Twas going for a song

[GMan]

What a couple of great finds.

[fluter]

Yep, I really pleased with my new little scope, even though it only mag 78x.

Don't put the little scope down on account of magnification. its forte will be a low power, wide field view. I have an 80 mm refractor whose most satisfying view is at about 20X. From the look of the little Celestron, I believe it is a similar instrument.

It ought to support up to about 150 power with another eyepiece or a Barlow lens. It's often sold with a 20mm eyepiece (about 15X) and a 4mm (for about 75X). You could try a 2-power Barlow lens with the 4mm eyepiece, but I don't think I'd want to try a shorter focal length eyepiece. For one thing, the eye relief would probably be horrid.

However if you have both original eyepieces, you may find the lower power is the preferred view! I suspect that is where its sweet spot lies---at about 15-25 power, just a bit more magnification than hand-held binoculars.

[Ancienne Alliance]

Congratulations !

These are great !


Best,

Robert

[Niblox]

Excellent purchases there, Derek. Writing as someone who used to stay up until the wee small hours in the 1970's to watch "The Sky at Night" (remember, this is before the era of video recorders AND I was living in the south of Ireland at the time, when it was very difficult to get the tv signal from Northern Ireland) I ended up as a real astronomy buff. Went off it for a few decades and have gone back to it again recently - still watching TSAN but sad to say, Patrick Moore is not as active as he used to be - Anno Domini and all that. Must get a new telescope like yours if it so powerful!

All the best

Niall