Getting ready for the Saturn opposition event

[@EpicLib]

Thanks for reminding abou Saturn :) I have no telescope now, but I remember fun times I had with a Bresser refractor in 90s when skies in my town were superblack

[@stefanfeichtenbock6949]

Inspired by your video, i put my dobsonian outside last night to get a look at this beautiful planet. Als always, very impressive to see this giant through a telescope And by the way: many thanks for the tips regarding the apps you use. Will definitely try them 👍

[@stevemyers7698]

I will be seeing Saturn for the first time in 45 years. I have an XT8 with SVBony 20mm to 6mm eye pieces. I will very much be enjoying it. Clear sky’s.

[@BogdanDamian]

@stevemyers7698 That is a very long time to not have looked at Saturn. I hope the seeing conditions will be good so you can fully enjoy it.

[@knightclan4]

No questions asked Saturn is my favorite Except for the moon. Haha

[@Harutjun]

Nice i might also use my scope this month its been a while

[@oninoyakamo]

Unfortunately, Saturn is moving into fall in its northern hemisphere, meaning the rings are becoming more bladed to our view, and will be for the next several years.

[@CVB_1111]

Thanks Bogdan. I'll actually be camping then under very dark skies. Here's hoping for break in the clouds. I'll use my Evostar 90/900 with a Pronto mount (just did a DIY tripod upgrade on it).

[@BogdanDamian]

@CVB_1111 Sounds great! Your Evostar should deliver some nice sharp views of Saturn. Clear skies!

[@ronm6585]

Thank you.

[@MountainFisher]

Love Saturn and have an Orthoscopic 18mm Baader Zeiss and a 9mm Fujiyama. I figure a Luminos 2.5x Apo Barlow will be nice with the 18mm at 100x straight up in my 102mm f7 triplet and in my reflector with .98 Strehl refigured 1/12th wave mirror 150mm f5 with the 9mm Fuji and the Barlow lens off an Omni Barlow at 125x. Live in desert, but it's rainy season, but with 3 nights I should get one of them. Good Luck to you Mr. Damian! Clear Skies!

[@geofffaulkner1930]

Hi Bogdan, I do appreciate your quality and informative reviews and vidios, the reason for this email is I've recently bought a Svbony 503 102mm ŕefractor and can't find a carrying handle for it anywhere, I noticed on your Saturn video you had the Sv503 with a custom made handle , can you say where you got it from? I'm also looking forward to your Morpheous review, I've had one for about 4yrs and love it, I think it's a better eyepeice than the Hyperions in every way.

[@MountainFisher]

@@geofffaulkner1930 Can you cut aluminum angle into two short pieces and drill holes fairly accurately? If you can, cut the angle to fit on your rings and drill holes to match the tapped holes on the rings. Buy some bolts to fit the holes, either 1/4-20 or likely M6 metric and bolt down the angle. Use a 1" round dowel or a 1x2 rectangle then measure the inside of the angles and cut to size. Have the angles pre-drilled in center and use a wood screw to bolt the handle into pre-drilled center holes in the wood handle. Use a little white glue on the wood screws. A wood saw will cut aluminum btw, just use fine teeth. My table top bandsaw cuts aluminum and brass with 6 tpi or more teeth per inch. Even my scroll saw cuts aluminum. A sharp crosscut hand saw will cut 1/8th" thick 2"x2" or 1 1/2"x1 1/2" as well alum. angle.

[@BogdanDamian]

@geofffaulkner1930 After searching for quite a while I found one sold by TS-Optics. Here is a link to the product: www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p10280_TS-Optics-Tube-Handle-and-Carrying-Handle-for-your-Telescope.html

[@geofffaulkner1930]

​@@MountainFisher Thanks for your in depth response

[@geofffaulkner1930]

​@@BogdanDamian Thanks for the information and the link for the handle to fit the Sv503 102mm , I have one on order from TSOptics.

[@elray4932]

Inspiring message. Saturn is a real beauty. Really enjoyed it through my 8” Dob. This year I’ll be looking at it with my Explore Scientific ED 127 FCD100 CF and can’t wait. 🙂

[@deltacx1059]

I only have 70x magnification if I use my smallest (10mm) eyepiece. My camera might be able to see it though.

[@palmereldrich]

That will be enough🎉🎉

[@AlbertoGirardi747]

My new 10 inch dob arrived in time 2 weeks ago. My workhorse eyepiece will be a 6 mm celestron plossl, unfortunately it is not of the best quality, and the same is for my 2x Barlow. With the eyepiece alone I will have 230x.

[@BogdanDamian]

@AlbertoGirardi747 Don't worry about the quality of the eyepiece and Barlow. Just enjoy the awesome views through the new telescope :)

[@edf2953]

Great video Bogdan. I’m curious as to why you aren’t planning to use your televu 2X Barlow with your 9 mm DeLite Televue rather than using the SVBony 3.5 mm eyepiece. I believe the Barlow and 9mm would give you an effective magnification of 4.5. Are the differences between the two set ups marginal and not worth worrying about.?

[@BogdanDamian]

@edf2953 That is a good questions. I won't be using that combination because that Barlow is too long to fully fit inside the diagonal. Half of it sticks out an I don't like that so much. Additionally, should the weather conditions be good or better, I would like to have the option to go for more than 158x magnification.

[@janakiramkavuri9453]

Hello Bogdan, thank you for this wonderful information. I have a Celestron CPC1100 and several Explore Scientific eyepieces including 120 deg FOV. I am a beginner to this hobby and would really appreciate your advise/tips to watch this wonderful event. Please advise.

[@BogdanDamian]

@janakiramkavuri9453 Hello Janaki, that's a great telescope you have. It will deliver some amazing views of Saturn. Since you already have the right gear for this astronomical event, there is not much else I can say other than plan at least a couple of hours outside. Let the telescope reach ambient temperature and start by going through the eyepieces to find out which one can give you the highest magnification while not loosing quality. Clear skies!

[@janakiramkavuri9453]

Thank you so much for your response, means a lot. Another question I have is if you recommend to use a focal reducer, when I purchased this telescope the seller gave this to me saying it will be great addition. Please advise. Another thing I did is I took out last night and saw the planet. Like you said it was spectacular.

[@BogdanDamian]

@janakiramkavuri9453 A focal reducer makes more sense for astrophotography than for visual observations. The reduced focal length of the telescope will lead to a wider FOV, thus allowing the camera to capture a brighter area of the sky. A focal reducer will often also flatten the field of view, which is also desired when taking pictures of the night sky. Hope this helps.

[@janakiramkavuri9453]

Damian, had a great day today viewing Saturn in opposition. Was brighter and larger than just few days back. Thank you again for your helpful tips,

[@ishanr8697]

I highly recommend you to use your Dob if you can. Brighter, more aperture and better resolution than your frac. 200x will be really pushing it on the frac, and will be easily attanable on the Dob. The only reasons not to would be a) you can't or don't want to collimate or b) it's too big to transport.

[@jobrodie7514]

So where do we look?

[@palmereldrich]

Directly south at 1am or now just past Use binoculars if your skies are bad otherwise the star there at 50degrees that does'nt twinkle is it🎉