r/telescopes Jul 27 '25

Weekly Discussion Weekly Discussion Thread - 27 July, 2025 to 03 August, 2025

1 Upvotes

Welcome to the r/telescopes Weekly Discussion Thread!

Here, you can ask any question related to telescopes, visual astronomy, etc., including buying advice and simple questions that can easily be answered. General astronomy discussion is also permitted and encouraged. The purpose of this is to hopefully reduce the amount of identical posts that we face, which will help to clean up the sub a lot and allow for a convenient, centralized area for all questions. It doesn’t matter how “silly” or “stupid” you think your question is - if it’s about telescopes, it’s allowed here.

Just some points:

  • Anybody is encouraged to ask questions here, as long as it relates to telescopes and/or amateur astronomy.
  • Your initial question should be a top level comment.
  • If you are asking for buying advice, please provide a budget either in your local currency or USD, as well as location and any specific needs. If you haven’t already, read the sticky as it may answer your question(s).
  • Anyone can answer, but please only answer questions about topics you are confident with. Bad advice or misinformation, even with good intentions, can often be harmful.
  • When responding, try to elaborate on your answers - provide justification and reasoning for your response.
  • While any sort of question is permitted, keep in mind the people responding are volunteering their own time to provide you advice. Be respectful to them.

That's it. Clear skies!


r/telescopes Dec 01 '22

Tutorial/Article Beginner's Quick Guide to choosing your first telescope (Updated for 2023)

952 Upvotes

Guide last updated: February 2025
Note this guide was originally written by u/tripped144*, but with global economic conditions, pricing has rapidly gone out of date, so consider this new guide a revision to* the prior one written in 2020.

Are you yearning to marvel at the heavens? Have you been wanting a telescope but have no idea where to start? Are you feeling overwhelmed with the wealth of information and options out there?

Well, here is a quick guide on some of the most commonly recommended telescopes here, what to expect when looking through your first telescope, and some frequently asked questions at the end.

For an in-depth eyepiece guide, check out this great post by Gregrox

What to Expect when looking through a telescope

The most important thing before getting into this hobby is setting your expectations. Most newbies to astronomy think "a telescope makes far away things bigger." Yes, and no. The primary purpose of a telescope is to gather light. The eyepiece (or ocular) is what determines your effective magnification. To determine that, you divide your scope's focal length by the millimeters of your eyepiece. Therefore, a 8" Newtonian reflector telescope with a 1200mm focal length and a 25mm eyepiece will have a magnification power of 48x. That same 25mm eyepiece on an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a focal length of 2000mm will have a magnification power of 80x. All things being equal, for visual astronomy, aperture is king, but beyond price, all things are not equal - and thus the telescope recommendation for someone who lives in Manhattan in a 3rd floor walkup apartment is different from someone who lives in rural Montana with a large garage and acres of no light around.

When using a telescope, no matter how big, stars will look like stars. They will always be pinpoints of light. If they aren't, then you're not in focus. Stars are just too far away for telescopes to resolve (see more clearly/get more detail).

Nebula and galaxies WILL NOT look like the vivid, colorful, and detailed pictures that you've seen. Our eyes are simply not cameras. To get those types of images, you have to take very long exposures many times, run it through a program that stacks the images to pull out detail, and extensively process it in a photo editing program. TO OUR EYES, DSO's (Deep Space Objects like nebula and galaxies) will look like faint white smudges. If you don't have accurate expectations, a genuine love for space, and an appreciation for what you're actually looking at, you will be very disappointed. That being said, if you go into this with the right expectations and mindset, those faint white smudges are beautiful, fascinating, and awe-inspiring. The longer you spend observing them, the more details you will start to pull out. It's almost as if your brain gets trained into resolving more and more detail, making you want to revisit them over and over again. Here are some accurate depictions of what you can see through a decent telescope in a DARK site (little light pollution). (The pictures are blurrier than they should be, but you'll get the idea). The more light pollution you have in your area, the harder it will be to resolve things. Here's a website to find out how much light pollution you'll be dealing with. Some examples would be: Pinwheel Galaxy Swan Nebula

Our solar system's planets, especially the gas giants, are amazing to look at. The bigger the scope, the more detail you can resolve. Regardless of someone's interest in space, I've personally never seen someone not "wow'd" by Jupiter or Saturn. Keep in mind, they will not be super close up views. Here's what to expect when looking at Jupiter through a decent telescope on a clear night. Planets (and obviously the moon) are very bright, so light pollution doesn't factor nearly as much - they're great to observe from typical, light polluted, suburban driveways.

Also, keep in mind that pictures don't do them justice. There's just something so amazing about seeing it with your own eyes. ​ Now that you understand the expectations of what you'll be able to see, here are some of the most commonly recommended telescopes.

