same manufacturer?

[Digz]

That is very interesting, i've wondered what on earth that meant!

So does that mean that if i buy a set of Celestron eye pieces they are parfocal as they are all by the same manufacturer?

Only if they are advertised as being 'parfocal'

[ak785]

OMG http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/series/ultima-lx-series/ - How Expensive!? are these worth the money?

[Stargazer_00]

They are a good eyepiece to move to from Plossls. Yeah.

[ak785]

I've been considering this one in 8mm http://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-68-degree-eyepiece.html I think from what I've read that's about as low as you dare go with a celestron 127 SLT

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

[Rich MedRev]

AK785 dont forget that as magnification increases so do vibrations as they are magnified further when they occur.

seeing changes through atmospheric turbulence are happening almost every second or two and smaller better defined images are less susceptible to the effects than with higher power EP's with smaller FOV's.

[M4lcs67]

The Baader Hyperions are great and I have used them on my 127 SLT with great effect. The first time I looked through my scope with my 24mm I was blown away by how much better it was in comparison to the stock ep. And that was the better of the two supplied eyepieces as well. The supplied 9mm is lousy. I think the 10mm Hyperion would be a good one and also coupled with the fine tuning rings that you can get for them. With the Hyperions being of a modular design, you can buy additional rings for these eyepieces which change the focal length of them. Much, much cheaper than going out and having to buy more eyepieces. I swear by them as do many others on SGL. Very clever idea. If you got both rings, it would give each eyepiece 4 different combinations.

[ak785]

AK785 dont forget that as magnification increases so do vibrations as they are magnified further when they occur.

seeing changes through atmospheric turbulence are happening almost every second or two and smaller better defined images are less susceptible to the effects than with higher power EP's with smaller FOV's.

Thanks for the tip on this one, do you therefore think that 8mm is too high magnification and as M4lcs67 says I should maybe look at the 10mm?

The Baader Hyperions are great and I have used them on my 127 SLT with great effect. The first time I looked through my scope with my 24mm I was blown away by how much better it was in comparison to the stock ep. And that was the better of the two supplied eyepieces as well. The supplied 9mm is lousy. I think the 10mm Hyperion would be a good one and also coupled with the fine tuning rings that you can get for them. With the Hyperions being of a modular design, you can buy additional rings for these eyepieces which change the focal length of them. Much, much cheaper than going out and having to buy more eyepieces. I swear by them as do many others on SGL. Very clever idea. If you got both rings, it would give each eyepiece 4 different combinations.

Well i am 100% buying one, I just need to get the right size, 8mm may be unworkable due to the seeing conditions where as 10mm may be just right. I saw Jupiter for the first time last night with the stock 9mm eye piece, and I was very impressed, it was an incredibly beautiful image. It was about the size of a 5p piece to give you a sense of scale, maybe slightly smaller. Once i'd fine tuned the focus which is increidbly hard by the way its very unforgiving, I'd managed to get Jupiter sharp and crips, and I could make out bands of colour (which i still can't quite believe) and 4 sharp pin pricks of light in orbit around it, which were the four galilean moons obviously.

It was quite a profound image, and only my second night out with the scope. I am still smiling from seeing it and the image is firmly implanted in my brain.

Given my view with the stock 9mm, if i purchased a 10mm Baader Hyperion from FLO - would it be fair to presume that the image would be even more detailed? What can i expect from a 10mm Baader Hyperion over what the stock celestron 9mm provides?

[M4lcs67]

If you bought the 10mm then the ftr's this would get you to around 8mm anyway. In reality this would be the maximum that you could expect with this scope, but that is only when the seeing conditions would allow anyway.

If you decide on the Hyperion then prepare to be shocked at how big, chunky and well made it is. I certainly was. You will not be disappointed.

If you were blown away by Jupiter then wait until Saturn arrives at a more reasonable time of the night. That is a sight to behold. Utterly jawdropping the first time I ever saw it.

[majapala]

Regarding vibration control, someone on here bought washing machine feet vibration pads, exactly the same as the ones mentioned above but a fraction of the price. Also, clip a clothes peg on to the focusser for fine focussing with much less vibration.

[ak785]

Regarding vibration control, someone on here bought washing machine feet vibration pads, exactly the same as the ones mentioned above but a fraction of the price. Also, clip a clothes peg on to the focusser for fine focussing with much less vibration.

That is actually a damn neat idea - I will look into the clothes peg and the feet

If you bought the 10mm then the ftr's this would get you to around 8mm anyway. In reality this would be the maximum that you could expect with this scope, but that is only when the seeing conditions would allow anyway.

If you decide on the Hyperion then prepare to be shocked at how big, chunky and well made it is. I certainly was. You will not be disappointed.

If you were blown away by Jupiter then wait until Saturn arrives at a more reasonable time of the night. That is a sight to behold. Utterly jawdropping the first time I ever saw it.

What are these rings you mentioned? does it come with a focussing ring or do i need to buy one seperately? If i buy the 10mm and then use the focus ring would it be the same as an 8mm? Can i expect superior clarity over the stock eye pieces? I'm purchasing one just need to wait until pay day

I am actually very much looking forward to Saturn, given that Jupiter has stunned me literally.

[MorningMajor]

Whilst the SLT is a great scope, the tripod isn't the most stable - viewing in anything more than a gentle breeze can induce wobble - you can also try weighting the tripod down using a couple of small bags of sand on the accessory tray

[M4lcs67]

What MorningMajor suggests is a great idea for making the tripod a little more stable.

If you follow this link, it will tell you what you can expect from the 10mm eyepiece with the finetuning rings attached.

http://www.baader-planetarium.uk.com/productinfo.php/eyepieces/hyperion/hyperion-10mm/4040