Double Stars with a Skywatcher Skymax 127 Telescope

[@GarnettLeary]

Totally unexpected to see a video on splitting stars. Brilliant. A true astronomer. I like your work and it’s refreshing to see something besides a nebula edit.

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks, i really appreciate it. I know i can't compete with the 10 hour Hubble palette Photoshop experts so i endeavour to do something different. Clear skies to you.

[@joneslu1377]

This 127mm Mak is in my shopping list now. Please make more videos, as they are really satisfying to watch!

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks, will do! The 127 is a great scope for the money.

[@james9789]

Albireo is such a joy to see through a scope in real-time

[@allancopland1768]

Hi Graham. I like your presentations. Just bought my first Mak. A second-hand Skymax127 in lovely condition for not much money. I'm very happy with it. My other scope is an SvBONY 80mm F7 ED doublet which I really like.

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks Allan. Lots of options with those two scopes. Clear skies!

[@oldfilmguy9413]

yet another inspiring video - great to see what we can "see" with smaller scopes. Cheers!

[@copper12heavy69]

I just got a goto eq mount, I'm excited to use it. I may be duplicating some of the viewing here, thanks for such a great series of videos.

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks, glad they are useful. Enjoy your new mount.

[@marstrooper2045]

Very nice star astrophotography. It's very rare to see star astrophotography, most astrophotographers are always focused on galaxies and nebulae.

[@cadearthur3227]

a tip: you can watch movies on KaldroStream. Been using them for watching lots of of movies lately.

[@charliealec3413]

@Cade Arthur Yea, have been watching on kaldroStream for since december myself :)

[@astrophotonics9470]

Double Star Marathons are always cool. Great Video.

[@TheUrbanAstronomer]

That was a great tour of double stars!

[@JenhamsAstro]

The Urban Astronomer Thanks! I confess I’ve tended to overlook them a little in the past, but the 127 has reinvigorated my interest.

[@Station2066]

Nicely done.

[@anthonyexmouth]

Belt mod is a must, I waited a year to do mine and regret not doing sooner.

[@JenhamsAstro]

It's on my wish list!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Great video! The 127 looks great : )

[@Nottsboy24]

Sure is a great video 👌

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks!

[@TheAstronomer]

Great show! By the way why the blue stars, including Vega, look orange to light yellow in the video?

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks. I'm not sure why but the colours do oscillate a bit on the video compared with the still frames.

[@CarolinaSkyAstronomy]

Great views of some double stars, the first one is my favorite

[@markharris4539]

Hi Graham. Great vid as always. I'm stuck between the, celestron c90 and skymax 127, on which one to buy! Maybe the, Celestron! Keep-up the good work. Mark.

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks Mark!

[@richies6420]

I’m loving this.

[@MM0IMC]

Cor Caroli reminds me of an episode of ST:TNG, where Picard talks about Cor Caroli 5.

[@DavidMFChapman]

Nice work on the doubles. Have you checked in a photo editor that the centres of those star images are not saturating? They all look white to me, with colours on the edge.

[@Nottsboy24]

It maybe the focusing! using a DSLR the star's tend to blowt. I normally zoom in on a star using my astro modified DSLR to achieve the best focus i can as i don't have a Bahtinov mask

[@JenhamsAstro]

I confess that the exposures for the still frames were a bit trial and error, so that might have impacted the result. The main idea was to give an impression of seeing these amazing stars with the 127, in a hope that more people would seek them out.

[@DavidMFChapman]

No criticism intended! It’s a great video. I did a similar project with my vintage C90 a few years ago after I refurbished it. One of my first targets was Albireo. I used ISO 1600 and 1/8 s at f/11. www.dropbox.com/s/kt1lfhfjpavpnn0/IMG_8413.JPG?dl=0

[@Darksagan]

Wow nice.

[@Nottsboy24]

Sure is nice 👌

[@MM0IMC]

Glad to hear that your mount is as crunchy as my EQ5 Pro. 🤣

[@JenhamsAstro]

It’s not the most refined machine, but it does the job.

[@Nottsboy24]

Great video my friend! 👌 i will be focusing on stars this month until the end of the year.....great star observations and nice targets too ☺

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks a lot! I'll look out for your next video.

[@WhiskyNotesCS]

Great and helpful Videos, thank you! I'm just going in to this hobby since a few days. Also have a Skywatcher 127/1500 Mak Scope. Mount is a AZ-Go2 WiFi. I'm looking for the Moon in the first step to get some experience, then Mars etc. Greetings from Switzerland and always CS. 😉🔭 Subscribed 👍🏼

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks. Clear skies to you too.

