First Telescope!!

[JoelR]

Just got my first scope, orion 90mm astroview eq refractor, thinking about a barlow and moon filter for my first additional purchases, it came with a 25mm and 10mm plossl, any advice? I am interested in planetary, maybe solar and iss viewing right now.

[ronin]

At 90mm you will not really need a moon filter, it will be bright if full but not enough to bother you.

With the standard items a barlow is I suggest not going to help a great deal, the 10mm is generally not great and attaching it to a barlow is not going to make it perform better. Just thinking you could end up with a barlow that until you buy a better eyepiece will not really help you. Suggest you consider an additional eyepiece say 8mm, the scope seems to be f/10 and I guess an 8mm will be good.

If you get a barlow then the barlow and the 10mm will give likely too much magnification for the scope, about 180x, and I doubt the image will be good. ignore what they say in the blurb that comes with the scope.

For planetary you will end up with several eyepieces. You tend to have to move in small steps to get the best when viewing planets. Small steps = eyepieces.

Solar needs a good full aperture solar filter, you can make one from Baader No5 solar film (there is another solar film, just forget who's), or buy one. A Herschel wedge and continium filter is good but more costly.

ISS is simply a wide field eyepiece, the 25mm may do, and a lot of luck getting and keeping it in view.

90mm and f/10 is a fair start and the scope will deliver good reasonable views of many things.

 

[Jimtheslim]

Looks like a good scope to get started with, I got a similar one last year which really got me into the hobby. Before throwing any money at the scope, I would get used to using what you already have. having looked it up, the eyepieces supplied appear to be plossls, rather than the slightly inferior achromats supplied with some similar scopes. So don't stress about the quality of the 10mm just yet. Give it some use and see how you get on. Seeing conditions will play a big part in the quality of your views from one night to the next so get out there and start enjoying the scope, don't assume that because the view is in and out of focus that it must be due to the eyepieces.

As per above, forget a moon filter. As for a barlow, wait until you have used what you already have and start having a think about what kinds of view/magnification you'd like for certain targets. For planets you might want to go for something like a good quality 7mm or 8mm in future, rather than using a Barlow to get down, effectively to 5mm with you current eyepiece. The seeing conditions woul have to be very good to really get a lot of use out of this configuration and my personal preference is not to use a Barlow, but it's worth considering for the future.

One weak link with some of these refractors is the diagonal mirror. the one supplied is likely to be a standard mirror which offers around 90% light reflection. I upgraded mine to a 99% dialetric. With the muted, darkened, mat black inner coatings and higher reflectivity I noticed a difference straight away. It's something else along with the eyepieces to consider in the future for getting the most out of the scope.

Above all, get out there and get looking and enjoy.

 

[Putaendo Patrick]

Welcome to the SGL forums!

Good advice from Ronin and Jimtheslim! As a rough rule of thumb, the maximun useful magnification of a telescope is double the aperture in millimeters - in your case x180 - and this too depends on atmospheric conditions, in the UK many people say about x200. However, with lunar observation you can often push this up a bit. The magnification of any particular eyepiece for a specific scope is calculated by dividing the focal length of the scope by the millimeters of the eyepiece - in your case, 900mm divided by for example 10mm to give x90, or 900 divided by 5mm to give x180.

As Ronin says, the 10mm supplied Orion EP is not fantastic, but it is usable. Combining a poor EP with a poor Barlow will not give the best results, but it will work to an extent. A lot depends on what you are prepared to spend now or in the future - but if you realise the limitations, I might well give it a go. A regular quality Barlow can be picked up new for some 25 to 30 pounds, and if you're lucky you might find one secondhand for half that. Revelation is a brand which is well considered in this price range. If you continue to view the Moon, in the longer term you might consider the 8mm as suggested, or even a 5 or 6mm.

(I now see you're from Indianna - so prices in dollars, but you may find a secondhand Barlow even cheaper in the USA)

A solar filter will work well on your telescope, you can view basic sunspots etc. as well as any eclipses, transits etc which may come up. You can buy ready made filters or may your own from special mylar film. There are also other types of special filters for Solar observation which reveal different information - but these are expensive!

Hold off on the Moon filter until you find out personally whether you need it. Meantime, you can put sunglasses over the EP if you find the glare uncomfortable. The light of the Moon is not dangerous, but certainly can ruin your night vision for a few minutes!

Clear skies!

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. Lots of good advice already given. At first it is best to learn yourscopes capabilities with the eyepieces supplied. Then you will have a much better idea of what you need to improve your observing.

[JoelR]

The insights are much appreciated. I don' t want to throw money in the wrong direction for sure. Thanks again!

 

[SacRiker]

4 hours ago, JoelR said:

The insights are much appreciated. I don' t want to throw money in the wrong direction for sure. Thanks again!

 

Welcome! Be sure to give us a "first light" report the first time you use your scope. 

[Dazzyt66]

Forget a moon filter - I've got one and have used it twice. I much prefer just putting the lens cap on and removing the small cap (not sure if yours will be like that but both my scopes have that feature on their caps) - which reduces the light input and doesn't alter the view

[romx]

I aqree with everyone saying a moon filter isnt needed (unless you have poor eyes), a 8MM lens will do just fine for planets like Jupiter and make it big enough to pull detail and banding without having poor focus but 6MM might be good too, If you are confident about upgrading in the future then it really cant hurt to have a few lenses of different sizes but if your still feeling it out then I would just get the 8 or 6 MM for planetary and go from there. I personally dont use a barlow (although in a light polluted are of UK) and get some really nice views of planets the moon and stars. the baader solar film or a pre made one will be a good purchase giving your telescope atleast double its normal use as the sky is often clearer during the day, whatever you do though spend the extra for decent lenses filters etc it really does make a difference in the long run and means you wont end up replacing things as soon

[rockystar]

I personally can't do any Luna without a moon filter - but there you go, horses and courses and all that. Try it out on your own eyes and if you can't get comfortable, get a moon filter - I've also used it to try and split some doubles when the primary is much brighter.

