Activity Update

[CruzanGazer]

It’s been a while since I’ve posted since getting my first telescope, an 8” dobsonian, for Christmas.    Had a great deal of success early on with Jupiter and Saturn, Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, and more.  I’ve learned a lot in just a few months, and this period of time has been focused on locating as many galaxies as possible, and getting up early to once again visit the parade of planets.  Tonight I was finally able to find the Whirlpool and Sombrero galaxies that have been elusive.  Bode’s and Cigar have been easy to find, as have Markarians chain, at least some of them.  I think anything less than about an 8.5 brightness is really hard for me to locate, at least with the eye pieces I have.  But I will keep trying!  If you don’t remember me this is my first effort at learning the night sky, and I’m 67!  This is not a go to or push to so I’m using Az/Alt with a compass and digital inclinometer to help find things.  When I was able to see Andromeda I hopped between Cassiopeia and Pegasus.

 

Does anyone have any eye piece suggestions?  I use mainly a 26mm to search. A 17mm - 7mm zoom, then a 10mm with a 2xBarlow.  Often I can’t get to the 7mm or use the Barlow with out losing focus.

[Jiggy 67]

Glad to see you’re enjoying yourself.

When you say that you lose focus, do you mean that you have to refocus or you can’t get focus at all with the 7mm? Refocusing is perfectly normal when changing eyepieces. I don’t know what ep’s you are using but you may need an extension tube if you can’t focus at all at higher mag, others will know better about this than me.

You seem to have a good range of focal lengths with your eyepieces and a Barlow but what are they, what is the quality like. It may be time to get your debit card out because getting some premium eyepieces can make a big difference . If your pockets are deep enough, I would recommend the TV 24 Panoptic or it’s Explore Scientific equivalent. A Baader Hyperion 8-24mm zoom . There are many fixed focal length ep’s but I use the Baader Morpheus range and love them in my 8 inch reflector. I use a 4mm and 6mm Vixen SLV for high mag and I recommend them as well. 

[Louis D]

I could have all sorts of eyepiece suggestions, but I would need more information to narrow it down.  What's your budget per eyepiece and in total?  Do you have strong eye astigmatism and need to wear eyeglasses at the eyepiece?  Do you like really wide apparent fields of view or are you satisfied with somewhat narrower fields of view?  What objects do you like to observe the most?

Here's a group shot of my eyepieces I recently took, so there's plenty of choices in eyepieces out there:

[Paz]

Something just to mention is that the 7mm setting on your zoom eyepiece and the 10mm with 2x Barlow will be producing high magnifications where any issues such as poor atmosphere, being out of collimation, or a scope that is still cooling down become much more apparent and best focus might not be as sharp picture.

Also when you add a Barlow that may move the focal point quite a way out (backwards) compared to where the eyepiece would normally focus. You could try racking the focuser all the way back to find the focus (and using a brighter star makes it easier).

[CruzanGazer]

Thank you all for your insight and suggestions.  Yes, I do refocus after changing ep’s, so I may not have great conditions.  Humidity isn’t a problem here as the temp/dew point are fairly consistent year round.  It’s in the mid 80’s during the day and high 70’s at night.

Louis, where in Texas are you?  

[Sunshine]

Do you have compound eyes? I am stunned at this collection, I need 5 or 6, how do you pick them for a session? or do you carry them all out? wow.

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Do you have compound eyes? I am stunned at this collection, I need 5 or 6, how do you pick them for a session? or do you carry them all out? wow.

They're stored across 8 cases.  I mostly use those stored in my A-Team case which receives upgrades over the years as new and better eyepieces become available.  I hold onto the eyepieces that are replaced for comparison purposes.  I'm not short of cash and have plenty of storage space, so I'm not in any hurry to sell them.  Many are long since discontinued and are difficult to locate should I become nostalgic to look through them again.  I keep these retirees in separate cases.

Some are special purpose, such as for binoviewing and are in a separate case.  Some are affordable kits I bought for comparison and review.  I've passed these along to my daughter to use.  She's figuring out which she likes best.  As she progresses, I'll probably loan her some of the retirees that used to be top of the line eyepieces in their own right.

Some eyepieces were packaged with telescopes and have no resale value at all, so I keep them for comparison.  I enjoy documenting hard measurements of them to better understand how eyepieces differ from each other and from their manufacturer specs.

I compare myself to musicians who have 40 or more versions of their favorite instrument such as trumpets and guitars.  They usually represent various eras and styles and have different characteristics and qualities that make each special.

[Franklin]

On 25/04/2022 at 02:21, Louis D said:

Here's a group shot of my eyepieces I recently took, so there's plenty of choices in eyepieces out there

And I thought I had it bad!🤣

[Clarkey]

On 25/04/2022 at 02:21, Louis D said:

Here's a group shot of my eyepieces I recently took, so there's plenty of choices in eyepieces out there:

You are making me feel much better about my kit now! I dread to think how many scopes you have.

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, Clarkey said:

You are making me feel much better about my kit now! I dread to think how many scopes you have.

Fewer than you have in your sig. 😉