Recommendations By Budget

Under $250

Spending less than $250 on precision optical instruments means keeping your expectations in check, these scopes are decidedly for "in the neighborhood" solar system observing, although some Redditors use them quite happily on deep sky objects that aren't local. If at all possible, save a bit more money and buy in the next $250+ tier, scopes at that price will be ones you can keep forever and won't immediately outgrow. Buying once is cheaper.

🔭 Zhumell Z114 | Celestron 7x50 binocs (cheaper) | Nikon 7x50 binocs (more $)

$250-350

These are called "Table-Top" dobs. They are small scopes meant to be set on top of a table and used. You can get a cheap and stable stool or crate to use instead. They are great little beginner scopes that are easy to use and can help you decide if you want to transition into something bigger. OneSky and Heritage are identical scopes. OneSky profits go to a good, charitable cause. Remember, if you drive to a dark sky site, it's not always guaranteed to find a picnic table or park bench to sit these scopes on.

🔭 Zhumell Z130 | 🔭 AWB OneSky Reflector | 🔭 Sky-Watcher Heritage 150 | 🔭 Celestron StarSense Explorer 114mm

$400-550

These are the entry-level into "grown-up" telescopes. Three are large 6" Dobsonian scopes, almost 4 feet tall when standing straight up. The other two are tabletop models on a computerized base. Regarding the larger scopes, the actual telescope tubes weigh roughly 15 lbs. and the base roughly 20 lbs. These will get you fairly close to the representative pictures of the objects above (again, in a DARK site). They can easily fit across the back seat of a vehicle with the base in the trunk if you plan to travel with it. This would also be the financial range where decent smart telescopes begin (sky's the limit), which use cameras and your smartphone to observe -- if that's your jam.

🔭 Sky-Watcher 6" Classic Dob | 🔭 Apertura AD6 Dobsonian | 🔭 Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150 GoTo | 🔭 Celestron StarSense Explorer 130mm

$600-700

The 8" Dobsonian telescope is the most recommended beginner telescope - just about anyone in the hobby will recommend one. They hit a great balance between size, portability, and value. They are simply the best bang for the buck. The telescopes weigh roughly 20-25 lbs. and the base 20-25 lbs. They still easily fit across the backseat of a vehicle with the base in the trunk. You'll also notice this is the price range where truss tube models that collapse smaller start appearing. These are many people's "end-game" scopes, as well as their first scopes. If you're going to own just one telescope and not spend a fortune, 8" of aperture is a "goldilocks size."

🔭 Sky-Watcher 8" Classic Dob | 🔭 Apertura AD8 Dobsonian | 🔭 Explore Scientific 10" Truss Tube Dob

I really want help finding stuff up there, my sky is too bright, money is less a concern...

Some new astronomers just aren't going to star hop and learn the night sky, either their light pollution makes it impossible, or they'd rather sit back and let the telescope's computer drive, and these days... manually using your telescope has become optional if you have the tools. The recommendations below offer smartphone assistance or use conventional star alignments to find their way. Be forewarned though, many a newbie has become frustrated while trying to align their scope. It's simple for seasoned astronomers, possibly daunting for newbies. In the case of Celestron's Sky Align, the telescope needs to be pointed at 3 bright stars (not a bright planet like Jupiter) or you need to know two bright stars up there for an Auto 2 star align. Also note that Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes on computerized mounts require a lithium battery ($40-100+) and dew mitigation if you live anywhere with humidity.

🔭 Celestron NexStar (5SE or 6SE) | 🔭 Celestron StarSense Explorer 8" Smartphone enabled Dob

$700+

From here, the options open up considerably. You could just go with as big a Dobsonian as you can afford and can realistically carry/transport. Many of these will be Dobsonians with extra features like "push to" or even "go to" systems, but that adds complexity and cost. Dobs start to get heavy and super awkward to move as you approach and surpass 10 inches. Many people buy/build wheeled transports or something similar to move them, and they usually have them in a very convenient place to quickly wheel in and out, such as a garage. 10" Dobs are more common. You'll notice quite the price and mass jump on anything bigger than that - truss/collapsible designs past 10" are strongly recommended to keep size/weight in check.

🚨Heavier tends to get used less in astronomy 🚨... beyond the honeymoon period, that is. If a scope isn't convenient to setup, you may not have the motivation to do so at the end of a long day. There's a reason why 8" Dobs are a very popular compromise between size, weight, visual capabilities, price, and convenience.

