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orions_boot

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Hi all.

With the help of this forum I got my self kitted up about a year ago.  I would appreciate some assistance where I go now with equipment if anywhere.

I have a 10" dob, bader zoom and the Barlow, 35mm 2" ep and the stock 25mm ep.  I upgraded the straight finder to a RACI and have added an oiii filter (a cheap brand) and an astronomik UHC filter (1.25").  I also bought a Rigel finder.  I even upgraded my sky moving from Bortle 6/7 to Bortle 4.  I use The Observers Sky Atlas and David Chandler Planisphere.

What I have determined is I prefer to look for DSOs.  I am not too bothered about stars.  I do enjoy seeing Jupiter and Saturn and once or twice I have tried the moon.  However I am quite happy to spend an hour finding one or two difficult DSO and be content with that.

I mostly use the zoom scope but I don't like the narrow view.  I also don't like the more I zoom in the darker the image becomes.  Is this normal though?  The 35mm has its uses but is not consistently used.  I have only used the Barlow for planets and the moon.

I would appreciate some views on what if anything I could look in to buying that might help me now I know what I like doing.  Thank you.

 

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There are things you could change but I would say you are starting from a set up that is already very good.

The view darkening as you zoom is normal, that's just what happens as you increase the magnification. When you are looking at dark objects extra magnification can help as as any background sky glow is darkened so a faint object may stand out more from the background, and the object is magnified to a larger size so your eyes/brain may pick it up better.

As you zoom in with zoom eyepiece the true field of view (the actual span of sky you can see) gets smaller but at the same time the apparent field of view (the angle presented to your eye) gets bigger and is not bad at 68 degrees at full magnification.

If you wanted a wider true field of view at high magnification there are fixed focal length eyepieces going up to 100 degrees or so at your eye that will therefore take in more true field of view but you would need a number of them to cover different focal lengths which comes at a higher overall cost and also means a higher workload out in the field changing eyepieces.

The Baader zoom eyepiece is optimised for the high magnification end of its range and the compromises are made at the lower end of its magnification range, so it is easier to beat the Baader with a fixed eyepiece at the lower magnifications than it is at the higher magnifications.

Another thing to consider if the field of view is too narrow is whether it is the field of view that is really what is annoying or something else, for example at narrow fields of view the thing that annoyed me at first was actually the tracking workload and having to constantly move a scope to follow an object, so that was one of the first things I went to work on to improve my experience at high powers.

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I think your best move would be to seek out your local astro club or society.
Your interest is wetted, your on the journey and the input of some like minded folks who you can meet would help perhaps.

I used to not like clubs too much but joined my club CPAC some years ago and my knowledge grew enormously as did my circle of friends.
I am now part of the club Committee and very involved.

Your set up sounds great for you interest area and as you say perhaps this is the point for some tweaks, but don't go too mad.
 

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Quote

Given your interest in DSOs, then I suggest you get a copy of "Visual Astronomy of the Deep Sky" by Roger N Clark.  This has an in depth discussion of how to get the best out of your equipment.  His website is useful https://clarkvision.com/articles/visastro/index.html

I agree with the prior comments that an 8" in a bortle 4 sky should provide wonderful viewing opportunities.

 

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23 hours ago, Paz said:

 

The Baader zoom eyepiece is optimised for the high magnification end of its range and the compromises are made at the lower end of its magnification range, so it is easier to beat the Baader with a fixed eyepiece at the lower magnifications than it is at the higher magnifications.

Another thing to consider if the field of view is too narrow is whether it is the field of view that is really what is annoying or something else, for example at narrow fields of view the thing that annoyed me at first was actually the tracking workload and having to constantly move a scope to follow an object, so that was one of the first things I went to work on to improve my experience at high powers.

Dear Paz.  Thanks for your detailed response.  I have quoted above the points that seem to add some learning to what I knew but didn't understand.  This will give me something to think about.

10 hours ago, Alan White said:

I think your best move would be to seek out your local astro club or society.
 

Good point and I hadn't even considered that.  Thank you.

2 hours ago, Oldfort said:

 

For some reason your post doesn't quote correctly.   I have bought a new book "Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders: From Novice to Master Observer (DIY Science) " I will look further into the website you quoted.

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On 04/11/2021 at 21:19, Paz said:

 

The Baader zoom eyepiece is optimised for the high magnification end of its range and the compromises are made at the lower end of its magnification range, so it is easier to beat the Baader with a fixed eyepiece at the lower magnifications than it is at the higher magnifications.

