Any Ideas?

[Kaliska]

Any ideas what could be causing this?

First night with a new Espirit 80ED and I'm getting this from bright star images

[MarsG76]

Nothing in the light path that could be causing the diffraction?

Smudge on the lens or camera sensor?

 

[Kaliska]

No, nothing in the light path, its the same on different bright stars, and the lens looks clear. The sensor? Not sure how to tell if there is a mark on that. Previous images with my SW80ED didn't show that up last time i imaged. And all I have done since then is remove it from there over this new scope.

[alan potts]

Have you tried different eyepieces and still got the same effect?

[Kaliska]

Last night was first light for this new scope and I was only imaging with it.

[ollypenrice]

To eliminate the sensor try rotating the camera during a series of test subs. 

Even the very best refractors will give artefacts on bright stars. They should, though, be symmetrical and clearly this one isn't. I'd send as many example images as possible to the vendor and ask for their opinion. Mis-collimation is surely a possibility.

Olly

[Kaliska]

I'll try that on the next clear night.

Although this is a brand new scope, unfortunately it was bought second hand. According to the seller, he hadn't used it at all and from inspection of the scope, I can confirm that there isnt a scratch on it anywhere. The packaging it came in said it was bought from FLO in 2013.

[cosmojaydee]

1 hour ago, Kaliska said:

I'll try that on the next clear night.

Although this is a brand new scope, unfortunately it was bought second hand. According to the seller, he hadn't used it at all and from inspection of the scope, I can confirm that there isnt a scratch on it anywhere. The packaging it came in said it was bought from FLO in 2013.

Hi there , the scope was bought in 2016 from FLO , I took a test photo with the scope and it did not show any diffraction 

[Kaliska]

12 minutes ago, cosmojaydee said:

the scope was bought in 2016 from FLO

Apologiees Jeff, I had it in my mind that i saw 2013 on the packaging you sent it in, my mistake, it was probably just the excitement of the new toy

[cosmojaydee]

2 minutes ago, Kaliska said:

Apologiees Jeff, I had it in my mind that i saw 2013 on the packaging you sent it in, my mistake, it was probably just the excitement of the new toy

No problem , if you can't sort it speak to flo about Es Reid Optical Bench Test and let me know the cost please

[Kaliska]

Thank you Jeff, that is much appreciated. I have a few things to look at tonight as suggested above, hopefully I will find the culprit and be able to recify it (fingers crossed).

[FLO]

Hi chaps  

I put 1+1 together when I saw your emails then searched SGL. 

Unfortunately Sky-Watcher's warranty is not transferable so we cannot approach them but, now we know it really is one of ours, we will do our best to help. 

Will email you both. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[Sp@ce_d]

Kaliska is this on all stars across the sensor?. I just got a new camera (ZWO1600) I'm checking out with one of my Esprit 80's I've not used for a while. I saw the same diffraction pattern on bright stars towards the corner whilst tweaking the distance to flattener. Not sure I kept the subs as cant find them right now. So is it possible its a spacing/tilt issue? I think mine have gone away after adding just 1mm, although not had good enough skies to confirm yet.

[FLO]

Looking at a photo of the telescope optics from Cosmojaydee (the original owner) it appears an O-Ring has become dislodged and moved into the light-path.

We haven't seen this before but we are chatting with them both, piecing together the telescope's history, and will do our best to help. 

HTH, 

Steve

[RayD]

This is similar to what I had when one of the rings popped off my Hotech field flattener in my TS80.

[FLO]

4 minutes ago, RayD said:

This is similar to what I had when one of the rings popped off my Hotech field flattener in my TS80.

In this instance it appears to be a large O-ring from around the edge of the lens cell, not a foreign one. I have spoken with Sky-Watcher's importer, they haven't seen anything like it either. 

We will ask Es' if he will take a look  

[RayD]

2 minutes ago, FLO said:

In this instance it appears to be a large O-ring from around the edge of the lens cell, not a foreign one. I have spoken with Sky-Watcher's importer, they haven't seen anything like it either. 

We will ask Es' if he will take a look  

No sorry I meant the symptoms not the fault (my fault I wasn't clear).

Nice that you are helping, and underlines the benefits of buying from a very reputable source.

[Kaliska]

7 hours ago, RayD said:

Nice that you are helping, and underlines the benefits of buying from a very reputable source.

I second that, Steve has been extremely helpful with this issue as has Jeff as well.

In the image below you can see the O-ring start to creep in at the "8" (of the APO 80) then sneak back out at the "Y" (of Sky-Watcher). I'm just glad that if have identified the problem and the wheels are now in motion to getting it fixed