You could also start considering Schmidt-Cassegrain options if your heart is with the planetary and lunar targets or fancy wide-field refractors (and an associated mount) if you're in search of wider views. Celestron is the big SCT company. As much as Dobs are beloved online, you'll go to a star party and see SCTs and refractors everywhere. They're generally smaller and very practical if you don't have the space or lifestyle for large Dobs or want automated mounts.

Recommended Accessories

FAQs

"Why are most of these of these not on tripods?" Because they are "Dobsonians". Dobsonian (Or Dob for short) is the name for the mount/base that the telescope sits in. It's a typically particle board base popularized by West coast astronomer John Dobson, several decades ago. They sit on the ground and are extremely steady. In order for a tripod to hold a telescope and be rock steady, it will cost as much or more as the actual telescope itself. A cheap tripod is an absolute pain to deal with. They are unsteady and will sway at the slightest touch or blow of wind. You will spend more time wishing you didn't have to deal with the unsteadiness than actually enjoying the views. Scopes on cheap tripods are called "Hobby Killers" for a reason. Dobs are dead simple, rock steady, and cheap to make... so most of your money goes into the actual telescope instead of the tripod. Especially avoid beginner telescopes on equatorial mounts - nothing will be more frustrating.

"What about this PowerSeeker or NatGeo or $79 "complete package" scope?" Nope nope nope. While the scope itself might be fine, it's inevitably going to be on a cheap mount, flimsy tripod, or if you're really unlucky, an equatorial mount to further confuse you. Old timers in the hobby call these "department store scopes", with the demise of brick and mortar department stores, we just simply call them hobby killers. Avoid scopes that use a Bird-Jones optical design - these leverage a spherical mirror in place of a parabolic one, and therefore need a corrector usually mounted in the focuser tube. Telescope makers know these have a lousy reputation and won't necessarily mention "Bird-Jones", and now you know why. Here's a great article for further reading about why we don't like these.

"Will these telescopes move by themselves and track objects?" For most of the list, no. Most of those recommended are manual telescopes, they are not go-to telescopes. You will have to learn the night sky (part of the fun!), point the telescope where you want, and manually move it as the object you're looking at moves across the sky. There's just nothing more rewarding than finally finding that object you've been hunting for.

"Why don't you recommend go-to telescopes?" They are expensive and potentially very confusing to set up for beginners. More often than not, you will pay twice the amount of money you normally would JUST for go-to functionality. You will have to supply power to it. You also will have to align it every time you use it. If you don't already somewhat know your way around the night sky (there are apps that can help), this will be frustrating and time-consuming. It's fairly daunting, but relatively easy to do once you get the hang of it. But, you have to keep in mind that you will be learning all the basics of how to actually use and collimate your telescope ON TOP of trying to figure out how to correctly align the go-to. You can very easily get completely overwhelmed. We do have some recommended go-to telescopes if you're absolutely set on one.

Why are none of these recommendations in stock? It's no secret, these are some of the most popular telescopes every source recommends, so they go in and out of stock fairly often. Even small telescopes are large, and take up a lot of inventory space, so a smaller shop might have 3 in stock, not 300. Shopping around the December holidays or before a major eclipse/astronomical event can also cause stock issues. Following covid and the resulting shipping/global economic pressure, many model lines have been discontinued or tweaked to simplify a company's catalog. A new model sold today might not exist in precisely the same offering a year from now.

Why are none of your recommendations are available in my country? Most mass-market, commercially-made telescopes are made by the same handful of companies in Asia and various companies resell them with different sets of equipment and bundles. An 8" f/6 Dob, pretty much, is going to be similar regardless of whether it's labeled Apertura, Orion, Omegon, GSO or another brand. Use your best judgement, if it's got great reviews and costs $650, it's probably legitimate. If it's $75... probably a scam.

"Why do things look blurry when I use the zoom knobs by the eyepiece to make things bigger?" Because those are not "zoom" knobs. There's no knob to zoom more. Those are your focus knobs. The only way to "zoom" in more is to use a smaller mm eyepiece. You know you are in focus when the stars are as small as they can get. Again, stars should look like tiny pinpoints of light.

