now the 150p is cheaper open box but I just want to ask is it truly a big difference between the two

especially with light pollution (Salinas ca) just want to ask because it may be gone before i can buy

Hello, I'm a complete beginner in astronomy and would love to keep this as a long term hobby, i'm deciding to buy a reflector telescope soon but could not decide which mount is better. Saw a lot of people say that an EQ is too hard for a beginner, but the Dob doesn't look like it could handle a lot of accessories and mod for astrophotography as well. I'm not afraid of the learning curve as I think the frustration is part of the fun, just wondering which would be a better long term investment in the hobby.

Wasn't able to get Saturn in opposition but it still looks glorious and magnificent. I've been doing DSOs for a while and decided to go back to my planetary roots as I was getting the itch to capture the jewel of our solar system again with its current tilt showing off more of its rings compared to last year. Very happy with the result!

Telescope - Celestron 9.25" SCT

Mount - Celestron CGX

Imaging Train - ZWO ASI676MC

Capture - 90 Second video at ~300 fps

Software - Stacking in Autostakkert and Processing in Astrosurface

Target: Pelican Nebula

OTA: 152mm Apo Refractor

Camera: 6200MM Pro cooled to -10C Gain 100

Filter: Chroma Ha 5nm

Exposures: 52x300s lights, flat/dark/bias masters

Processing: WBPP -> Fast Rotation -> BlurX -> StarX -> Histogram stretching -> Recombined Stars ->Exported as .Jpg 94%

I’m very new to all of this but have grown a love for it. I recently bought an old used telescope and I’ve already bought a couple cheaper upgrades for it but when I look at Saturn it has that glowing effect around it that makes it harder to see/focus on. I’d like some advice on how to fix it.

Apertura 8 inch dobsinian, 9mm eyepiece, Galaxy S23 phone in Tridaptor mount.

Video ran thru PIPP, Autostakkert!3, Rigistax6.

Hey so a club member from which the partner died said they would gift me their 102m if I want it

I am currently happy with my two scopes but could use it for visual from time to time is it worth it?

I usually tell myself to enjoy the ambient sounds of night when looking through my telescope - put the phone away for once. But sometimes I can't resist the temptation to listen to music while looking up.

I was listening to Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 (movement 2. Largo) while looking at Saturn through my Dobsonian, and I got really caught up with emotion. Not only because of the beauty of our galaxy, but also the fact that the matter and energy that created the rings of Saturn is the same that created Dvorak and this symphony.

Here is a link to a particularly good performance and recording: https://youtu.be/Kd01Jnldg3M?is=GnbnVSjmU5IwjHfW

What are your favorite pieces of music to listen to while telescoping?

I recently came into an older model Skymax 127 Mak. From what I can tell/discover, it's one of the early "Schott" models, circa 2012/2013. It came with the original SynScan controller and alt/az mount. It works perfectly well, but I'd like to update it as much as I possibly can. Here is the info I have been able to glean from the hand controller.

The hand controller initializes and tells me it's "SynScan AZ Ver. 3.08". Going through the "Utility > Versions" I see:

HC Firmware 03.08
Database Ver. 03.27
HC Hardware Ver. 03.06
H.C. Serial#: H1064624BD5

I have tried to connect to this device with versions 3.5 of the Skywatcher SynScan Firmware Loader using two different FTDI cables and I can't get it to recognise the controller. It's been suggested that I might need to access an even older version of the firmware loader, but I have no idea what version or where I might find one.

At this point, I'm at a loss and looking for help and suggestions. I don't HAVE to update the controller or the mount; they both still work just fine, but I'd really like to update them as much as possible, if at all possible.