[Dave In Vermont]

When someone says- 'Moon-Filter,' I get this mental image of a plastic-cell that says MOON-FILTER on it. And these are the ones most people end up with who are just starting out. Do you need one? Do you want one? All that is your decision. I only wish to suggest that if you do go for a Moon filter - look into a two-cell Polarizing-Filter. The prefunctory type is a 13% light-transmission filter. A two-cell Polarizing-type adjust (by rotating them to each other) from 1% - 40% light-transmission. And these are also quite useful for other things than the Moon. Such as Venus, mis-matched magnitude double-stars, etc. Here's a link to Orion's version of such:

http://www.telescope.com/Accessories/Telescope-Eyepiece-Filters/Orion-Variable-Polarizing-Eyepiece-Moon-Filters/pc/-1/c/3/sc/48/e/14.uts

These cost a bit more, but people tend to get much more out of them, too.

My 2¢ -

Dave

PS: Welcome to SGL - it's nice to have you aboard!

[Negatron]

17 hours ago, ronin said:

Solar needs a good full aperture solar filter, you can make one from Baader No5 solar film (there is another solar film, just forget who's), or buy one. A Herschel wedge and continium filter is good but more costly.

 

Thousand Oaks Optical makes a visual grade solar filter, its usually the only film I hear aside from Baader. they are cheaper than Baader Astrofilm but honestly Baader just seemed higher quality, and when this film is the difference between sight and no sight, try to go as high quality as you can. 

Is looking at the moon now unbearable for you? Its REALLY bright, but I've heard no worse than looking at the sidewalk in the afternoon, just seems worse with dark adapted eyes. My scope came with the basic filter and I dont really like it. If its really bright but not bad, I wouldnt bother. If its causing you discomfort, thats a different story

[DHEB]

On 5/23/2016 at 12:38, Dave In Vermont said:

When someone says- 'Moon-Filter,' I get this mental image of a plastic-cell that says MOON-FILTER on it. And these are the ones most people end up with who are just starting out. Do you need one? Do you want one? All that is your decision. I only wish to suggest that if you do go for a Moon filter - look into a two-cell Polarizing-Filter. The prefunctory type is a 13% light-transmission filter. A two-cell Polarizing-type adjust (by rotating them to each other) from 1% - 40% light-transmission. And these are also quite useful for other things than the Moon. Such as Venus, mis-matched magnitude double-stars, etc. Here's a link to Orion's version of such:

http://www.telescope.com/Accessories/Telescope-Eyepiece-Filters/Orion-Variable-Polarizing-Eyepiece-Moon-Filters/pc/-1/c/3/sc/48/e/14.uts

These cost a bit more, but people tend to get much more out of them, too.

My 2¢ -

Dave

PS: Welcome to SGL - it's nice to have you aboard!

Good advice Dave! Robert and Barbara Thompson, in their book "Astronomy Hacks" say that if you think the Moon is too bright, then it is Nature's way of telling you to use higher magnification. I experienced it myself and believe to be a very good rule of thumb!

[LukeSkywatcher]

On 22/05/2016 at 18:17, JoelR said:

Just got my first scope, orion 90mm astroview eq refractor, thinking about a barlow and moon filter for my first additional purchases, it came with a 25mm and 10mm plossl, any advice? I am interested in planetary, maybe solar and iss viewing right now.

Save your money and dont buy a Moon filter. Not needed. Not even sure if you need a 2x barlow.

Spend the money instead on maybe an 8mm or 15mm eyepiece.

[uhb1966]

I'm a noob myself, but i think along the lines of Luke - if you do a lot of visual observing, a few good eyepieces will change your experience much to the better, and you can use them with any scope you might buy later on, so its a safe investment

[g30rg313]

On 22/05/2016 at 19:35, Jimtheslim said:

 

One weak link with some of these refractors is the diagonal mirror. the one supplied is likely to be a standard mirror which offers around 90% light reflection. I upgraded mine to a 99% dialetric. With the muted, darkened, mat black inner coatings and higher reflectivity I noticed a difference straight away. It's something else along with the eyepieces to consider in the future for getting the most out of the scope.

Above all, get out there and get looking and enjoy.

 

I just want to hi-jack this discussion a moment to check whether I would be able to use a dielectric diagonal with a skymax 127?  Thought I'd better check before I buy one.

[Dave In Vermont]

1 hour ago, g30rg313 said:

I just want to hi-jack this discussion a moment to check whether I would be able to use a dielectric diagonal with a skymax 127?  Thought I'd better check before I buy one.

Yes, the 127 will accept any variety of diagonal, 90° or 45°, that you wish to use - including 2" diagonals, which I suggest you get. These come with an included 2" - 1.25" adapter, allowing you a choice of using either a 1.25" eyepiece, or a 2" eyepiece. This may come in handy should you wish to wring a wider FOV (field of view) from these Maksutov's - which have an inherently narrow FOV.

I'm glad replacing the one that came with is on your To-Do-list. I also have a Skywatcher Maksutov. And I can vouch for the fact that the diagonal that came with it is rather poor. I went for my 5th William Optics 2" Dielectric 90° diagonal. I like the WO ones. But any dielectric 90° model will be a generous improvement. These telescopes are great! You'll love it!

Dave

[g30rg313]

I've been looking at the WO one from FLO