Recently purchased Celestron 127EQ recommendations

[jamesj01]

Hi everyone - juts purchased my first telescope and am asking for advice on what is best to be seen through this telescope as a starter - have already seen the moon and some distant stars and am comfortable with using all of the eye pieces included. What would anyone recommend?

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @jamesj01 and welcome to SGL. 

I am not au-fait with your 'scope; but I would start gradually; (and depending on your budget); and suggest these...

• a variable polarising filter.
• a Baader neodymimum filter - I refer to this as my 'Swiss Army knife' filter.
• something from the BST Starguider e/p series. I think they have a 60 deg AFOV - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html - do not waste your money on an eyepiece or 'coloured' filter set. You may not use all the e/p's or filters - maybe of a 'poorer quality' than individually purchased ones.
• maybe' 8-24mm zoom e/p - Seben do a 'pretty good' one - avoid the 7-21mm.
• if you fancy observing the Sun in white-light, a full aperture solar filter; (either DIY or ready made) - remember to remove or make a small solar filter for the finderscope - they will need to be checked for defects before each an every use.

Above are images of the variable polarising filter; (other brands are available); I use and the Baader neodymium filter; (the larger one is the 2").

Edited May 30, 2020 by Philip R

[jamesj01]

thank you very much @Philip R - helped me out alot!

So, does the variable polarising filter serve the same function as the Baader Neodymium filter? 

[RT65CB-SWL]

The variable polarising filter I mainly use for use when observing the Moon when near or full and Venus. You rotate the filter cells to the desired level of attenuation/gain your eyes are comfortable with. 

The neodymium sort of acts as a 'contrast booster'*, 'skyglow', (more of a UV/IR filter). Enhances detail of Moon, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn or the phases of Venus, (though I prefer a #47 (violet) for it; when used with my C6/XLT-SCT). It is one of those Marmite filters... you either 'love it' or 'hate it'. It is not a substitute for a light pollution filter, but certainly an improvement as local authorities are now using LED street lighting, it is better. Cheaper light pollution filters are not really worth investing in now; as LED's tend to be brighter at the higher/blue end of the light spectrum.  

Other SGL'er's may agree or disagree with what I have said, but this is my opinion.

 

* Baader Planetarium also do a dedicated 'Contrast Booster' - these are usually used with refractor 'scopes.  

Edited May 30, 2020 by Philip R

[Mick H]

Welcome to SGL James.

You might want to consider a dew shield.

Like Astrozap Flexible Dew Shield:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/astrozap-flexible-dew-shield.html

Edited May 30, 2020 by Mick H

[jamesj01]

Thank you @Mick H

this will be very useful so will have a look to purchase one

[jamesj01]

@Philip R that's brilliant - good information so will have a look also at these options. What would you recommend pointing my telescope at apart from planets for a beginner?

[RT65CB-SWL]

Sorry can't help much there, as I am mainly solar, lunar and planetary. That said, this time of year there is M57 in Lyra; the Virgo constellation is rich with deep sky stuff and later the Cygnus constellation too.

The best advice I will give here, is to download a copy of Stellarium. It is free for computer use and about £2.99 for phone or tablet; though it is not released by the same software developer. Other free or paid apps are also available.  

 

[jamesj01]

@Philip R will do thank you - cheers for the brilliant advice - enjoy the Space X launch aswell

[RT65CB-SWL]

Now if we could persuade Mr E. Musk and team to bring back some non-working satellites on the return leg, as it is getting a tad congested up there, that would be awesome. I have just checked Heavens-Above on my Android Tablet and there is a lot of Starlink sattelites visible from about 21:50BST (20:50GMT) over my location.

[jamesj01]

@Philip R i tried having a look but they were to low in the sky for me  i agree though it is getting congested. However the launch was spectacular

One more question, what eyepiece/s would you recommend to purchase to lets say view the Andromeda galaxy or to scour the night sky?  

Edited May 30, 2020 by jamesj01

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi again @jamesj01.

Eyepieces I think are pretty much a personal choice. I myself, prefer TeleVue. They are sharp and give good contrast; but they do come at premium prices for the exotic models. The BST Starguiders... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html are good value, starting from under £50.00GBP each; or there is the Vixen NPL series... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html starting from under £40.00GBP each. The BST's are 60deg AFOV and NPL's are 50deg AFOV. I am not sure of the eye-relief on them; but I believe they are comfortable for many users. For deep sky, low to medium power wide-field e/p's would be a better choice.

