Celestron 6” accessories

[Xxjrhxx]

I’ve recently purchased the above and can see the moon crystal clear but all other planets just look the same as stars (I’m located in hunter valley, NSW so clear dark skies)

Is there any additional accessories you guys can recommend?  I’ve read many reviews and the links the equipment are from UK sites and having trouble finding the equivalent in Australia as all the dimension options are confusing.  This is my obviously my first Telescope so trying to get my head around the lingo 

I’ll be looking at purchasing the neximage10mp down the track, so more interested in eyepieces for the telescope and noticed a dew shield but wasn’t sure what size.

many thanks! 

[Swoop1]

Hi @Xxjrhxx

Is your scope a newtonian or the Schmitt Cassegrain?

Either way, with a 25mm eyepiece, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn should show a discernible disc and, depending on seeing conditions, some detail.

I'm not certain I've bagged Neptune and Uranus so can't comment on them.

A 10mm ep will show a bigger disc but detail will start to drop off.

What can let a scope down is collimation if it is a reflector or just the quality of the supplied ep's. Consider looking for better quality ep's if you are going to continue visual observing.

One final thing- check the alignment of your finder scope- thinking you are looking at Jupiter when a misaligned finder has you pointed at an adjacent star could be something to eliminate.

Regards,

Matt

 

[Xxjrhxx]

Thanks so much Matt! Makes sense 

It’s the cassegrain.. 

Are you able to recommend what eye piece replacement I’d need? And what size dew guard? So many options when searching! 

[Swoop1]

17 minutes ago, Xxjrhxx said:

Thanks so much Matt! Makes sense 

It’s the cassegrain.. 

Are you able to recommend what eye piece replacement I’d need? And what size dew guard? So many options when searching! 

The dew shield you need should be marketed as suitable for 6" or 150mm scopes.

Eyepiece wise, if you find you do need to replace them, you need to look for 1.25" eyepieces. This relates to the diameter of the barrel. Go for a better 25mm and maybe a 10mm for higher magnification.

I find that with my C6 SCT that the 25mm is the sweet spot for detsil when I am doing lunar visual sessions.

[The60mmKid]

Welcome, @Xxjrhxx!

If you search for "Celestron C6 dew shield," you can pick one of the ones that are available to you. Starting out, I'd recommend a "passive" (i.e., without an electric heating element) dew shield. It's basically a flexible piece of plastic that wraps around your telescope, attaching with velcro. They probably run ~$30-$50USD. 

I'd recommend searching these forums for "beginner eyepieces" and other relevant terms. You'll get many suggestions that you can read through. For example, here's a thread that provides exactly the sort of information you're seeking:

There's a bit of a learning curve, but it will start to make more sense soon.

I also recommend learning a little bit about thermal acclimation. It makes a huge difference if you're interested in looking at planets. The good news is that it isn't difficult or complicated with a C6. You can leave the telescope outside for ~90 minutes before you observe. Point the front of the telescope (i.e., corrector plate) downward, and point the eyepiece end of the telescope upward. Leave the diagonal off so that the telescope tube is open and the warm air can escape. Make sure not to leave the telescope in sunlight since that would warm it up, which is the opposite of what's needed.

Hope that helps!

[Elp]

The single most best upgrade for the C6 is the Celestron dew heater ring, simple 5 minute swap with the original and with a 12v in power supply dew becomes a non issue if you suffer with it. Don't even need a dew shield, but one is recommended due to the large aperture and not wanting any stray light entering the scope. I used a cheap one for a while but changed to the Celestron dew shield (it's for a C6 and C8), fits perfectly. If you're going to keep it assembled the aluminium one is better but a lot more expensive. Try a dew shield before the heated ring, you might not need the ring and you'll save money by just getting the dew shield (which technically you can make yourself).

Replace the default finder bracket with the better standard baader ones if you're going to be autoguiding imaging, I fitted two of them so they can accept my mini guidescope and asiair.