[@oninoyakamo]

What to do with a Maksutov-Cassegrain at night? Part III: Double Stars - Stars as destinations, instead of waypoints

[@madal101]

Hi, a bit late to the game but I’ve bought a SW Skymax 127 with the Synscan goto mount. I now have a Canon EOS 600D camera and want to connect the camera directly to the back of the scope as you have done.. can you advise what adapter you used? Also, if I were to add a Barlow, would I still be able to achieve focus? Love the channel, thanks for the great reviews.

[@JenhamsAstro]

A D Thanks. To connect the camera you need to buy a T-ring adapter for your EOS. They cost around £10-15. Connections with barlows between the scope and camera are a bit trickier with DSLRs. Some barlows come with a thread on the end that will screw into the t-ring. Otherwise for a standard barlow without this thread you need to get an adapter that slots into the 1.25” barlow and then screws into the t-ring. These are called T-adapters. If you search and look at the images it should be fairly obvious how to connect it all up. I’d start with just the t-ring and get used to that first.

[@joeimbesi99]

Enjoyed your vid do more please. I've got and had Apos of 130mm and believe me the 127 is a great scope..how it would go with a reduced baffle I dont know maybe better contrast but flaring could occur ..they work great with good Prism diagonals and delites though 8 and 12 dual eds AND 26mm ES 62° ALL go great.. Try 1.8" Eta Orionis, Lovely bright 2.4" Zeta Aquarii, Gamma Ceti (Tough) and equal pair 1.4" Pi Aquilae in this all look great

[@JenhamsAstro]

Thanks! I’ve wondered about those ES 62s so it’s good to hear your feedback.

[@joeimbesi99]

@@JenhamsAstro Yes the ES 62 is amazing in over f5 like a pan field looks better than 62 too very comfortable and BIG eyelens youd love it ..Cheers!

[@paulkazjack]

You missed Mirach and, the 'other' double double in Lyra. Clear skies.

[@maureenarcuri255]

Cool! Did you have to put a counterweight on the scope to account for the camera's weight?

[@JenhamsAstro]

I didn’t need an extra weight but I always check the balance of any particular setup when I get started each night, and the camera means I have to slide the counterweight slightly further down the bar to get a nice balance.

[@maureenarcuri255]

@@JenhamsAstro thank you!

[@Astrolavista]

Glad you're enjoying the 127Mak.

[@ronstewtsaw]

There is a good chance that I will be getting a Explore Scientific Firstlight 127 Mak. It is not the same as the Skymax, having a 1900 mm focal length, but there is a family resemblance. Does any readily available autofocuser work with your 127?

[@JenhamsAstro]

Hi Ron, not really! JMI do make a unit that says it works with the Synta 127s, but the cost is about the same as the scope. I went down the DIY route and bought a £40 SW focuser motor and bought a couple of pulleys and a belt from eBay, and made up a bracket to hold it all together. I haven't made a YT video of the build, but i put a short clip on FB here:facebook.com/JenhamsAstro/videos/3424610430978416 The ES 127 is interesting, as it has a more classical Mak focal ratio. If the optics are good you should get good contrast.

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

I am about to buy my first telescope (Skywatcher 127/1500 MAK EQ-3-2). To me it seems the best package with T2 camera mount for planets and some deeper sky and nebula.

[@JenhamsAstro]

I think it's a good choice. No scope design does everything (even if some SCT owners may disagree!) but you can do a lot with the 127 for relatively little cost. If you get deeper into planetary photography then you can add an astro camera (like the ZWO ASI-120) or start even cheaper with a converted webcam.

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

@@JenhamsAstro Thank you for the quick reply! Did a bit of research and kept returning to this scope. Some reviewers complicate things to the point of me questioning their competence...Was looking for a GoTo system but I think searching is part of the hobby and skill set. You can also address that money to a better tripod/scope or even some acc. Been doing photography for a while so am familiar with aperture and other technical terms. Looking forward, I got a roof terras pointing to the north! Though I am not sure how bad the light pollution is here (1,5 km from city center, small town). If you have some beginners tips like accessoires please let me know. Cheers Mike (Netherlands).

[@JenhamsAstro]

Mike Hydropneumatic Hi Mike, I think you can learn and see a lot with that scope and mount, and along the way you will learn the night sky when GOTO users might not. You shouldn’t need to buy much extra kit. In fact I’d say resist the temptation! An RA drive for the mount will be useful if not included, and a 2x barlow is always good to have if you get a steady night to scan the Moon. I’d advise to use the scope visually for a while and not to worry about photography until later. Light pollution is a big problem so maybe concentrate on brighter targets initially? Globular clusters, the moon and double stars can look amazing in a Mak and be less affected by pollution than a nebula or galaxy. I hope you enjoy your new setup. Graham

