Telescopes

[GMRSJohn]

How many star gazers do we have in this group? What telescopes are y’all using?

 I’m looking at new ones… I have my eye on a Celestron - AstroMaster 130EQ.

[WRXB215]

It's been a while since I did any star gazing but I really enjoyed it. I only have a very cheap telescope and binos but it's still fun.

[GMRSJohn]

2 hours ago, WRXB215 said:

It's been a while since I did any star gazing but I really enjoyed it. I only have a very cheap telescope and binos but it's still fun.

I’m an overachiever… most all my hobbies are expensive. Or.. they can be lol. 
 

I had a Celestron. Good… but I want to see deep space. Nebulae, star clusters, other planets. Etc.

[SteveShannon]

18 minutes ago, GMRSJohn said:

I’m an overachiever… most all my hobbies are expensive. Or.. they can be lol. 
 

I had a Celestron. Good… but I want to see deep space. Nebulae, star clusters, other planets. Etc.

Here’s a photo a friend of mine took of the Spaghetti Nebula. She did some processing to make things more visible. I put the details beneath the image :

 

SH2-240, The Spaghetti nebula

The Spaghetti Nebula is a large supernova remnant.  It is 3000 ly away, and spans roughly 160 ly. It is estimated to be about 40,000 years old.
It is believed that the stellar explosion left behind a rapidly spinning neutron star known as pulsar PSR J0538+2817 in the nebula core, emitting a strong radio signal.

WO Pleaides 68
ASI 2600MC DUO
AM3
ASIAIR
EAF
Antlia ALP-T dual narrow band filter

132x 300 sec exposures
11 hour total integration
Processed with Pixinsight and Affinity Photo

 

[WRXB215]

@SteveShannon Wow! That friend of your does some amazing work. 

[GMRSJohn]

3 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Here’s a photo a friend of mine took of the Spaghetti Nebula. She did some processing to make things more visible. I put the details beneath the image :

 

SH2-240, The Spaghetti nebula

The Spaghetti Nebula is a large supernova remnant.  It is 3000 ly away, and spans roughly 160 ly. It is estimated to be about 40,000 years old.
It is believed that the stellar explosion left behind a rapidly spinning neutron star known as pulsar PSR J0538+2817 in the nebula core, emitting a strong radio signal.

WO Pleaides 68
ASI 2600MC DUO
AM3
ASIAIR
EAF
Antlia ALP-T dual narrow band filter

132x 300 sec exposures
11 hour total integration
Processed with Pixinsight and Affinity Photo

 

That’s awesomeness!!

[WRQC527]

8 hours ago, GMRSJohn said:

How many star gazers do we have in this group? What telescopes are y’all using?

 I’m looking at new ones… I have my eye on a Celestron - AstroMaster 130EQ.

I enjoy stargazing. I have a generic 5" reflector on a Dobsonian mount. I mostly like looking at the planets, the nebula in Orion, and of course the Moon. Jupiter is on the rise now, and it never ceases to fascinate me. Light pollution in my area of southern California wipes out a lot of good views. 

 

[GMRSJohn]

9 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

I enjoy stargazing. I have a generic 5" reflector on a Dobsonian mount. I mostly like looking at the planets, the nebula in Orion, and of course the Moon. Jupiter is on the rise now, and it never ceases to fascinate me. Light pollution in my area of southern California wipes out a lot of good views. 

 

I’ve been looking at a dobsonian mount tabletop Celestron. Just curious how easy they are to maneuver?

[WRQC527]

3 hours ago, GMRSJohn said:

I’ve been looking at a dobsonian mount tabletop Celestron. Just curious how easy they are to maneuver?

I built mine after looking at a bunch of diy's online. The problem with mine is that it doesn't track like an equatorial mount. Which is OK with me. But if you want to do astrophotography or keep an object in view without constantly moving, they're not ideal. I imagine the commercial made units have some pretty slick tracking mechanisms. 

[WRKW566]

Other than a spotting scope, this is my telescope. It's another museum piece. Had it for I forget how long.

I also have a Celestron Sky Scout

[RayDiddio]

I've been looking up so long my neck hurts.

Jack Horkheimer always reminded me to keep looking up and I still do. He was truly a loss in the world of planetariums and space in general.

I do not currently own a telescope but will be getting another sometime after January when we are done moving. I am looking at some middle upper end Celestron models with tracking mounts as I am an amateur photog and would love to try and get some nice DSO images.

Anyway, this is what I have been eyeballing for a few months now: https://www.celestron.com/products/cpc-1100-gps-xlt-computerized-telescope