Back in the saddle - help needed

[Dupertron]

Haven't done any stargazing for years and a lot has changed with regards to the equipment. My wife bought me a Celestron Nexstar 102SLT and I can't wait to use it....if only the rain would stop in Cardiff.

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of eyepieces available. Can anyone give the thumbs up to

the Celestron 94303 Telescope Eye Piece and Filter Kit or recommend some eyepieces that are good for open clusters and nebula?

Cheers

Mike

[miguel87]

Hi Mike, the weather is etting me down too over in swansea.

If youre looking for quality that wont break the bank you cant go far wrong with the vixen npl range of eyepieces. You will need low magnification pieces for clusters, galaxies, nebulae and the like.

Im not sure of the focal length of your refractor so cant recommend exact eyepieces but i would suggest covering the x40-x100 range roughly speaking. You will want higher if you are interested in planets which will look ace through your scope.

Mike

[Dupertron]

Brilliant thanks

It's a 4.02 inch refractor, focal length 660mm. It's still in the box, been watching YouTube on how to sky align, seems pretty simple

I've calculated a mag limit of x252 but from what I remember there's no way I'll need to go that high.

Derek has said there may be some clear spells on New Year's Eve.

Once I've set up and got used to it will be looking to joining others

[miguel87]

You wont want to go that high with magnification either. Maybe on the moon or occassionally mars or saturn. But with open clusters and nebulae that you mention you will see nothing over 200x magnification, the objects will be too large, too dim or both. I choose to view andromeda at around 40x and the seven sisters only just fits in my view at 40x.

Yes new years ears does look promising. Ive been desperate for a session and tempted to head to usk reservoir if forecast stays good.

Hope you get a chance to play with the new scope!

[L8-Nite]

Brilliant thanks

It's a 4.02 inch refractor, focal length 660mm. It's still in the box, been watching YouTube on how to sky align, seems pretty simple

I've calculated a mag limit of x252 but from what I remember there's no way I'll need to go that high.

Derek has said there may be some clear spells on New Year's Eve.

Once I've set up and got used to it will be looking to joining others

Hello, and welcome to the South Wales Group.

Hopefully the weather will take a turn for the better soon, and we can once again resume having Observing Meets at our Blaenavon site. You would be more than welcome to join us.