"Will I be able to take pictures with these telescopes?" The moon and planets, yes. DSO's, no. For DSO's you have to take long exposures which you simply cannot do on a manual telescope. Even if you decide to go with a Go-To, you still will not. To somewhat simplify it, the sky moves in an arc (because the earth rotates). Even though Go-To's can track objects, they only move in up and down motions. They move a tiny bit at a time, so it's imperceptible to us, but your camera taking long exposures will pick up those tiny movements making everything a blurry mess. Visual and astrophotography are two completely different animals. For astrophotography, you will need an equatorial mount (one that moves in an arc instead of tiny up and down motions). They are very expensive. Expect to spend $1300 + on just the mount alone, not including the actual telescope and all the other things needed for astrophotography. Also, a telescope that is good for astrophotography is not good for visual. Again, two completely different hobbies. You can get away with spending less by getting a "Star Tracker" and just mounting a DSLR with a camera lens, no telescope required. It definitely has its limitations, but it's cheap(er) and can get you started on astrophotography. The moon and planets are bright enough where you don't need those long exposures, so they are doable with Dobs. Planets aren't as easy as just snapping a photo of it, though. There are many tutorials out there on how to get good planet photos. If you're looking to get into astrophotography, I recommend checking out https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAstrophotography/

"Is more magnification better?" Depends on what you're looking at. The smaller the "mm" eyepiece, the more "zoomed" in you'll be. Also, the more "zoomed" in you are, the less bright things will appear to be. So for DSO's, which are very faint, you don't want to be super zoomed in. The less magnification, the more light your eyes will detect, making the DSO's brighter and easier to resolve. But since planets are very bright, more magnification is better to get as close as you can to resolve more details.

"Are there phone apps that help find objects?" Yes! There are many. I prefer SkySafari, but there are a bunch to choose from. You can point your phone at the sky and it will tell you the stars/planets/DSO's you're looking at. They can help to get you in the general area of something you're interested in seeing. These apps are super cool, download one and try it out!

"Are planets visible all year?" No, neither are all DSO's. As a tidbit of info, planet means "wanderer" in Greek, so they "wander around the sky."

"What is Collimation?" That's the term for adjusting the telescope's mirrors so that they are perfectly lined up giving you the best view possible. There are different ways to check your collimation, and there are many tutorials online on how to do it. I always check the collimation after I set my scope up outside before use, and adjust when necessary.

"I want a big Dob but new ones are too expensive, what can I do?" Well, you can save up more money, or consider the used telescope market. The best buying used case is a telescope that was used a handful of times (or less), stored indoors, properly capped, and forgotten. I would also highly recommend joining a local astronomy club, many club members will be standing in front of $8000 of esoteric gear, meet a newbie, and see someone who might want their old 4 or 6" Dobsonian sitting ignored at home for a great price. Some industrious folks even build their own scopes through the magic of 3D printing and common parts from big box hardware stores!

"I want to observe the sun, can I do that?" Please DO NOT point a telescope at the sun. Remember when kids would burn things with a magnifying glass? That would be your eyeball, so don't do that! Now, with a proper, white light solar filter firmly secured, it is safe to observe the sun. Note that such a filter will only show surface details like sunspots. Dedicated H-Alpha telescopes that can show more details are well beyond the scope and budgets of any beginner.

"Should I regularly clean my eyepieces and telescope mirrors?" Absolutely not. They have special coatings on them and you will do much more damage than good. There are very specific and involved ways to clean the lenses and mirrors and it's not recommended unless you absolutely have to and absolutely know exactly what you are doing. Not for beginners.

"What happened to Orion, Meade, etc brand?" The astronomy market, is a difficult one. The pandemic ended an era of cheap oceanic shipping and the economic realities came for telescope companies. By all means if you can locate an awesome, lightly used Orion XT8 Dob at a good price, jump on it.

"What about smart telescopes?" We're seeing these more often from a variety of new and established companies in our industry. It's early days but these telescopes provide an experience similar to electronically assisted astronomy that will let you photograph deep sky objects with cameras of varying quality and precision... which depending on the level of light pollution you have, may enable you to see objects you'd never be able to decipher with your human eyes. This is beyond the realm and practice of visual astronomy, and there seems to be a new model on the market every few weeks. It's the "smart phone-ification" of the telescope and will likely be how our children and grandchildren come to think of telescopes.

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to make a new post! There's plenty of very knowledgable people here who are more than happy to help! ​ (Images were taken from http://www.deepskywatch.com/Articles/what-can-i-see-through-telescope.html)


r/telescopes 7h ago

Astronomical Image Elephant's trunk

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106 Upvotes

After I found out that the elephant's trunk was high up in the night sky at this time of the year, I immediately wanted to start photographing it 🤩 The nebula is so beautiful! I'm quite happy with the result after only a couple of hours data. The colour is not calibrated, nor tweaked, I like to keep the raw data coming from the subs.

🧭Star adventurer GTI 🔭Askar SQA55 📷ZWO 2600 MC 🕶️Optolong L-enhance 🦯Svbony guide scope with ZWO camera 💻ASIair

Subs taken during 1 night, bortle 5, almost new moon, 3h combined exposure of 180s subs + calibration shots. Stacked and processed in Siril, with graXpert, Cosmic Clarity, and starnet.

