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Old 25-06-2017, 06:45 PM
Camelopardalis's Avatar
Camelopardalis (Dunk)
Drifting from the pole

Camelopardalis is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 5,479
Welcome to Ice in Space Ben!

The 6SE is a great little scope...it was my starter and I still have mine...and use it occasionally! The 6 have a reputation for great optics generally.

Your scope will show you plenty. Do it and yourself a favour and take it on a trip to a dark site. Don't get too caught up in other folk and their bigger scopes. There's always going to be someone with a bigger, badder scope. Focus on enjoying yours and it will give you a baseline. Nebulae, galaxies and star clusters are well within the reach of your scope.

The 8mm being blurry can be caused by several things...the stability of the atmosphere (you'll hear it called 'seeing') may not have been very good, it may be caught in the thermal plume of a nearby building, or your scope may not have been adequately cooled (unusual with a 6). Over time and experimentation you'll learn to identify the differences.

You've picked a great pair of eyepieces to go with your scope, so roll with them. Don't be rushed into buying more until you fell you want something extra.

Don't rush to start imaging with a DSLR or other attempts at long exposures with the SE mount because it's alt-azimuth and you really need an equatorial mount - one that correctly counteracts the rotation of the earth - for long exposures. That's not to say the 6 can't be used for imaging - the f/6.3 reducer works quite well and is even Hyperstar capable.

You could certainly have a decent crack at planetary imaging with your 120MC though, you'll want a Barlow lens to make the image larger (Bintel currently have some Celestron Ultima Barlow which are great value).

Above all, enjoy your new scope...it is so portable I find I grab it on nights I can't be bothered to setup my bigger scope, and it can be setup and running in minutes once you get the hang of it.
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