[StuM (Stu)]

Thanks for the help, JeniSkunk. Generally,

Originally Posted by JeniSkunk

A goto telescope is only as good as its aligned at the start of a viewing session. For someone new to astronomy, a goto scope seems an easy solve to knowing what to look for and knowing what you're looking at. But the telescope has to be properly aligned so the goto mount can do its work properly.

Yes, I got that.. I didn't mention I'd had trouble aligning it or working alignment out. In fact, it's a super simple system imo, and it always aligns perfectly, or so it seems anyway, as I allow it to do its thing fully, then once alignment is fully completed and confirmed, I auto-select the moon first, then a planet, then a bright star, and all three always align exactly to the dead centre of the FOV, so not sure what you're advising there, the system is always dead accurate in alignment, so I'm happy I've got that perfectly figured - always perfectly aligned to whatever I dial in, and it's really an impressive thing to see, imo. Red dot scope I have dead accurate also. It's very useful.

Originally Posted by JeniSkunk

As for the eyepiece kit, that was a waste of money. It's a large selection of cheap low quality eyepieces which match what ships with the telescope. The 2x Barlow, if its a metal bodied one, might be decent enough to warrant keeping. The filters are a range of ones that might not see a lot of use unless you do a lot of planetary viewing.
As the first upgrade for my scope, I bought the SkyWatcher branded version of the Celestron AstroMaster Accessory Kit.
https://www.celestron.com/products/a...-accessory-kit
The 6mm Plossl eyepiece was useless. The 15mm Kellner eyepiece was better than the supplied Super 10mm and Super 25mm Modified Achromat eyepieces which came with my scope. I lucked it with the 2x Barlow, as my set has the good quality metal barrel one, and not the usual plastic barrel one.

Again, mine are all metal, the barlow included, and I'm certain it's not the cheap kit everyone avoids.. I did loads of research before I bought the scope or the kit, so the cheap kit was easily avoided.

Originally Posted by JeniSkunk

OK. All the FANCY photos you see of nebula and galaxies are VERY long video sequences, where the frames of the video have been put together and post processed to bring out as much detail as possible as a single still image. The human eye cannot see that much colour detail of a nebula, in any telescope on Earth. I've seen nebula in my scope, and what I've seen of the clouds of them, those clouds are shades of grey. Not all the brilliant colours of the astronomy photos.

Yes, I presumed that was common knowledge and most ppl knew that, sorry.. Perhaps I shouldn't have referred to myself so specifically as a total No0b, I'm tech advanced, so I get all that stuff, and I didn't say I was expecting coloured nebulae. I know there's not a chance with just 500 bucks worth of mirrors lol. I wasn't necessarily after all that awesome coloured stuff (not into astrophotography atm), but mostly just great planets etc, and I hope we get to see Venus/Jupiter/Saturn this week or early next! That will be so exciting.

Originally Posted by JeniSkunk

2inch eyepieces are for telescope made with a 2inch eyepiece mount.
Your telescope, like mine, has a 1.25inch eyepiece mount. With the correct eyepieces, it is VERY capable. Spending more money on a larger telescope, when you haven't got used to successfully driving the small scope you have, will only get you further into frustration with astronomy.

That's odd - mine can accept both 1.25-inch and 2-inch lenses as standard. The 2-inch capability was one of the reasons I got it.

Originally Posted by JeniSkunk

Mars, what you describe, is what I found as well. A small orangey dot in the eyepiece. The small size of Mars and its distance from Earth, means you need a suitable eyepiece, and use the Barlow, to better magnify it. But you won't get the big views of it with a small telescope.

Thanks, that's what I figured, and expected, so thank you for confirming. It's little and a loooong way away!

Originally Posted by JeniSkunk

Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, all EASILY viewable with the scope.

Ok, great! They haven't been visible for us yet, clouds etc. Something to look fwd to!

Originally Posted by JeniSkunk

Getting decent eyepieces, not going to be inexpensive, but you pay for the quality, and that pays dividends in what you'll be able to see.
Best move for eyepieces and info, pay a visit to Astro Anarchy in the Myer Centre in the CBD.
http://www.astroanarchy.com.au/index.html

Thanks, I always intended to get a good 2-inch lens and throw that in, just haven't found the time yet - my 130 takes a 2-inch lens, so though the multiple lens kit is all reasonable (it's not the cheap one everyone steers clear of, it's the better kit with the full steel barlow etc), perhaps that will be of much larger benefit.

Thanks again so much for the help.