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

@@JenhamsAstro Thank you Graham. Tomorrow I am going to a shop and also have Synscan and ASCOM pc connectivity a bit more explained. The scope I mentioned is my benchmark and there need be some pretty strong arguement(s) to steer me away from that one. Thanks for your time and I'll keep you updated. Need some clear skies :)

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

Hi Graham, Went to the shop and returned with a Sky Watcher 127/1500 on AZ ATI mount. Didn't go crazy on acc. , just an 9mm upgrade to the standard 10mm objective as a 2x Barlow and recharchable battery pack (10 sets of 8 Duracells are more expensive!). Put it together and works well. I am impressed by this (Chinese) brand. Packaging, manuals and build quality are pretty nice. No clear skies for now, need to wait till tuesday i guess (freezing cold but clear skies!). Cheers Mike

[@rcuevasvidea]

Hello Jenham. Do you think that Skymax127 is a good telescope for DSO astrophotography further double stars? I have one and muy skies have a lot of light pollution.

[@JenhamsAstro]

Hello. If you have a 127 already then yes it is worth having a go at photographing doubles and smaller DSOs like planetary nebulae and also globulars. It's small field of view is not suited to larger DSOs e.g. many nebulae. The typical comparisons made for double star telescopes are between Maks and refractors, and the trade-offs then exist between the benefits of Maks (cheaper per aperture, more portable, low false colour) and refractors (no central obstruction, quicker to cool down). When using a DSLR i have a light pollution filter fitted, but this isn't essential for double stars (assuming you can find them!) There is no perfect scope but as you have a 127 you can experiment to find its strengths and weaknesses under your home sky. I hope this helps, Graham

[@hfmns]

Hi, I have the same telescope. What do I need to connect my DSLR camera with the telescope?

[@JenhamsAstro]

You just need a T-ring for your type of DSLR (they are also called T2 rings/mounts). Nothing else, as the visual back on the 127 is threaded to mate with the T-ring.

[@petelayton3107]

hi i have a celestron sky prodigy 90 would it be possible to use sky watcher ota EQ2 on its mount, pete

[@JenhamsAstro]

I think that scope uses a standard "vixen style" dovetail bar to attach the tube to the mount. If so then you should be able to put the scope onto many other astro mounts. BUT the eq2 attaches scopes uses bolt-on tube rings rather than accepting a standard dovetail, so be careful to make sure you don't need extra adapters that would add to the cost. The eq3-2 accepts dovetail bars, as on example. I'd avoid the eq2 for this reason - it's old kit.

[@robinj.9329]

Geeze! The noise your "Go To" mount makes is very gratting on the nerves! Q. Don't you ever just slew the scope by hand? That's the way I've been doing it for nearly 60 years! I began Astronomer in my teens way back in the early 60's. And I can find just about ANYTHING in the Sky (that I want to look at) IN SECONDS. Yup, these moves (for me, at least) wouldn't even require a full minutes time! And I'd do it in absolute SILENCE too. Plus! If you don't need no multi thousand dollars electronically controlled mount, you will REALLY impress the group at any "Star Party"! Honestly, they will be so impressed, you'll be surrounded by a crowd of "Admirers" all night long!

[@JenhamsAstro]

Star hopping is good fun, and does avoid the gear noise!

[@fabriksu]

Hai,i just by this teleskop,a want to ask is there posibilities to found some deep objekt or some nebula's, my is on go-to .

[@JenhamsAstro]

Hello Robert, if i can repeat some advise i gave for a similar question, a Maksutov - like the Skymax 127 - is not best suited to nebulae if they are large - it's very good for small planetary nebulae like Messier 57 but not for a larger objects like Messier 16, because the field of view is quite small. The same applies to galaxies; it's not the best for M31 but fine for M81. If you want to look at large, faint objects then a different telescope design would be better, such as a dobsonian or a newtonian reflector. In summary, the 127 is excellent for planets, globular clusters, planetary nebulae and double stars, but not the best choice for "faint and fuzzy" extended deep sky objects like the Orion Nebula or for big open clusters like Messier 45. Goto is particularly helpful for Maks, as the small field of view can make star-hopping difficult.

[@fabriksu]

@@JenhamsAstro understand,i have canon eos 2000D and some filters ,i hope i will get some good pictures

[@MatHelm]

Which Canon DSLR are you using?

[@JenhamsAstro]

Hi Mat, it's a 700D modified for astrophotography. Clear skies! Graham

[@Chimp_6]

I'm researching to buy my first telescope. How much of a difference would an SCT have for these star views?

