Collimating Orion XT8

[cameron326]

Hi everyone,

I've had this telescope a while now. While I get the basic idea of the collimating thing, I still find the descriptions and pictures confusing sometimes. I've got everything pretty symmetrical in relation to everything else, as can hopefully be seen in the photo. However, the other day I read in an online collimation guide that for the Orion XT8 (or similar spec scopes) to be perfectly collimated, everything should appear symmetrical (which I have pretty much I think) but everything should appear slighly off to one side. But my setup through the collimation eyepiece seems that everything is very dead central and symmetrical. Is that right? For what its worth, I'm happy with the views I've been getting, however I sometimes wonder if I'm missing some minor details when observing the planets which might be available if collimation was more perfect. Any thoughts much appreciated!

[Mand1]

I’ve got same scope. I’d be very happy with what you’ve got collimating wise.

if the views are good, leave alone..

[cameron326]

1 hour ago, Mand1 said:

I’ve got same scope. I’d be very happy with what you’ve got collimating wise.

if the views are good, leave alone..

Ok, thanks for the feedback!