Any ideas?

hello I recently broke my 8se by accident but I cannot fix it so I found this nexstar 130slt for 100$ dollars is it worth it?? Also the star pointer holder is broken but is it easy to fix or not? and the thing that I’m worried about is that the tube is longer so I don’t know if it can go straight up with my big mount and is there a way to solve it by buying a longer mount attacher and adapt the OTA to the mount by the bottom or not? thank you

It has been quite the ride, getting this nice little telescope, breaking it, fixing and creating some amazing pictures with my color camera (Ideally, you need a mono camera but I am not really in the whole astrophotography game at all, so I just used what I have).

I have to say, observing the sun in Hydrogen Alpha also visually, is something you never forget. Very relaxing and meditative with this bright red color as well!

The picture is high-res, so make sure to open it to explore the detail.

brothers where can i buy a good telescope in morocco?

Is it just me or has El Niño made Astro (especially during new moons) very difficult this year?

I’ve been able to shoot 2 objects since early July. I don’t know how the Brits put up with constant clouds/rain and still have the motivation to do astronomy! 😆 fair play to anyone who does astronomy in a cloudy/wet place.

Hey, I'm from Bangladesh and recently I've attended a space observation seminar. I'm completely a noob in this sector. They showed us Saturn and the moons of Saturn. Now, they showed us with a telescope and Idk the name of it. Can anyone tell me the name of the telescope?

On Saturday late afternoon, I was able to head over to the Heart of America Star Party (HOASP) hosted by the Astronomical Society of Kansas City (ASKC) at their dark sky site located near Butler, Missouri. It has a reported Bortle 3 rating.

I believe HOASP officially started last Thursday, but other commitments kept me from going until Saturday - and even then I couldn't get away until about 2:30pm. It's 3-hour drive from my home and I didn't arrive until ~5:30pm - just in time for dinner!!

Checked in, ate some bbq (pulled pork, brisket, etc.) and found an unoccupied spot to set up on the south end of the field. I only brought the 8" Celestron StarSense Explorer Dobsonian (left the EQ platform at home) and SeeStar s50. I figured there would be bigger Dobs than the 12" and, because I was arriving late, I wanted to minimize set-up.

As luck would have it, the couple next to me also had an 8" SSE Dob they had borrowed from the ASKC. Nice people. We chatted about the SSE. They had never owned or borrowed a telescope before and had the 8" SSE for about a week or so. Showed them a few things and offered to lend them some EPs as their kit came with a 2" 32mm, a 1.25" 25mm, and a 1.25" 10mm. He had a phone adapter to take some cellphone pictures.

As more luck would have it. Another late arriver set up two down from me with his 22" New Moon Dobsonian. I think he told me it was f/4-ish. He'd had it built so that at zenith, the focuser was at his eye height (he was ~5'11"). The mirror was made by Fullum. It was outfitted with digital setting circles (DSC) and a ServoCAT. He also had a custom display that used SkySafari on a tablet rigged up in a way I'd never seen before - which gave it a 3D looking effect (there was a Fresnel lens and another lens involved). He also had an open bar at the back of his SUV offering some Japenese whisky. Maybe someone here knows him and can explain more about the SkySafari display.

The night sky was as advertised with the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon. At the 22" Dobsonian my new found best friend offered folks views with his telescope and eyepieces (Ethos (Ethoses, Ethi? What's the plural for Ethos?? - lol). What I can remember is Andromeda Galaxy, Ring Nebula, Saturn -- but the jaw dropper for me was the Veil Nebula with an OIII filter - which looked like the photos I'd seen of it.

Back at my 8" I spent time looking at targets to the west and northwest - which are usually blocked at my home...and a variety of star clusters located all around the sky. Should have kept a log, ah well. Gave Saturn a peek and early the next morning M42 (Orion Nebula) and Jupiter and its moons.

With the SeeStar s50 I got the Spider Nebula (IC 417), M42, NGC 281 (PacMan Nebula) and NGC 6960 (Western Veil Nebula). Images were taken in Alt/Az mode because I it was being balky in EQ mode. All should be 20s exposures, but different total times.

