Looking for a telescope for DSO observations.

[Star Wanderer]

Hi. i was wondering if this telescope needs collimating. I don't have any collimating tools, so when i look through the focuser it looks like this, with my eye beeing a Red Oval on the picture.

[Star Wanderer]

Another question is i noticed a Omegon Suitcasse with eyepieces and accesories for sale at almost half the price - would this be a good purchase to make, for someone who only currently have  a 25mm wide angel long eye reliefer eyepiece?

http://www.astroshop.eu/omegon-suitcase-with-eyepieces-and-accessories/p,8353

[Star Wanderer]

Another question is i noticed a Omegon Suitcasse with eyepieces and accesories for sale at almost half the price at Astroshop.eu - would this be a good purchase to make, for someone who only currently have  a 25mm wide angel long eye reliefer eyepiece?

http://www.astroshop.eu/omegon-suitcase-with-eyepieces-and-accessories/p,8353

[TwoPi]

Hi. i was wondering if this telescope needs collimating. I don't have any collimating tools, so when i look through the focuser it looks like this, with my eye beeing a Red Oval on the picture.

It's quite difficult to tell if the scope needs collimation just by looking at the mirrors through the focus tube, without at least making or buying a collimation cap (a disk such as a focuser cap or old 35mm film cannister lid with a small hole drilled in the exact centre of the disk).

However, the best bet is to do a star test. Pick a star reasonably high in the sky and look at it through a fairly high power eyepiece. Defocus slightly and you should see concentric circles around the point of light. If the circles aren't concentric then the scope needs collimating and you will need a collimation cap, cheshire or laser collimator to do the job properly.

You can see some images of what the star test result should look like at the end of AstroBaby's guide here: http://www.astro-baby.com/collimation/astro%20babys%20collimation%20guide.htm

Hope this helps.

[TwoPi]

Just noticed from your second question that you only have a 25mm eyepiece, so sorry for suggesting a high power eyepiece in my suggestion on a star test! Still worth trying this with your 25mm eyepiece to check collimation.

Regarding the eyepiece case, it strikes me that it's got quite a few things that you're unlikely to use (e.g. Coloured filters, 6mm and 4mm plossls that will have such tight eye relief that you'll need to stick your eyeball on the eyepiece lens to see the image etc.)

If I was you I would buy a couple of second hand eyepieces instead (and a cheshire collimator).

[TwoPi]

Thinking about it even more, I'm not sure what the 32mm eyepiece would add either, given your focal length of (I think) 750mm and the fact that you already have a 25mm eyepiece.

So separate eyepieces is the way to go rather than that bundle in my opinion, especially if you're trying to keep the cost down.

[Star Wanderer]

Thanks for the advice TwoPi.  Looking through thouse tinny eye relifers would have been a bad investment.

[Star Wanderer]

I found  few eyepieces on sale with 20mm Eye relief and 6 lenses.

I want to pick one to look at Jupiter and Moon Craters. Which one should i go for befor the image quality through the eyepiece beging to descrease?

3.8mm,  5.2mm ?

or

7.5mm + 2x Barlow?

[TwoPi]

If you can afford them, I would go for both the 3.8mm and 5.2mm which will give you 197x and 147x magnification with a 750mm focal length scope. The moon through the 3.8mm will give you some great views and although you will need a steady atmosphere to look at Jupiter at this magnification, it will be a great sight when everything does come together.

The 5.2mm will be a good magnification for nights when the atmosphere isn't so steady but also for some other objects such as globular clusters.

It is a personal choice, but I'm not a fan of barlows and indeed many people buy a barlow early on only to sell it later or at least not use it as much as they first thought - swapping it in and out as well as eyepieces can be a bit of a faff (but then again, some people don't find this a major problem). I was recently debating whether to go for a focal extender (an alternative to a barlow that performs a similar magnifying role) but decided against it in the end for this reason.

Hope this gives you a bit of food for thought.

[Russe]

Can I just add that the greatest aperture won't show anything unless your light pollution is ok - or if you travel to a dark site.

[Star Wanderer]

I bought Omegon Cronus WA 6 mm 1,25" and Celestron 18mm X-CEL eyepiece 1.25".

The 18mm piece is awesome. I stared at Andromeda for like half an hour yesterday, untill the clouds covered it. The image of Andromeda through this eyepiece was great, but i wonder how much greater it could have gotten if i was to reduce light-polution ( i observe from an open window in a middle of the City).

6mm piece - i couldn'r focus on any of the stars. The stars looked very blurry - Is this how its suppose to be or is it becuse of the eyepiece and fast scope?

[TwoPi]

Observing through an open window is a bad idea - you will have a lot of air turbulence and at relatively high mags such as those given by your 6mm eyepiece you'll struggle to see anything - so I'm not surprised it seemed impossible to focus.

To be honest I'm mildly impressed you got much of a view from your 18mm!

