Hi I got a Dobsonian 8in about a month ago and think something may be wrong with it.

I keep getting these arrow or triangle shaped stars no matter how much I focus and refocus them. I’ve contacted HPS where I got the telescope and they gave me a give on how to check and fix any mirror pinching. I did that and am able to slide a business card between the mirror and clamps now. But no luck on the views.

Anyone have experience with this issue I’m using a 9mm eye piece and can still sort of see the triangle glow through a 30mm. The telescope has gotten plenty of time to acclimate to the weather as I’ve taken this photo aprox. 1.5 hrs after being out.

I live in the highest bortle possible living in the biggest city of my state.
Thanks.

Hello! I am trying to get into the hobby, but due to physical limitations, I need something that I am able to control through a PC in the house. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Its been like 3 months i started to use it. I was surprised how nobody talked about this tracker in reddit. If another user could share their experience with this mount. I haven't found anyone on any forum who has shared their experience in the Southern Hemisphere.

Good evening all. I was browsing the internet and came across this deal on "telescopes.us.com". Given that the price of these telescopes rarely go under $200 for a used one on eBay, I am leaning towards believing that this is more than likely a scam. Has anyone had dealings with this website before? What is your opinion? I do not want to miss out on such an opportunity. Thank you in advance!

Hey, I’m making a Rainmeter skin that shows celestial bodies (planets, the moon and the sun) as they show to an observer on Earth in real time (it also has a timeline so you can see into the past and the future). It basically simulates a (super) telescope view. It is meant to sit on the desktop like a clock but to also give astrophotographers (or anyone else) information in real time about the body, it basically simulates the solar system and uses real dimensions and distances, kind of like stellarium but it’s a “live wallpaper” with just the solar system bodies.

However, to make sure the 3D simulation is correct I need to compare the rendered images with real photographs with great detail, but, I also need the photographs timestamp and the coordinates from where they were taken (they don’t have to be super exact), and also, super important, that such photos were not rotated in post.

If there’s anyone interested on helping me please send me a PM.

The skin will be totally free and open source once it’s finished.

Apologies for my English and thanks in advance.

Took this picture of the Andromeda Galaxy through my Celestron Nexstar 90SLT ,

Eyepiece 25mm Kellner
50x Mag
OTA - 90mm Mak , 90SLT
General notes , I would love to fix noise but I fear my phone might crash or delete all progress if I don’t use 32k ISO and a limited amount of expousres

60 Exp , 1 Second per frame , 32000 ISO

Yo just saw this online how much is it worth??

Equipment:
Astromaster 70
10mm lens
Shaky phone mount with iphone 16

looking for a telescope that is capable of observing mars sized bodies with reasonable detail but also being easy to transport. right now i have a Skywatcher Starquest-130P 130MM (5.1") F/5 and its very heavy and hard to move for the quality of the images. i considered buying a telescope camera but it is my understanding that a phone adapter is effective for planetary imaging.

despite the fact that ive had this telescope for nearly 2 years now, truthfully im not very involved in the astronomy space and dont know very much about what is "good" and "bad" beyond the very basics.

any suggestions?

ive attached an image i found on google of the level of detail im aiming to capture.

I'm interested in having my own telescope and I found this online. I was wondering if I can use this as is even if there are some missing parts. If I ever do buy it, is it worth it? The seller is asking it for 1.8k pesos. Also, any suggestions for someone who is just starting. Thank you!!!

Sky-watcher 130p - An iphone 14

Saturn and moons, 2026-10-14 UT, from near Nairobi.

150 mm f/12 Newtonian (SkyWatcher Heritage 150P + 2x Barlow), ToupTek AE676C, UV/IR cut filter. North and east arrows from the moon astrometry.

Planet: 437,588 6ms frames 20:24-21:11 UT (mid 20:48:50 UT), gain 2000, captured with firecapture. PSS stack, deconvolution, PSX wavelets, GIMP 2x, curves, saturation, unsharp mask; 0.1116"/px.

Moons: 20 x 1.0 s full frames 21:15:37-21:17:28 UT (mid 21:16:32 UT), positions as measured then (within O.14" of JPL Horizons); brightened non-linearly, so relative brightness is not to scale.