Clear nights!


r/telescopes 2h ago

General Question Just upgraded

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11 Upvotes

Just just upgraded from an Astromaster 130 EQ, to a 6” Dobson telescope! Cant wait for it to arrive!!

But.. this is my first dobsonian and I need some tips, both on how to use it and how to take care of it/essential accessories!

Thanks 😊


r/telescopes 3h ago

Purchasing Question Is an 8” to a 10” Dobsonian a huge difference?

10 Upvotes

I am not super experienced. I read that it is brighter so you can get more distance. I’m curious on just how much more effective the 8” to the 10” actually is from anyone with experience on the matter.


r/telescopes 4h ago

Purchasing Question Are any of these a good deal? Prices and descriptions below.

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13 Upvotes

Found this listing near me. I've looked into and out of telescopes for years never justifying the cost. Are any of these worth it to get into the hobby?

Seller's description:

"I have multiple telescopes. Meade 10,meade6,Polaris ,celestron first scope,baytronics,national geo. Also have giant binoculars with tripod,nexstar 8 celestron.
Prices from 20 to 900. I need to clean these out, need to work on car. Call Joe, [hidden information] not after 10 pm. Thanks.
Prices…
Nat geo. 20,
Polaris Meade 40,
Celestron first scope, 60,
Bausch Lomb 4 in. 140,
Baytronics 90 mm. 40,
Meade 6 in. 100,
Meade 10 in. 300,
Giant binoculars 25 pr. 30,
Nexstar8. Celestron 800. "


r/telescopes 25m ago

Equipment Show-Off Celestron Firstscope tripod adapter, 3D printed

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Upvotes

Just 3d printed this neat little tripod adapter for my Firstscope. I found the file on Thingiverse and it first the scope very nicely. I did how to modify it myself a bit though. The part I have attached was a separate part that had to be attached to a base that I also had to 3d print, but the base was too wide for my tripod head. The top half managed to fit though, so I cut off the excess plastic and melted the raw edges together with a hot glue gun. Fits like a beaut!


r/telescopes 8m ago

Astronomical Image Proud me:) (taken from earth)

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Upvotes

Celestron nexstar6SE, taken with iphone 14pro max


r/telescopes 44m ago

General Question I just bought this skymax 127 and I think I already destroyed it :(

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Upvotes

r/telescopes 3h ago

Discussion Hacked Lunt ls50tha etalon now using telecentric baader planetarium tz4s

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5 Upvotes

I removed the collimator sections from my Lunt Ls50tha 50mm x 350mm telescope and sealed everything up with aerospace grade clear silicone and a infrared rejecting bk7 window. I attached a custom thread adapter to make the system mountable to a baader planetarium tz4s telecentric and control the air pressure using a lunt pc-usb digital air compressor. The system works at high resolution now inside the focuser of any f/10 telescope, This is operating with a Vixen A105mII 105mm x 1000mm telescope. I only have a 5mm blocking filter currently so the field of view is extremely limited on my 20 megapixel basler aca5472-17um monochrome camera - but the results a proof of functionality. I will soon be upgrading to a bigger blocking filter so I can fill the entire chip. Visually with a 25mm eyepiece , the 5mm blocking filter is just fine and the image is spectacular. However, the camera sees a tiny straw sized field of view as seen in the last image. Definitely worth pulling out the OEM collimator system to make the system telecentric! There is a small reflection from the blocking filter, but it is easily fixable by simply flipping the blocking filter over so the reflective side faces the camera. If you do not wish to open the blocking filter, you can add a circular polarizer and the reflection will be 100% extinct.


r/telescopes 1d ago

Astronomical Image Copernicus

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158 Upvotes

Possibly my favorite lunar crater!

Taken with an 8 inch dobsonian, ASI662MC, UV/IR cut filter, and an svobony 3X barlow.

~650 total frames stacked in autostakkert, wavelet adjusted in Registax


r/telescopes 7h ago

General Question Problems collimating my telescope

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6 Upvotes

Hi guys, i recently purchased a used skywatcher 150 dobsonian. It came with nothing but a 25mm eyepiece but i got it pretty cheap.

Anyway, now i’ve bought some additional equipment including a cheshire eyepiece to collimate it and as i was about to, i bumped into a problem.

I’ve seen a couple of videos online but the thing is, i don’t see any screws to adjust both the secondary and primary mirrors. Also, there’s this rubber coverings on what i’m guessing the space for adjustment screws are but when i remove it, it looks empty?

I can’t figure out the same for primary mirror. Can please someone help me with this?


r/telescopes 2h ago

Purchasing Question Interested in Celestron StarSense 130mm, but getting conflicted opinions.