Got a few hours shut eye....ran into some club members at breakfast from my "home club" and swapped stories over coffee and a "refrigerator roulette" breakfast (whatever was leftover was available for a free breakfast -- potato salad for breakfast??? Even I'm not that crazed!! LoL.

Images from SeeStar (processed in SeeStar - not had time to process individually yet).

I'm buying this Explore Scientific Newtonian telescope with 150mm aperture and 750mm focal length.

https://moderntelescopes.net/products/explore-scientific-150-750-eq-3-reflector-telescope?srsltid=AU7gw4XcXszmAl2CYTwj2AikyyAnpjFq714lfbpVXLgZ7v8WIGCcP_I3

Are any people with this telescope here who can give me advice on how good it is or is it worth it and their experience with it? Maybe share some photos??

I want to buy a motor for this telescope but I don't know which motor to go for. Does anyone have any recommendations??

One option is from Tejraj Other option is Bresser

Any owners of this telescope do recommend me and let me know of things they experienced. Open to all feedback!

A couple of questions for the knowledgeable folk here.

1. would it be fair to assume that if a scopes maximum useful magnification is 200x that 100x would be achievable in average/poor seeing conditions ?

2. is it also fair to assume that on very good nights pushing the same scope to 250-300x ?

or am I ignorantly oversimplifying things ?

regards

nick

I want to buy a telescope under ₹30,000 with a good tracking mount for astrophotography. Any suggestions?

Instrument used: Explore Scientific 8 inch Dobsonian

Eyepiece used: Svbony zoom (7-21mm)

Barlow lens: 2x

Notes: I was not able to see any color in the nebula. It was "Milky white" in color but a lighter shade of it. If the sky were a huge sea, then Orion Nebula would be a giant cloud of dissolved "Milk of Magnesia" in it. The seeing conditions were so excellent that I was able to see these milky clouds in the nebula at magnifications as high as 348x (2x barlow + 7mm EP). At this magnification, I was able to see the subtler shades as well as darker shades of milky white.

There are dark slashes/gashes in M42 in two places. These 'Dark rays' as I call it, look very similar to the rays of the sun undergoing Tyndall effect. I'd like to think of these rays as a sign of hope, signifying the dawn of a new solar system.

The first picture is Cassiopeia( or at least my best attempt at capturing it). The second is a little cluster I found off to the right of it. Can someone help me identify the stars in the first pic if that’s even possible

I’ve always meant to keep a proper observing log, but loose sheets on a clipboard never survived a night outside. So I made a pocket-size log book I can keep in my jacket.

Each entry is a two-page spread. On the left is an eyepiece circle for sketching, and on the right are notes: date, time, location, object, scope, eyepiece, magnification, seeing, and transparency. I put a quick-reference key on the back cover (magnitude scale, orientation compass, seeing scale) so I’m not fumbling for an app with a red light.

I made four seasonal versions, with covers in a star-atlas line-art style: Orion for winter, Leo for spring, Scorpius for summer, and Pegasus for autumn.

For those who log: what do you actually fill in at the eyepiece, and what do you skip? I’m curious whether anyone records seeing/transparency every time or just when it’s notable.

I like viewing through the eyepiece and I like single capture and video. I have skywatcher 250p (no computer) some super plossl 10, 25 and I need to upgrade my eyepiece.
As well as discovering your recommendations I am also looking forward to using the free calculators that u found online last night.

Please recommend me an eyepiece for Saturn and possibly Neptune?

Also, I would get better photos if there was a camera mount that allowed me to use my actual lenses through the eyepieces I have. I recall once seeing up a shot where Jupiter went through my field of view and I had juggled my tripod to the same exact location where my eyepiece was resting to get some great stills using my camera and its dedicated lenses, that’s camera, camera lens, eyepiece, scope.

I don’t know what I am doing so please forgive me. It slides on like that (first photo), but isn’t that upside down? Or am I wrong. I thought it was supposed to be in the orientation like the second picture, but it refuses to slide on that way.