October 13, 2026

First time capturing Saturn and Titan together. Open to suggestions for improving the capture or processing 😊

Gear / setup:

• Sky-Watcher Heritage 150P — 150mm f/5 Newtonian (incl. truss rod support + shroud) • Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi mount • ZWO ASI662MC planetary camera • 3× Barlow • PIPP for centering and cropping • AutoStakkert! 4 for stacking • RegiStax 6 for wavelets and final processing • Composite image of Titan and Saturn, taken at different exposures

This is a nice visual target with dark skies and a UHC, although it really comes into its own with night vision.

5h 25min of 30s subs in EQ mode. Processed with Siril, GraXpert, SyQon Prism, SETI Cosmic Clarity. This telescope is being reviewed for TelescopicWatch.com and I will have that article up once I take a couple more images!

I'm looking to buy a 12 inch telescope I have narrowed it down to the AD12 or skywatcher 300p. What would be your recommended one. My budget is pretty much the cost of the skywatcher so no extra accessories. What would you recommend.

Hello everbody, i wanted ask the questions which is in my head for many days.

1. How does humidity affect seeing, transparency or overall conditions? Does it make better or worse?

2. How can i know that the sky conditions on a specific day will be better than average day? In the next 10 day forecast there is only 1 clear night and all the others are going to be cloudy. How can i know that that day is worth for waking up late and start observing?

3. At least how many arcseconds should Mars be for me to see its first detail visually with my 3" telescope, or to photograph it with my phone? (Lucky imaging)

4. Does the luminosity of Mars and Jupiter makes it hard to see any surface details? Jupiter is very bright and contrast differences between belts is very narrow. Any tips for seeing the GRS with 3" telescope?

5. How to image both full Moon and specific region on Moon using lucky imaging technique? Lets say, i captured 60 seconds long video of complete moon drifting across eyepiece and wanting to process it in PIPP AS!4, which adjustments should i do to get a good picture? Also i want to image Rupes Recta region at 120x, what adjustments should i do to make the application to focus on the area that i want to image? I have done Planetary imaging but i have never images Moon with these apps.

6. How to make a final image of DeepSkyObjetcs especially Orion nebula? I always captured a photo of it in 3 second night mode with my iPhone. But i want to capture more images and stack them and make final image.

Thank you in advance for every recommendation and response.

I don’t know much of anything about telescopes, but I’ve seen the moon through some cheap ones before and it’s mind blowing, I’m wondering how detailed / zoomed we can go

Hello.

Just got this old-school Soviet Alkor (Алькор / TAL) 65mm Newtonian reflector. Based on the serial number, it’s from 1989 (made by NPZ in Novosibirsk). It’s built like a tank and completely metal, but unfortunately, it came without any eyepieces.

Since it uses the old 0.96" (24.5mm) size (i think), I'm trying to figure out the best way to get it operational:

1. What are your honest thoughts on the optical quality of these little 65mm mirrors? Is it worth putting effort into?

2.Has anyone here converted one of these to modern 1.25" eyepieces (maybe via a 3D printed adapter)? Does it have enough in-focuser travel to actually reach focus with modern Plössls?

3.What’s the best source to find original 0.96" Soviet eyepieces or accessories these days?

Would love to hear from anyone who has owned or restored one of these!

Thank you for all the help yesterday with my collimation issue. I got it dialed in pretty good, and took video of Saturn. I processed a final image. Open to feedback, 1st image I have processed. Used the Lucky Imaging technique.

Celestron Nexstar 8SE

ASI AIR Plus

ASI EAF Pro

ASI533MC Pro

720 ROI, Gain 320, FrameRate 13ms

25% of 4511 images using AutoStakkert

Sharpened in WaveShare3

Color corrected in Siril

The first three images are from my mirrorless camera, the close up of the ISS is from my phone and telescope.

I noticed another thing following along side the ISS as I was photographing it and realized that the dragon capsule is set to unite with the ISS very soon. Could this dog on the left be it? The dot on the right is the ISS