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2 Upvotes

Hello,

The Celestron StarSense is currently on sale on Amazon and I’m interested in it because it fits the budget my wife allows. I did some googling and found this old thread which does not recommend it. I added that as the thread image. But in the buyer’s guide, it is recommended for the price range and it’s even cheaper than the range.

https://a.co/d/fZQ24kB

Has the opinion on it changed?

Thanks.


r/telescopes 1d ago

Equipment Show-Off How do I make the most of my new EdgeHD?

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279 Upvotes

I've recently purchased a Celestron EdgeHD 8" for AP and probably visual (since an EQ mounted scope is easier to show my nieces and nephew planets vs my totally manual Newtonian) and took it for it's first run last week. I was too excited to get some shots that I didn't even collimate it yet, but will once I get my last accessories here... And I apparently didn't have the proper bracket for my EAF so focus seems a bit soft for now.

I bought the scope, OAG + asi174mm mini guide cam, reducer, Astrozap dewshield + heater combo (arriving Friday), reducer, and an asi662MC planetary camera. Eaf bracket should also be in on Friday. Yay!

Anyone have beginner tips for this type of scope? Things to make life easier? I've heard mixed opinions about the OAG + reducer combo with this scope, but hopefully I'm happy with it 😬

I've attached my first image with it + reducer, it has soft focus (thank you BlurXTerminator for making it less obvious), likely out of collimation, and no flat frames taken... But it's a start and it gives me hope that I can get good results with this scope!.


r/telescopes 30m ago

General Question Delay in altitude slow motion controls for SV225.

Upvotes

For about 7 months, I've had the SVBONY SV225 mount paired with a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer tripod for my 102mm Mak and it's been working fine. Now when I use it, when I twist the slow motion knob to make the telescope point up, there's kind of a delay where the scope won't move up when I twist the knob, then it finally does it but faster down to where the mechanism catches it. Does anyone know what's going on with it? It's kind of annoying, especially when trying to keep my target in the field of view or when I'm starhopping to the next object.


r/telescopes 5h ago

Purchasing Question Potential upgrade

2 Upvotes

I posted a month ago about my first telescope (Bird-Johns bresser 150/1400). I just started my astronomy journey and enjoy it very much so far! I like the views my telescope gives me, but the mount is just... I don't even know what to say. It is ok at very low magnificatio, but anything more than 100x is just pure pain. That led me to search for some better mounts online but they are quite expensive. My question is if it is even worth upgrading the mount or just go for 8" dob sometimes later as the price is near equivalent.


r/telescopes 7h ago

General Question SVBony SV105 and SVBony moon filter

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone! I’ll keep this short. This moon filter should screw onto the camera right? They’re both threaded, same size threads per the description in each items description, but the filter threads just slip inside the camera’s threads… both were bought from the SVBony Amazon store. Thank you,


r/telescopes 4h ago

Astrophotography Question Newbie question for my new obsession Astrophotography

1 Upvotes

Just scored a 10" Dobsonian hybrid telescope. Saw Saturn. Bucket list item checked off.. Now I want to get a picture of it..
I have a Canon 90D. I got the adapter and T as well as a barlow. I have set it to take 20 sec exposures as well as video.. I only get black screens. No image at all. What am I missing? Do I need like an 8" extension or something?


r/telescopes 13h ago

Purchasing Question Is the saxon 10" DeepSky Dob an ok scope?

3 Upvotes

Hi all,

Looking to purchase the saxon 10" DeepSky Dobsonian Telescope soon. Are there any strong opinions against this? Anything I should be aware of from the brand/ particular score?

I was initially looking at the 12", but for $900 less the 10" makes more sense.

Thanks.


r/telescopes 7h ago

Purchasing Question Eyepiece recommendations ?

1 Upvotes

Hi !
I am currently building a strock 250 (250mm, fd4.5 lightweight dobsonian) and am looking for a good set of 1,25" eyepieces for it. I am interested in both planets and DSOs, value wide afov but have to stay around or below 250g per eyepiece to preserve the telescope's balance. So far I have been looking at the ES 82 line for small focals but didn't make my mind just yet, and I have no idea what to go to for the longer focals (I was thinking of getting a 24mm and a 13-14mm). Also, I will be buying from France, which has an important impact on prices for certain brands (hello televue). Thanks in advance !


r/telescopes 1d ago

Identfication Advice What telescope is this?

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60 Upvotes

Near as I can tell, the 80mm Vixen refractor in this anime - Asteroid in Love - is accurately depicted and real.

The text is more visible on the blue info plate closer up. It’s definitely been written out rather than simply scribbled, but I still can’t read it.