[@JenhamsAstro]

Happy New Year. An SCT of the same aperture will give a wider field of view than the Mak, as it operates at a focal ratio of f/10 vs f/12 for the Skymax Maks. This isn't really of benefit for high splitting double stars though. In my experience the contrast will be better in the Mak, giving a cleaner split of a double/multiple than an SCT. Collimiation is also a factor in getting good views of stars/planets, and again the Mak collimation is more stable over time (it should stay collimated!) but an SCT can need regular recollimation to give optimum views. On the other hand, Maks take longer to cool down and reach thermal equilibrium than SCTs as they have a thicker corrector plate. So in summary (in my opinion), for doubles/planets/high power moon viewing get the Mak. An SCT could be considered a better "all rounder" scope by some, if you factor in the ability to have a wider FOV /lower power for other deep sky objects like clusters. I hope this helps. Graham

[@Chimp_6]

Thank you Graham for your response, and greetings from the beach in Southern California USA! I have been looking at the Celestron NexStar SE GoTo series and am torn between the 4" (Mak) and the 5" & 6" (SCT). I want to see as much size and detail as possible, but keep it small as I will be taking it into dark sky locations in our small RV (I believe in the UK you call them caravans). I am a "techie" so collimation and GoTo alignments should not be an issue. Any recommendations you have would be greatly appreciated. On another note I would like to thank you for your channel. I have watched scores of videos on other channels and am impressed by how clearly you present your information to the novice viewer.I come from a highly technical field (retired network engineer) and know how easy it is to go "into the weeds" with acronyms and jargon that leave the average person totally in the dark. Keep up the great work! Andy

[@JenhamsAstro]

Hi Andy. Thanks for the kind comments on the channel. I've tried to aim most of the content towards people who are relatively new to astro, as i have seen so many people buy the wrong kit and get disenchanted. Often the mistake is to buy the biggest and heaviest scope which then never gets used, so I'm glad you are looking at more manageable options to fit in your RV. Perfect for a trip to dark skies! Now back to your options. My previous reply came down on the side of a Mak rather than an SCT of a given aperture, specifically thinking about targets for which you would want high powers, BUT when you factor in the different apertures of the NexStars I'd pick the 6SE SCT from your list to provide the best decently sized and versatile scope of the three. You will find the GOTO quite intuitive and accurate once you have got a bit of practice with alignment, and collimation of an SCT isn't tricky on nights where you want to extract the best performance at higher powers. The 6" optical tube is light and well proven and won't take up much more room that the smaller Maks. If you have any other options on your shopping list i'd be happy to add my 2p of advise. Clear skies to you! Graham

[@savvaskondylis491]

Ηι jenhams i want to ask you for this telescope because i am thinking to purchase it...firstly in odservation can you see galaxies nebulas in good resolution or not?sorry for my english and thank you!!

[@JenhamsAstro]

Hello Savvas, a Maksutov - like the Skymax 127 - is not best suited to nebulae if they are large - it's OK for small planetary nebulae like Messier 57 but not for a larger object like Messier 16, because the field of view is quite small. The same applies to galaxies; not the best for M31 but OK for M81. If you want to look at large, faint objects then a different telescope design would be better, such as a dobsonian or a newtonian reflector. In summary, the 127 is excellent for planets, globular clusters, planetary nebulae and double stars, but not the best choice for "faint and fuzzy" extended objects like the Orion Nebula or for big open clusters like Messier 45. I hope this is helpful, Graham

[@savvaskondylis491]

@@JenhamsAstro thank you your answer is very helpful i was interested about skymax 127 because it is compact and good optics but i like very much the observation of galaxies and star clusters im thinking of neutonian telescope like skywatcher 150/750 eq3-2 but i am confused about polar alighment and the strange locations of the eyepiece sorry for my english i hope you understand

[@marstrooper2045]

I love to capture more double stars, sometimes the atmosphere can really ruin the of the stars.

[@phakeacount2228]

neato

[@astroshlibber9654]

Often use Vega with the Bahtinov Mask and I am rather partial to a double star, I hear you're using the goto coffee grinder

[@JenhamsAstro]

Astro Shlibber Yep the nighttime sound of graunching gears...I’ve got used to it and the neighbours haven’t complained yet!

[@fernandodiego747]

My HEQ5 sounds like yours, like a coffee grinder!!

[@JenhamsAstro]

That’s a good description! I’ve thought about greasing it or going for the belt mod, but then it finds the target and I don’t bother.

[@fernandodiego747]

@@JenhamsAstro I greased it a bit and now sounds lower. In the near future, I think I'll belt mod it. Apart of that, It works very well.

[@Antenov570]

Hold on can i get that when i have a clear blue night? THE Sun dont sets

[@JenhamsAstro]

The double stars in the video were observed when the sky was fully dark. You won't see them otherwise.

[@Antenov570]

@@JenhamsAstro thank you so much for that Answer. So you are happy with that skymax 127? I thinking to buy One.

[@JenhamsAstro]

Andreas Nyh Yes I think it’s a good value scope that has very sharp optics.