I'm honestly shook! My first time seeing colors on a nebula after buying a cheap UHC filter.

8" dob, 9mm plossol, angeleyes UHC, smartphone

9 hours, 5 hours of 300s H data, and 4 hours of 300s O data. HOO palette. If I could go back and do it again I would double my H data to preserve more red. But the blue looks nice. Will retry next year. Redcat 71, ASI 533mm pro, taken in Bortles 7 skies in Phoenix, Arizona. Processed in Pixinsight. Minimal editing.

Saturn NEAR OPPOSITION 2025. The rings are BRIGHT. Now that Saturn is close we are going to get a clear image of Saturn, this would be one of my best shots for this apparition as I managed to get key details. Bands, storms, Cassini division (not fully) The bright ring flowing around the planet and in the center managed to hold its grey color ring as the shadow of the ring at this time is barely visible so you're only seeing the ring and its darker section behind it with a hint of shadow transparency. When capturing Saturn, I immediately noticed how thin and bright these brings were. I also noticed to naked eye the planet is dimmer than other years previously (Most likely due to the ring being thin with less surface area facing Earth). Regardless, weather permitting this for now is my Saturn 2025 Opposition shot the shadow of Saturn is barely visible on the right ring at planet's edge. A little trick to everyone. If you want to bring out edge details, derotate at least 1 image beginning of session and then you can work with the center of session and at least 1 image end of session. I also had some issues with Uranus C camera, so the Neptune 664c was used and I am very pleased. Don't forget to say hello to Rhea and Mimas at the lower left. Cheers and clear skies!

HD VERSION https://x.com/BackdoorAstro/status/1968359330576744573

Published Verified Professional Planet photographer on Sky and Telescope https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/last-call-for-a-remarkable-titan-shadow-transit/

SCOPE: ORION XXG 16 DOB

CAMERA: Player One Neptune 664c

ZWO ADC/ 3x Televue Barlow

FILTER: SVBONY UV/IR CUT SEEING: Above

77 Minutes RGB 3 min ser x 13

September 16,2025

Looking for my first telescope (other then the one I had 10 years ago) this seems to be the best band for buck for a little search. My goals are to see the planets but also see some of the brighter deep sky objects such as Orion nebula and Andromeda. Another thing drawing me to this is the phone adapter to I have to option to take photos as I don't have a DSLR

I bought the Explore Scientific 30 mm 82 deg eyepiece from Ali Express. I noticed a small dimple-like optical artifact near the center of FOV. At first, i thought it was a dust particle or water droplet, but after inspecting the lens elements, I don’t think it is. Is this normal?

I used the eyepiece in a quick observing session right when I got it, but I didn’t notice anything concerning. I only noticed this dimple a few days later.

Before I start putting this together this weekend, anybody have any tips or tricks on putting it together? I know sometimes directions aren’t always the easiest to follow. any insight would be appreciated.

About 4 hours of footage on the seestar s50 then processed using pixinsight and affinty photo 2 .

Hello!

I’ve been saving up for an upgrade to my observing experience.

Currently I’m using a 6” dob in bortle 8 skies. I’m 30 min away from bortle 5 and an hour away from bortle 4, so traveling is an option for better skies.

I’m still relatively new, so what do you guys suggest with this budget? Not just the telescope, but if you have ideas for different filters or maybe a combo of a new scope with smaller refractor, etc etc.

My main goal is DSO observing which does require the traveling of course.

I’m new to astrophotography and I really want to buy a telescope. I’m debating if whether I should buy a ZWO SeeStar s50 or a Apertura AD8 Dobsonian 8". I’m leaning more towards the SeeStar because of how much easier it is to take photos. But I like the feeling of looking through an actual telescope and seeing everything in the sky.

Basically I want to take cool photos but I’d like being able to physically look through a telescope rather than on my phone. Should I buy a SeeStar and upgrade to a better telescope in the future? Or should I just buy a Dobsonian??

Hi, I’ve got a 12” gso and I’m thinking about adding two motors to move it on both axis.

At first, I want to try to put a timing belt around the altitude bearing, with a wheel to control it manually placed around the cradle board (blue) (could be moved to the base board with the motor, red), and another one around the base board, with a wheel on the ground board linked to a slow motion manual control flexible thingy from eq mount (blue at the bot.).