So, does anyone recognise this Vixen?


r/telescopes 9h ago

Astrophotography Question Can anyone tell me what this is

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0 Upvotes

I bought my telescope and I captured a photo can anyone tell me what this is


r/telescopes 10h ago

Purchasing Question What adapters do I need to mount SeeStar S30 on these mounts/tripod?

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1 Upvotes

Hi,

I have a SeeStar S30 and need to know what specific adapters I need to mount it on:

Directly on the tripod (image 1) On the equatorial mount (image 2) On the smaller mount (image 3) Does anyone know what type of threading/adapter I need for each setup?

Thanks


r/telescopes 1d ago

Purchasing Question What is a fair asking price for this Meade ETX-125 complete setup?

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15 Upvotes

What is a fair price for this Meade ETX-125?

It is a fairly complete setup with a the computer-controlled mount, Autostar GOTO, tripod, eyepiece, carrying case, and some extras. The only damaged parts are the right-angle viewfinder that the eyepiece has become unglued from the body of the finder, and the carrying bag for the tripod has two areas where the seam is separating. There’s a mount attached to the scope to hold a green laser, but the laser is not included. Other than these things, everything seems to be in good used condition. Here’s a complete list of what is included:

Meade ETX 125EC Astronomical Telescope and Computer Control base Meade Standard Electronic Controller handset Meade #497 Autostar Computer Controller handset with GO TO operation (in separate box) Meade Series 4000 Super Plossl 26mm-LP 1.25” OD Eyepiece Meade 07427 #825 8x25 Right-Angle VIewfinder scope (damaged, adhesive holding eyepiece on has come unglued) Meade 07562 #541 AC Adapter, 120VAC/12VDC Power Adapter and 12V “cigarette lighter” adapter cord (in separate box) Meade #775 Hard Carrying Case (also includes original telescope packaging that the case does not fit in) Meade #884 ETX Deluxe Field Tripod (two areas on tripod carrying bag where seam is separating) Meade Instruction Manual “Using the Meade ETX” book by Mike Weasner Meade 07622 #678 Dew Shield for ETX-125EC Scopetronix Digi-T mount for digital cameras Scopetronix ETX-125 Piggyback Camera Mount with Counterweights Item #STPB125

Let me know what you think. Thanks!


r/telescopes 1d ago

Astronomical Image M27, Dumbbell Nebula

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24 Upvotes

Scope: Perl Bellatrix Newton 150/750 Camera: ZWO ASI120MM-S Lights: 70 × 30s (45mn), IR/Cut


r/telescopes 1d ago

Observing Report A Good Night With My 12” Dob

26 Upvotes

If there is one thing I learned last night its how absolutely horrific the 20mm 70 deg eyepiece is that came with my 12" dob lol...anyways,

Lovely night, very warm though quite windy. This is the first real night I have had focusing on visual since getting my dob where there has been no moon and we've got some astro dark.

I started on M11 before it disappeared and it was lovely. 120x to begin then moved on to 187.5x. Stars filled the eyepiece, very rich area.

Onto M13 next which was equally as good. Countless stars visible in the 8mm BST, slighty fuzzy core but the surrounding stars were very obvious and pinpoint. I remember viewing this through my 5" scope and just seeing a grey smudge so being able to resolve all these stars was quite something.

M27 next, very obvious cloud like shape, no other detail to be made out - tried some averted vision which helped too. (lots of neighbours switching lights on and off and having ridiculous flood lights in their garden made this session a little hard but there was moments of nice darkness).

Seeing my first double was really cool, it was Albireo so some nice contrasting colour between the two.

The Double Cluster might have been my favourite only let down by the eyepiece I was using. It was stunning. I think the 24mm StellaLyra UFF will be a worth while purchase.

Wanted to finish on Saturn but conditions got a bit questionable with lots of cloud passing and the detail wasn't really there so packed up and went to bed.

All in all I am quite happy with the session, my goto was particularly good which made things nice. Every target straight in the centre of the eyepiece. Still quite a newbie with visual as previously I’ve solely focused on lunar and planetary stuff. Clear skies


r/telescopes 1d ago

Observing Report Observing Report from Bortle 3 skies with AD10 and binos

14 Upvotes

This weekend I made it back to my favorite "nearby" skies, about 2.5hrs from home in central NH. Brief photo album here. Highlights were the Veil Nebula, seeing NGC objects within M33, and two big bolide meteors.

I brought my 10" dobsonian (Apertura AD10), along with my observing chair and 10x42 binoculars (Nikon P7). I've previously described this location as Bortle 2, as I have a sky quality meter (a Unihedron SQM-L) and have gotten reading of about 21.60 in the past. But on Friday night, although it was perfectly clear and new moon, my SQM readings were about 21.25-21.30, so barely qualifying as Bortle 3. Of course, these are still great skies, so I got to see a lot of new stuff.

