Jump to content

Son of an Astronomer...

Starlord71

Recommended Posts

Starlord71

Starlord71

Posted
Posted

Ok...my father was an amature astronomer. While he had many scopes through my childhood a small Celestron C5 was passed down to me.

2 questions... is there an active club in my area? Debary, Florida (Volusia county)?

Is there any (pactical) chance this unit can be cleaned? Inner front lens is dusty. Suspect mirror is too.

Move thread were you prefer.

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Galen Gilmore

Galen Gilmore

Posted
Posted

I agree with Geoff about the dust.

If the dust is light, than you will hardly notice anything wrong. Both of my Newtonians perform phenomenally, despite the unholy amount of dust, cat hairs, and pollen that sits on the primary mirror. And if you do notice dust bunnies, it is most likely the eyepiece not the scope.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Starlord71

Starlord71

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Its more of a haze as Ive looked at it more. Ill try and get a photo later.

Im currently researching bigger scopes. Possibly with a drive. I would like to see nebulas and galexies..  it thats reasonable near entry level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stu Todd

Stu Todd

Posted
Posted

Welcome to Astronomy Starlord!

You're Dad left you a great gift man, not only in the C5 but an interest in the universe. 

 

TBH, if you want to get into astronomy, get a guidebook (or Sky and Telescope magazine) and a pair of 10x50 binoculars and learn your way around the constellations. There's no fun pulling a smartphone out of your pocket with an app to tell you where you're looking. If you want to look closer, hey, you have a C5 for extra magnification.

Also, as long as you mark everything up on the corrector plate (i.e, put stuff EXACTLY where you find it), cleaning it is a breeze. Just Google "cleaning a corrector plate". 

Enjoy your hobby man.

 

Stu 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Starlord71

Starlord71

Posted
  • Author
Posted
13 hours ago, Buzzard75 said:

Another resource is the NASA Night Sky Network. It doesn't list every astronomy club/society, but I doubt any website probably does. For example, our club isn't listed on go-astronomy. Looks like Central Florida Astronomical Society is pretty close. 

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/club-view.cfm?Club_ID=103

I'm going to try and go to their next meeting. Very close to me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fozzybear

fozzybear

Posted
Posted

this might help its the manual for the C5 circa 1971 and I have one of these scopes as long as you mark everything do you know how old the scope is, if you take out the big ring holding the corrector plate in be carefull as there maybe some cork spacers centering the corrector plate to the tube wall and these might stick to the securing ring

hope this helps

Andy

 

c5-8manual1971.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Starlord71

Starlord71

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Mine is not quite that old. I do the have manual. I didn't see cleaning instructions but I'll look again. Think I'll follow the other recommendation at this point... if it's not impeding my view I'll leave it alone. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fozzybear

fozzybear

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Starlord71 said:

Mine is not quite that old. I do the have manual. I didn't see cleaning instructions but I'll look again. Think I'll follow the other recommendation at this point... if it's not impeding my view I'll leave it alone. 

Page 24

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cosmic Geoff

Cosmic Geoff

Posted
Posted
On ‎27‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 14:16, Starlord71 said:

Its more of a haze as Ive looked at it more. Ill try and get a photo later.

Im currently researching bigger scopes. Possibly with a drive. I would like to see nebulas and galexies..  it thats reasonable near entry level.

You may not find cleaning instructions in the manual.  And definitely not instructions for taking it to bits.

My 127mm Mak shows galaxies and nebulae if taken to a dark skies site, (and a small number from the backyard) so your C5 should do exactly the same.

You imply that your C5 outfit does not have a drive (unlike the new ones, which mostly come with a GoTo mount.)  If that's the case, you could re-mount it on the mount of your choice - the C5 is small and light enough for there to be plenty of choice of GoTo alt-azimuth mounts or driven equatorial mounts (GoTo or plain motorized).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.