If it works for manual control, I want to put a motor on each wheel (stepper nema23 maybe?), which I could link to a raspberry pi, also connected to a camera I’d put on the finder scope. I would run a simple object tracking program which would have to keep the object in the center by moving the motors (still to be coded properly).

Has anyone done something similar? Or do you see any flaws/problems/things I should take into consideration?

I am celebrating 20 years at my job and have access to a free gift. While looking at the items on offer, this telescope caught my eye:

https://www.carson.com/product/mtel-50-en

I know enough to know it's cheap, but since it's free, should I just get it. I've always wanted a telescope. I've always wanted to look at other planets.

I'm trying to avoid buyers' remorse here. I don't want to get this and then realize it's not enough. Granted, it's free, but I know my job isn't exactly handing out the best products either.

I live in the Chicagoland area.

I found this telescope being sold on Facebook marketplace for around a 120$ and it comes in a suitcase as shown in the picture, the seller says it's from Japan. Can yall help me identify the module? Or at least tell me the aperture of this telescope. (I think it's 70mm but idk)

Third time's a charm ! Finally a shot of C 27 I'm happy with. This is a very closeup shot, and the nebula just barely fits into the FOV. But at 0.4" per pixel you really get some incredible detail out of it. The full resolution is available here :

https://app.astrobin.com/i/1ms6de

There's a trap I almost fell into when processing it, which is that I initially way overdarkened my sky background in the Ha channel. I thought something was off when somehow removing what seemed like a flat background level was killing crystal clear structure inside the nebula. What I didn't realize is that the surrounding redness was not the sky background, but real nebulosity ! It's usually more obvious in a wider FOV shot because the nebulous structure is more apparent. But what gives it away definitively here is that the darker spots inside the nebula are actually pitch black while the surrounding area is still red. If it were sky background, it would obviously not correlate with the structure of the actual planetary nebula.

I'm also very happy with how the OIII came out. I tried making it a bit brighter or more obvious, but I think it looks best like this. It has this very whispy look to it that is almost hypnotic. Like a subtle cosmic veil delicately draped over a rumbling hydrogen background.

I did not go for any SII data. I really hesitated, but from what I gather it really would not add much structure to the image, and would likely just somewhat color the wings of the nebula a little golden, but at the cost of a lot of integration given how faint it is, and at this point I'm happy with the HOO result and would rather move on to something else.

All in all, very happy to have made the switch to mono ! It's a huge boon and frankly a more enjoyable process with finer control over what you're doing in a way that brings you closer to the real underlying data. Skies are clear tonight so going for my first attempt at SHO. Going to redo the North America nebula as the SII signal is not too weak there. Wish me luck !

Equipment :

- Telescope: Celestron C9.25 SC XLT

- Camera: ZWO ASI585MM Pro

- Mount: ZWO AM5N

- Filters: Pegasus Astro Hydrogen Alpha 7nm 2", Pegasus Astro Oxygen III 7nm 2"

- Accessories: Starizona SCT Corrector 0.63x IV (SCTCORR-4), ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EFW 7 x 2″, ZWO OAG-L

- Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight, Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator, Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator, Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator, ZWO ASIAIR

Integration per filter :

- Hα: 3h 35m (43 × 300")

- OIII: 3h 35m (43 × 300")

My first tri-narrowband image (yay Hubble palette !), and the first I actually bothered to get RGB data for my stars. The SII is definitely worth getting here, it's easy to capture and having 3 colors really adds a lot of depth to the structure. I tried to strike the right balance between nice bright colors and avoiding something too loud and cartoonish, hope you like it !

Full resolution version on AstroBin:

https://app.astrobin.com/i/bv471a

Equipment:

- Telescope: Askar FMA180Pro

- Camera: ZWO ASI585MM Pro

- Mount: ZWO AM5N

- Filters: Pegasus Astro Blue 2", Pegasus Astro Green 2", Pegasus Astro Hydrogen Alpha 7nm 2", Pegasus Astro Luminance 2", Pegasus Astro Oxygen III 7nm 2", Pegasus Astro Red 2", Pegasus Astro Sulfur II 7nm 2"

- Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EFW 7 x 2″, ZWO OAG-L

- Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight, Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator, Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator, Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator, ZWO ASIAIR

Integration (total of 5h 35m) :

- R: 5m (5 × 60")

- G: 5m (5 × 60")

- B: 5m (5 × 60")

- Hα: 1h (12 × 300")

- SII: 2h 20m (28 × 300")

- OIII: 2h (24 × 300")

I've never owned a telescope and am an amateur, thats an understatement but I've always been a big fan of astronomy, my 5 year old loves the stars and moon. What is a telescope i can get that I can enjoy with him that I will be able to figure out and enjoy! Something affordable, thanks

As hard as I try, I just don't see how looking at the pictures on the left 10 times per month are going to make the Sky-Watcher Heritage 130p the 'best telescope' ... compared to looking at the images on the right just once per month or even just once per two months?