Most observing was with the AD10, with just some scattered binocular use here and there. Here were the objects I observed:

  • M27 the Dumbbell Nebula - nice shape and structure to it. Looked best with a UHC filter, but views were great without a filter as well, and with an Oiii filter. The Oiii filter lost some of the dimmer outer regions, to my eye, but increased contrast between the central portion and the background sky.

  • M11 The Wild Duck Cluster - Super tight cluster, remarkably easy to see in the finder scope. Usually looks barely non-stellar from home in the 8x50 RACI (slightly fuzzy), but unmistakable from the darker skies.

  • Epsilon Lyrae (the Double Double) - easy split in the binoculars. I struggle to split the individual pairs at a magnification low enough to still see both pairs of stars. The most pleasing view would be 2 pairs of stars in tight doubles, but I find I usually need to use 250x power or so to split the smaller separations, and at that magnification the opposite pairing is completely out of view. Does this seem normal? I don't think it's collimation, as I have a high quality set of Cat's Eye tools.

  • M13 and M15 (the two great globular clusters high up this time of year) - Both were amazing.

  • Albireo - Looked great as always, lots of color contrast. Got to show my son this one for the first time, which was cool.

  • The Veil Nebula (NGC 6960, 6992, and Pickering's Triangle). Both the Eastern and Western Veil were visible without an Oiii filter, but with my Oiii filter the views were incredible. By far the best I've seen this object, as Pickering's Triangle was not too difficult to discern once I knew where to look. The Western Veil clearly had the appearance like in photographs where the tail splits in two, giving it that "Witch's Broom" appearance. Lots of texture was seen within the main portions throughout.

  • NGC 7000 (North America Nebula) - painfully high in the sky (for my neck), so didn't look too long at this. But some color/brightness variation in the sky in that location was discerned in the binoculars. Even at low magnification the AD10 is pretty tight of a view for this one, so I could just make out when I was approaching the edges of it, but not much to see. I don't have an H-ß filter, which I think is useful for that one.

  • NGC 7023 (The Iris Nebula) - Fun little object. Just a bright-ish star with a lot of glow around it. Looks similar to how optics look when they start to dew up, with just a bright halo around the star, except none of the other stars nearby had it. I could detect some shape to the glow, with it sort of elongated in one axis compared to the other, and a "skinnier" portion, which is all consistent with the dust clouds that show up in photos.

  • M31, M32, and M110 (The Andromeda Galaxy) - I didn't spend as much time on this as it deserves (could have tried hunting down the globular G1 or something), but still really cool from dark skies. The main dust lane can be discerned both in binoculars and the telescope. M32 is even easier than usual, and M110 is a direct vision object without any problems seeing it (again with binoculars or the scope).

  • NGC 869 and 884 (The Double Cluster) - One of my favorite objects. Really cool contrast of views between the 10x42s and the AD10 at about 75x. The red star that's between the two main clusters was more apparent than I've ever seen it before. Really a rusty red color.

  • Achird (Eta Cass, double star) - Wanted to look at another red star, and this pairing really shows off the color difference well.

  • M33 (The Triangulum Galaxy, including NGC 604, 595, and 592) - This is where I spent the most time. I really wanted to see some nebulae in another galaxy, and NGC 604 made that easier than expected. That thing is REALLY bright. Direct vision, and can even be detected to be non-stellar without too much trouble. The galaxy itself showed some spiral structure, with different densities of brightness within the arms in a few directions. NGC 592 and 595 were harder and mostly seen with averted vision, but cool nonetheless!

  • NGC 457 (The Owl Cluster) - Easy, always fun. Could see it naked eye for the first time.

  • Polaris - split easy as usual.

  • NGC 6543 (The Cat's Eye Nebula) - Applied a lot of magnification (about 350x). Could easily see an elongated / almond shape to it, but struggled to detect much other detail. I forget if I was using the Oiii filter or not. I don't think I was.

  • Melotte 20 (The Alpha Persei moving group) - Didn't bother through the telescope, but this one is great in binoculars. Almost as good as the Pleiades.

  • Several meteors over the course of the night, including two very bright ones. One big one had a lot dusty tail and probably crossed about 20° or more of the sky through Pegasus before disappearing (seemed to be a Perseid). Another one much later flew the other direction and was yellow-ish until it ended in a bright blue flash as it vaporized.

All-in-all, I observed from approximately 10PM to 2:30AM. Can't wait to go back. The album I linked at the top was just a few random pics I took with my Google Pixel while I was out. Wasn't focused on pictures for the most part while I was out there.