Celestron ultima 2x

[neil phillips]

Is there any combinations of equipment you have fond memories of ? Mine was A Orion 250 F6.3 1/10TH pv in combination with TV powermates and barlows. Another was same said scope with a Celestron 2x Ultima barlow. In my opinion one of the best shorty's ever made period. I loved its extremely sharp images it produced. About to get the revamped Orion 250 running again soon i hope.

What better combination to pair it with than the excellent Japanese 2x Ultima. So i couldnt resist. Call me crazy but just purchased a nice condition one from ENS optical for £80. Steep i know. But heck. I want a trip down memory lane. And clearly i am willing to pay for it. I know they can come up much cheaper than this from time to time. But they are rare. 

So here's hoping its in good condition.

[Stu]

For me, I think a Televue Genesis combined with a 31mm Nagler is about there in terms of perfection for widefield DSO viewing under a dark sky. Add a Lumicon (original) OIII, a mag 21+ sky and you are in Veil/NAN nirvana. The 5 degree field of view fits the whole Veil complex in easily, setting it in context yet still allowing you to see each individual section. Not detailed, but a view I never tire of seeing.

I’ve had three Genesis scopes now, and don’t intend to let this one go as it seems the best of the three. It’s even quite capable at high power, CA present by well controlled. I’m also on my second Nagler. I sold the first a long time ago and have missed it ever since. I had an ES 30mm for a while in between and while it was excellent, it showed field curvature in the Genesis that spoiled the view, so when a big Nag came up at a decent price I jumped at the chance to re-unite these two lovely Televue items. I’m now just waiting for the opportunity to use it under a dark sky again.

Here’s a report from 2014 when I used the combo first. There was a 21mm Ethos in the mix too, but I certainly can’t afford one of those at the moment!

 

[Mr Spock]

I've missed my 250mm Newt over the years, so, another is arriving tomorrow.

At the moment I'm contemplating completing the set up. At the time I had my best views of the Moon and Mars using a 4mm NLV. I sold that when I sold the 250. I bought a C9.25 with which the 4mm at x588 was useless. I now have a 12, 10 and 9, when I really need a 6, 5 and 4... For now I'll be using a Barlow. But, the thoughts of a set of SLVs is beckoning. Sell the 12, 10 and 9 NLVs and replace with 6, 5 and 4 SLVs.

[neil phillips]

14 hours ago, Stu said:

For me, I think a Televue Genesis combined with a 31mm Nagler is about there in terms of perfection for widefield DSO viewing under a dark sky. Add a Lumicon (original) OIII, a mag 21+ sky and you are in Veil/NAN nirvana. The 5 degree field of view fits the whole Veil complex in easily, setting it in context yet still allowing you to see each individual section. Not detailed, but a view I never tire of seeing.

I’ve had three Genesis scopes now, and don’t intend to let this one go as it seems the best of the three. It’s even quite capable at high power, CA present by well controlled. I’m also on my second Nagler. I sold the first a long time ago and have missed it ever since. I had an ES 30mm for a while in between and while it was excellent, it showed field curvature in the Genesis that spoiled the view, so when a big Nag came up at a decent price I jumped at the chance to re-unite these two lovely Televue items. I’m now just waiting for the opportunity to use it under a dark sky again.

Here’s a report from 2014 when I used the combo first. There was a 21mm Ethos in the mix too, but I certainly can’t afford one of those at the moment!

Never looked through a TV Stu. Guess i dont know how perfect a fracs view can be. Just reports from others. Ive had a couple of lenses over the years (Barlow, powermate ) But nothing scope wise

 

[neil phillips]

14 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

I've missed my 250mm Newt over the years, so, another is arriving tomorrow.

At the moment I'm contemplating completing the set up. At the time I had my best views of the Moon and Mars using a 4mm NLV. I sold that when I sold the 250. I bought a C9.25 with which the 4mm at x588 was useless. I now have a 12, 10 and 9, when I really need a 6, 5 and 4... For now I'll be using a Barlow. But, the thoughts of a set of SLVs is beckoning. Sell the 12, 10 and 9 NLVs and replace with 6, 5 and 4 SLVs.

Deepsky or planetary Newt ? Not many planetary around tbh. My F 6.3 is leaning in the planetary camp 

Edited May 16, 2021 by neil phillips

[Mr Spock]

I'll be using it as an all-rounder. The only thing missing will be fuzzies - too much LP here. Planets are too low at the moment too, so it'll be moon, doubles, clusters.

The orthos I favour for planets/doubles with Barlow would give x202, x280 and x360. So, a nice spread. Without the Barlow I'll be using LVWs as they are better corrected for a fast Newt.

[Stu]

6 hours ago, neil phillips said:

Never looked through a TV Stu. Guess i dont know how perfect a fracs view can be. Just reports from others. Ive had a couple of lenses over the years (Barlow, powermate ) But nothing scope wise

I’ve had a few Neil. TV76, TV85 and the three Genesis. The 85 was probably the nicest optically, though generally I think they are a smidge below Taks in that respect. Build quality is lovely though, like they are hewn from a lump of metal!

The Genesis is a lovely old scope. It’s a petzval design, although an achro, but I gives these wonderful wide flat fields which are superb for scanning the Milky Way and for large clusters and nebulae. It’s still capable of x200 though, so can split a fairly tight double and does surprisingly well on the Moon.

[Don Pensack]

On 16/05/2021 at 16:53, Mr Spock said:

I'll be using it as an all-rounder. The only thing missing will be fuzzies - too much LP here. Planets are too low at the moment too, so it'll be moon, doubles, clusters.

The orthos I favour for planets/doubles with Barlow would give x202, x280 and x360. So, a nice spread. Without the Barlow I'll be using LVWs as they are better corrected for a fast Newt.

And:

--carbon stars

--bright planetary nebulae

Just make sure to match the magnification with the object.

Here in my Bortle 10 environment in Los Angeles (you can read a newspaper at night), I get great views of clusters and planetaries at 150-240x in my 4" refractor.

Using 100x is questionable and anything lower is a waste of time.

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, Don Pensack said:

Here in my Bortle 10 environment in Los Angeles (you can read a newspaper at night)

😲 

That's crazy bright.  No wonder you drive to Mt. Pinos to observe.  At least you don't have to worry about finding eyepieces or lens caps in the dark there in LA, because there is no darkness. 😁

[Don Pensack]

When the air is clear and dry, the light scatter goes way down and I have seen 5th magnitude stars with averted vision.  That isn't common this time of year, but is in the Fall.

This time of year as Orion sets over the water you can see 9-10 stars in Orion if it's clear (about 1 night in 10).

In contrast, averted vision reaches magnitude 7 on a regular basis where I drive in the mountains to observe.

[Louis D]

I've seen the same effect here in the winter after a strong Arctic front pushes through and the sky has a day to settle.  On those nights, sky-glow is markedly less, but the air is also much colder than it would otherwise be.