SGL'ers @John,@rwilkey & @Louis D may offer better advice and suggestions. 

The image below is of my 'one-to-many' TeleVue 13mm e/p's as per my current/present signature.

They are: Plossl (left) Nagler type 1 (centre) Nagler type 6 (right) -
the Plossl gives a 50deg AFOV - the Nagler's give an 82deg AFOV.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Philip R

[Mick H]

17 hours ago, jamesj01 said:

What would you recommend pointing my telescope at apart from planets for a beginner?

As Philip said download Stellarium:

https://stellarium.org

Or SkyPortal free for IOS:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/celestron-skyportal/id877780544

I like viewing open/globular clusters try M44 the Beehive cluster, open cluster in the constellation Cancer.

Also M13 Great Globular Cluster in the constellation of Hercules.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Mick H

[jamesj01]

@Philip R have had a look at the eyepieces and the BST starguiders look ideal. Many thanks for this. What mm eyepieces are low to medium powered?

[jamesj01]

@Mick H also thanks for this, stellarium proves to be extremely useful. will also have a look at your recommended clusters. are they good to capture in astrophotography?

[RT65CB-SWL]

1 hour ago, jamesj01 said:

@Philip R have had a look at the eyepieces and the BST starguiders look ideal. Many thanks for this. What mm eyepieces are low to medium powered?

Hello.

Brand:    LOW:               MEDIUM:     HIGH:
BST's...  25mm             12-18mm       3.2-8mm
NPL's... 30*-40mm      20*-10mm      4-8mm

* Personally, if it was me, I think I would choose either of these as my 'low' magnification. 

 

I would recommend you play with the 'FOV Calculator' in the 'Resources' tab, to give you an idea... or bite the bullet and go for the Baader Planetarium 8-24mm [mk lll or lV] zoom. I have tried one and it is surprisingly good. I am thinking of adding one to my e/p collection in the future. As I said yesterday: "Eyepieces I think are pretty much a personal choice..."

Also note that if you are adding a Barlow lens, it multiplies the e/p focal length by a given factor. I have a 2.8X and a 4X, so every e/p I use, it has to multiplied by the factor of 2.8 or 4.

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by Philip R

[Mick H]

1 hour ago, jamesj01 said:

@Mick H also thanks for this, stellarium proves to be extremely useful. will also have a look at your recommended clusters. are they good to capture in astrophotography?

James, I don't do astrophotography so have no idea, but Neil took a nice pic of M13 found here:

 

[jamesj01]

@Philip R think i am starting to understand - so high power lenses for objects such as the moon and lower power for deep sky correct?

Both look brilliant and will have a go with the resources tab. Many thanks

[jamesj01]

@Mick H no worries - that image looks amazing though!

[RT65CB-SWL]

11 minutes ago, jamesj01 said:

@Philip R think i am starting to understand - so high power lenses for objects such as the moon and lower power for deep sky correct?

Both look brilliant and will have a go with the resources tab. Many thanks

In a nutshell... yes! 

[Mick H]

27 minutes ago, jamesj01 said:

so high power lenses for objects such as the moon and lower power for deep sky correct?

👍 As Philip says.

I use a Celestron Omni Plossl 32mm for DSO's, infact I use that eyepiece the most.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-omni-plossl-eyepiece.html

[jamesj01]

@Mick H will most likely go for this eyepiece - seems promising thanks

[jamesj01]

@Philip R brilliant thanks for this  took my first moon shot - stunning if i say so but sadly one of the easier things to photograph in the sky 

Edited May 31, 2020 by jamesj01

[jamesj01]

@Philip R@Mick H

Sorry am full of questions - if i were to take a photo of a nebula such as the one included in the photo attached, do they appear as that dark red/purple colour or do i have to apply a filter of some sort?

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @jamesj01. To get colour in images of DSO does require the use of filters, darks, flats, subs, etc., and processing. The human eye has not been adapted to see extremely well in the dark and some DSO targets will appear as 'grey fuzzy' or whatever. If you wish to pursue astro-imaging does require a lot of patience. Be prepared for disappointment and sleepless nights, etc., plus a whole lot of other things. I would recommend you obtain a copy of this book: 'Make Every Photon Count' and the follow-up book. Sorry, but the name of the follow-up book has escaped me at this time; as has the authors name, but I know he is an SGL'er.

If you want the laid-back approach to astro-imaging; then have a look at @rorymultistorey youtube channel 'astrobiscuit'.

There are other books and youtube channels dedicated to astro-imaging; plus here on SGL. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by Philip R