You should be able to resolve at least Jupiter very easily at the default focal length, I'm guessing you haven't pointed it correctly. A Rigel Quikfinder or Telrad work wonders in manually aligning and finding targets, much better than any red dot or finder scope I've used because the illuminated circles represent actual angular distances and take out a lot of the guesswork when star hopping, pair it with a mobile app like stellarium or skysafari and manually finding objects becomes easier.

The Rigel I just butt it up to the front upstanding tube ring so it's square with the ota and secure it down with a long velcro strip wrapped around the OTA. It usually keeps it's alignment with the scope from the previous session.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Elp

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have never used heaters with my SCT.  You can make your own dew shield out of foam mat or cardboard if you want. I'd rate a dew shield as an essential #1 accessory.  If you have plenty cash, the new aluminium dewshield looks very good and is compatible with the Celestron heater ring.

Planets can be a disappointment if viewed visually, looking small and over-bright.  It's best to use a lot of magnification, which makes them look bigger and dimmer. They may look blurry at high magnification, but at least you can see some detail.  I tried 5 and 7mm eyepieces on Mars once or twice when the seeing was good, but that's an extreme. Generally a 8 or 10mm eyepiece would give enough power for your scope.

You could get a zoom eyepiece, which will either suit you or indicate which fixed eyepieces you need to buy.

Also check the collimation of your scope - if it is not spot on, performance will suffer.  It should be OK on a new scope but you never know...

[Kimboman]

Hi it’s an easy job to make your own dew shield as I have previously stated 

I have made one for each of my telescopes from a black foam gym mat from Ikea and a tube of suitable glue about a fiver all up

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Xxjrhxx and welcome to SGL. 

First... an SCT star diagonal. They are so much safer and secure to use than the traditional 1.25” or 2” push-fit.

Second... an f6.3 field-flattener/focal-reducer [often abbreviated to FF/FR]. Reduces the exposure times when you add a camera.

Third... a ‘Crayford’ focuser. Helps eliminate mirror flop & slop. Preferably a dual-speed. I have a single speed and it's OK for my needs.

I use all three with my C6/SCT and on my ‘re-modded’ ETX105, though not all at the same time!

 

[Neil_104]

Can I ask which planets you were looking at?

A dew shield, while definitely important and highly recommended (I never use my C6 without one), wouldn't immediately solve your issue with seeing no difference between stars and planets.

I use this one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/astrozap-flexible-dew-shield.html for the Celestron C6. It's a tight fit with a dew heater strap but it's doable.

You describe the Moon as crystal clear so that's good. And so long as stars look like burning points of light and are not curved in shape it sounds like collimation isn't the issue, though it's not a bad idea to double check. The Celestron website will give you a good guide to collimating an SCT. It only needs to be "good enough" at this stage.

Even the 25mm eyepiece isn't the issue - I know the one as it also came with my 6 inch SCT  It gives decently sharp views, it just shows a little chromatic aberration (red/blue borders around bright objects). But really it's fine to get started.

One thing to keep in mind is that the planets through a telescope are very small and at first glance can just appear as a washed out disc. Of course, you'll only see definite detail on Mars/Jupiter/Saturn. Even the largest, Jupiter, at first glance just shows a couple of bands. It takes some patience and dedication to start to see fine detail, and of course it won't be anything as detailed as you might see from an image. Every time I observe Mars for the first time in a season, all I can see at first is a pink disc. But as I sit with it, gradually the detail reveals itself. Plus it's important to consider the seeing conditions. If the planet is over a house then all you're likely to see if a wavey, blurry mess! Dark skies aren't really necessary for the planets, but a steady atmosphere most definitely is!

HTH along with the posts above - stick with it! A Telescope is an instrument like any other, it can require time & patience and practice but when it comes together it's more than worth it !! 

Keep us updated on how you go 👍

Edited July 22, 2023 by Neil_104

[Xxjrhxx]

Thank you so much everyone for talking the time to comment! Much appreciated and really helpful! 

[Louis D]

You should be able to see the current phase of Venus quite easily right now just after sunset.  Even in my crappy ST80 at 60x, it was quite obvious with a #56 green filter.  Try using such a filter to cut down on the false color due to both the atmosphere and/or the scope to sharpen the image.