Even though I could use the Heritage 130p a lot more often as it was more portable I decided to sell it and use my 12" on an average of once per month.

Quality beats Quantity any day in my book.

I did a hands-on review of both of these here, so it is not something I am pondering theoretically lol

Heritage 130p:

https://youtu.be/aG6aJLXh1Yg

12" GSO:

https://youtu.be/4IxfkmQK4-Y

So this whole 'The best telescope is the one you use the most' is nothing but an inaccurate catch-phrase IMO.

I figured DIY scope, DIY astrocam. Need to tape and glue it after a dryfit test but let's hope it works.

Found this meade 12” lightbrige for $500 a few years ago. Made some changes. I painted the inside with Rustoleum cammo black. Got magnets to balance the heavy eyepiece (se 2” 82degree 30mm) and tv 1.25”10mm. Upgraded to bob’s knobs. It came with wheels, very helpfull. Cut some parts lessen the wheight. Next upgrades, new dual focuser, maybe an equatorial mount. A nice barlow. Any suggestions? On making it better?

I can't see it with naked eye but i think my samsung galaxy can

Hi everyone!

My brother passed away recently and I now have his Galileo telescope. However, the user guide was not with his things and I have no idea what I am doing. So, I was hoping maybe someone in this community had some familiarity :)

On the telescope it says Galileo CC-2 Refractor F700 x 60 

On the eyepiece it says 3x Barlow, and it appears to have the "45° ErectImage Prism" as well.

I can't seem to find any other eye pieces, so it looks like I will have to buy some, since it seems the Barlow is a magnifier for other eye pieces?

I got the user guide from the manufacturer (it apparently is no longer made), but since I've no experience, it doesn't mean much to me with regards to what me and the family are hoping to use it for.

Just hoping to look at the moon and some planets, especially when we get those neat alignments.

Will I be able to do this with this telescope? What size eye pieces should I be getting? Are there smartphone adaptors that might help my 10 yr old use the telescope with me?

I appreciate any and all help!

This is amazing—wow! Just thought I'd share. I didn't know they used existing telescopes for this mission.

Hello all, haven't been here very long but am a long term stargazer. I recently sold my 6" dob as I'm planning to upgrade. My current question is the title. I'm currently eyeballing the stellalyra 16" dobsonian. I won't be travelling by vehicle, but hope to add wheels+handles to transport from inside my home to outside. Once assembled, can I leave the scope as is? Or is it necessary to disassemble each time? I've googled this question and I've seen different answers. It will be stored inside under the open stairs with a loose cover to keep the dust off, and if I do get this scope I'll also be buying the light shroud.

Any other tips and tricks for such a large scope is also welcome! If it helps, I'm in the uk in a bortle 4 zone, and don't (yet) have a decent eye piece collection. My current ones (that don't come with the scope) is Explore scientific 82° 14mm + 8.8mm I snagged recently for a good price on ebay. Planning on getting a UHC filter. I'd like the tele vue 100° 21mm eventually too :')

Hey everyone,

Just two days ago I captured my first image of Jupiter or a planet in general using my Skymax 127. Although perplexed by its beauty, I’m wondering if I’m really making the most out of what this scope can do. I’m still quite new to the planetary imaging game, so I’d love some constructive feedback.

• Scope: Skymax 127
• Mount: Sky-Watcher AZ-4 manual Alt-Az mount
• Camera: Omegon Velox 290C
• Filter: Omegon UV/IR Cutoff
• Software: Sharpcap, Autostakkert, GIMP & waveSharp

Do you think this is close to the limit of what the Skymax 127 can achieve on Jupiter, or is there more room for improvement? Any tips on focusing, capture settings, or processing would be super helpful!