Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenM
Looking good Chris! I think I'm going to have to start saving for a webcam!
Just out of interest, have you been able to visually identify the GRS through your SW135? I've had brief moments where I think I can see it, but the general detail is not as good as in your images (as expected I guess).
Cheers,
Stephen
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Hi Stephen,
Thanks for the praise! They are getting much better now.
I have occasionally glimpsed it when using the 2.5x barlow and my 12.5mm ED eyepiece (at 200x mag) but its a bit hard to detect, you have to wait and wait until the detail becomes visible. You will notice that the longer you look, the more you see. It also depends on the seeing too. Generally I can only see two bands with a very white disc.
My suggestion for you is (if you dont already have some) buy 1 or 2
quality eyepieces such as an ED 10-15mm and a 20-25mm one. These are fantastic for eye relief and show much more field than the standard plossl's that come with it. Having said that though, after I sorted out my collimation issues, ALL my eyepieces now give pretty nice views, the smaller original ones have more contrast than the bigger multi-elemement ones so they are a good choice for wider field nebulous areas and clusters.
My next purchase is probably going to be a quality ED 5x Barlow for planetary pictures if I don't talk myself into buying a 12 inch DOB as well!
Keep in mind that our scope's limit for mag is about 2.5x the aperture which is around 300x so a 3x barlow with a 10mm eyepiece is starting to stretch the friendship a bit. This is why I went for a 2.5x ED (after many great words of advice from IISers) because it makes my eyepiece set go like this (the * indicates the originals that came with the scope:
EP Magnification With 2.5x Barlow
10mm* = 100x 250x
10mmWA = 100x wide angle 250x wide angle
12.5mm ED = 80x 200x
15mm = 67x 167x
20mm* = 50x 125x
So you can see there is a nice spread of magnification from 50x to 250x there which is great for choice. The one I probably use the most is the 12.5mm ED so that is why I suggest you get an ED eyepiece. The only cost about $49-$69 from Andrews Comms.
I just realised that I wandered off track as usual, you asked about the GRS and here I am giving you a scope/EP lesson. Sorry, but as its my thread anyway, too bad!
Cheers
Chris