I'd try again outside, and let your scope cool down for half an hour before trying your 6mm again.

Enjoy the views!

[Russe]

Another question is i noticed a Omegon Suitcasse with eyepieces and accesories for sale at almost half the price - would this be a good purchase to make, for someone who only currently have  a 25mm wide angel long eye reliefer eyepiece?

http://www.astroshop.eu/omegon-suitcase-with-eyepieces-and-accessories/p,8353

Waste of money. Buy single eyepieces and Barlows. Forget about visual filters.

I had the celestron version.

1 x Plössl eyepiece 32 mm

1 x Plössl eyepiece 12.5 mm

1 x Plössl eyepiece 6 mm

1 x Plössl eyepiece 4 mm

1 x Barlow lens 2x

1 x Green filter No. 56

1 x Red filter No. 23A

1 x Orange filter No. 21

1 x Yellow filter No. 12

1 x Blue filter No. 82A

1 x Polarizing filter

1 x Crystal View Moon filter

I still use:

the aluminium case

the 32mm Ploessl

the moon filter (1 1/2 years ago...)

Throw your money on better things.

[Russe]

I found  few eyepieces on sale with 20mm Eye relief and 6 lenses.

I want to pick one to look at Jupiter and Moon Craters. Which one should i go for befor the image quality through the eyepiece beging to descrease?

3.8mm,  5.2mm ?

or

7.5mm + 2x Barlow?

7.5mm without a Barlow I'd go for. The 3.8 and 5.2mm might be beyond your scope's ability to magnify and still have sharp views.

Definitely a no to the Barlow - I used these only for imaging - visually I'm not impressed.

My most beloved EP is an 8mm.

[Russe]

I bought Omegon Cronus WA 6 mm 1,25" and Celestron 18mm X-CEL eyepiece 1.25".

The 18mm piece is awesome. I stared at Andromeda for like half an hour yesterday, untill the clouds covered it. The image of Andromeda through this eyepiece was great, but i wonder how much greater it could have gotten if i was to reduce light-polution ( i observe from an open window in a middle of the City).

6mm piece - i couldn'r focus on any of the stars. The stars looked very blurry - Is this how its suppose to be or is it becuse of the eyepiece and fast scope?

Difficult to say.

I'd start with you observing from a Window. What you don't see is tremendous air currents from the interchanging cold outside air and warm room air. This will cause stars/planets to become blurry and wobble when you start to magnify.

[Star Wanderer]

Closing the window helped a lot. I managed to see 2 lines on the Jupiter through 6mm piece, but it seem it was a bit too late. Woke up today with a running nose and a sore throat. 

[Russe]

Closing the window will get rid of the air currents but will now introduce a second lens in front of your target...

not easy that

But if closed window is better than open and you have no other option, a closed window it is!

I see you traveling to a dark site soon!!!

[impactcrater]

I love the scope and bike combo...very boy's own ! I would vote for a refractor .....I just can't see a bulky scope of any other type fitting both criteria...any other supporters ?

[Star Wanderer]

At last recovered from the cold. That was an cold experience. Need to look up for some good cloth for outside observation.

What do you guys usually wear when you are stargazing in a cold night ?

[Russe]

At last recovered from the cold. That was an cold experience. Need to look up for some good cloth for outside observation.

What do you guys usually wear when you are stargazing in a cold night ?

Thermal underwear. I dress in 3 layers and hiking boots even now already...

[Charic]

Star Wanderer.........have you thought about  a catadioptric telescope, short, sweet, compact, portable, expensive, but get the right one, and it`ll serve you for Years. Then when you have a car, it will sit neatly on the back seat, cushioned of course. The 8" (203.2mm) Newt/Dob can be seperated, but I would try  on my bike. but a Catadioptric in a Backpack, and tripod tied across handle bars,  its possible ( I still wouldnt try it on a bike) take care!

[Charic]

Oops.........somehow, I missed the second page!

[AndyWB]

What do you guys usually wear when you are stargazing in a cold night ?

Down jacket, fleece hat and scarf, thinsulate gloves, thermal vest and trousers, tracksuit bottoms and fleece jumper over that, walking boots. Just picked up a zippo handwarmer for the winter, too. And a flask of something hot. In fact, it's pretty close to what I'd wear mountaineering in the Alps - except I'm sitting 30 yards from my flat. Gives you an idea how cold it gets.

I regard the down jacket as my most useful bit of stargazing kit.

[TwoPi]

Similar to Andy, I basically wear my ski gear (but without the boots ) - base layer, mid layer, fleece and outer jacket. Only big change is gloves that are flexible / thin enough to manipulate equipment.

[RikM]

Similar gear here for the winter. Thermals, tracky bottoms, Rab powerstretch midlayer, hoody top, down jacket, beanie hat and finglerless gloves with flap over mittens. I had the biggest trouble keeping my feet warm but some HH thermal + wool socks and snowboots have taken care of that.