 

I have been looking at 68 degrees EP.  It seems the options could be to buy a 24mm EP to replace the stock EP.  It can also help at lower magnification.  With a Barlow it will produce an exit pupil and magnification suitable for some sample DSO nebula I checked on the FLO tool.  Is there anything wrong in using the Barlow to get the correct exit pupil rather than buy a specific EP?

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Delos ep's are very good..the 17mm is a gem...books, go for Hidden treasures and The secret deep maybe uranometria 2000. Pocket sky atlas is fantastic but the best purchase is a tank of petrol and get to dark skies. I observe with the Dob mob which includes 18",20"and a 22" but from the same site used a 10" dob and I was blown away how much you can see with one in true dark skies. Galaxy hunting is our forte, clear skies!

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On 11/11/2021 at 21:20, orions_boot said:

I have been looking at 68 degrees EP.  It seems the options could be to buy a 24mm EP to replace the stock EP.  It can also help at lower magnification.  With a Barlow it will produce an exit pupil and magnification suitable for some sample DSO nebula I checked on the FLO tool.  Is there anything wrong in using the Barlow to get the correct exit pupil rather than buy a specific EP?

Barlows are fine and you can enjoy getting more options out of fewer eyepieces, saving money and saving space in your eyepiece case. Single eyepieces have advantages but come at greater expense and with the complexity of having more eyepieces to have to carry out and manage in the field.

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On 03/11/2021 at 17:46, orions_boot said:

Hi all.

With the help of this forum I got my self kitted up about a year ago.  I would appreciate some assistance where I go now with equipment if anywhere.

I have a 10" dob, bader zoom and the Barlow, 35mm 2" ep and the stock 25mm ep.  I upgraded the straight finder to a RACI and have added an oiii filter (a cheap brand) and an astronomik UHC filter (1.25").  I also bought a Rigel finder.  I even upgraded my sky moving from Bortle 6/7 to Bortle 4.  I use The Observers Sky Atlas and David Chandler Planisphere.

What I have determined is I prefer to look for DSOs.  I am not too bothered about stars.  I do enjoy seeing Jupiter and Saturn and once or twice I have tried the moon.  However I am quite happy to spend an hour finding one or two difficult DSO and be content with that.

I mostly use the zoom scope but I don't like the narrow view.  I also don't like the more I zoom in the darker the image becomes.  Is this normal though?  The 35mm has its uses but is not consistently used.  I have only used the Barlow for planets and the moon.

I would appreciate some views on what if anything I could look in to buying that might help me now I know what I like doing.  Thank you.

 

Baader Hyperion 68° eyepieces are pretty versatile, in that the field lens assembly can be removed giving a wide field option. Or, by using extension rings, they can increase their focal length. They are very nice eyepieces which don't cost the earth. I don't care much for zoom eyepieces, as the field narrows as the magnification reduces, when you really want the opposite to happen. The 24mm Hyperion is possibly my favourite, and is much more comfortable to use than the 24mm Panoptic, while being just as well corrected towards the edge of field in an F7 refractor. As for the use of Barlow lenses, I think they are great! Barlowing my 17.5mm Morpheus gives me an eyepiece that is superb for nebulae and galaxies at 8.75mm (~9mm) focal length. 

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I have a contrary opinion on the Hyperion 24. It was my favorite eyepiece in an F13 Mak, but I was frankly horrified when I changed to an F5 Newt. The correction to the edges was simply unacceptable to me. I replaced it with an Explore Scientific 24mm with the same field of view than performed perfectly in the Newt.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I 2nd the suggestion  for "Visual Astronomy of the Deep Sky" by Roger N Clark.   I was just looking at the link.   I wish I had that when I was starting out.   The DSO list in section   "7. A Visual Atlas of Deep-Sky Objects"  is like the best of the best list for viewers in the northern hemisphere..  

I suggest looking into getting some astronomy planning software like SkyTools 4 https://skyhound.com/skytools_visual.html   It provides just about everything you need for observing DSO's plus current data on planets, asteroids, comets, bright nova/supernova etc.   One of the features I use the most is making custom charts based on my equipment.  A chart contains a naked eye view, a finder view, and an  eyepiece view based on my telescope, finder, and whatever eyepiece I plan on using.   It makes finding and seeing faint DSOs much easier.  

 

Phil

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