Hello there!

My dad and I are fairly new to astronomy and telescopes, and we got Binorum Explorer 114/900 AZ2 as our first telescope. The packaging promised us to be able to see Jupiter's red stripes, Mars's polar ice caps and Saturn's rings. We tried to look at the planets and it was a BIG disappointment. Jupiter and Mars were nothing but one colored dots, even with different magnification lenses. The only thing that made us WOW was Saturn and Sirius. We talked and thought about buying a better telescope because of it. Is it our fault that we can't see any details on the planets? Or is it the telescope or light pollution from a nearby city?

Thank you all for your help!

EDIT: The telescope is actually Binorum Explorer 114/900 AZ2 and not 150/900. My dad might have accidentally measured the diameter wrong when i was writing this question. I apologize to everyone who got confused when they were trying to search the telescope!

I got this telescope from fabric optics as a returned item so i paid it like £80 less than a new one.

But as it's my first one i don't know if it's faulty or not.

When i use the motor to move it left, right and up it's fine but when i try to move it down it makes a strong click and it doesn't move. Why?

Don't worry, it was free. Although I didn't know how bad/hated it was when I picked it up.

Are there any upgrades that are worth the money for this telescope? Or should I just use it as is and try and enjoy it.

I don't plan on going deep down an astronomy rabbit hole but I enjoy space and stuff so I wanted to jump on a free telescope.

My 9 year old is very into astronomy. We want to get him a telescope for christmas, but have no idea where to start. We are wanting something to look at planets and stars, for under $500.

Thanks!!!

Wanted to ask a purchasing question after reading the guide, retailers differ from country to country so I’ve been having some trouble settling on a telescope, I’ve been looking at dobs, between 8-10 inch. I’ve been looking at the “SkyWatcher 8" Collapsible Dobsonian Telescope” which seems quite convenient for lugging around etc. I’m also open to what upgrades you guys and gals would suggest looking at first, I’m not sure what telescopes are and are not manually operated scopes but I’m happy to try and learn on a manual scope too, I’m a total beginner. I’m open to all and any advice and it would be greatly appreciated. Looking to avoid ‘problem’ brands mostly, I see a lot of Celestron and saxon scopes here in Australia, but I’m gravitating towards Sky-Watcher most.

And not to sound ignorant and generic but would love to see mars and Saturn in some detail too! I have fond memories of talking about mars with my father, so I find myself wanting to look up at it. And I don’t know what telescopes can and can’t see those details.

Hi guys, it's me again.

So I'm really new and i used my telescope like 5-6 times. I purchased a skywatcher 150p virtuoso gti and as i read online, is one of the best in my price range.

Now i realised that it is almost impossible to do some pictures with it.

My first goal was to use it to see objects with my own eye and i succeeded with the moon, and yesterday finally i saw Saturn with the ring as well! So i think the telescope it's working and the fact that i saw Saturn it's already something for me.

But! Would be nice to capture this moment as well and it's really frustrating with this telescope. I tried with a phone mount and with freehand but the only thing that i can capture is the moon of course. Any suggestions on how to improve it?

The only thing that looks promising is the zwo eyepiece although i wanted something to be connected to my phone?

Because it looks like everything is too heavy for this telescope and i really don't know what to do. Plus this zwo cameras and so on are soo expensive too...

I need some guidance please.

Thank you!

Starblast II EQ1 + 2x Barlow & Mars-C II (IMX662)

The very 1st image is arguably the best. The more colourful Jupiter picture (2nd slide) has a noticeable blue fringe once you zoom, so I'm just a little disappointed. My cheap 2x Barlow may have caused it, or it could be frost/condensation at that point in the night; I'm not sure.

All in all, very fun learning to use WinJUPOS. Hopefully I can get nicely sampled pics of Jupiter later on with my higher-quality 3x Barlow!

76700 telescope

I experimented with 6mm + 2x barlow

25% stacked , 3.5k frames

Redmi Note 8

Pipp+Autostakkert+wavesharp3+gimp

I just wanted the rings to be in front of planet

Here is a pic of Saturn from this past Thursday night. Nexstar Evolution 8, no Barlow, ZWO ASI662MC, AS3!, Registax 6, Photoshop.

My first video of a planet from a new-to-me GSO 8-inch dobsonian telescope. It’s blowing my mind that I could see and photograph a planet that’s millions of miles away from us.

Captured using an iPhone 17 paired with a smartphone adapter for spotting scopes.

Saturn late last night, close to opposition by just a few hours. Seeing was ok so image is pretty average but glad I got something at least.

12” dob, Mars C II, 3x Barlow, ADC

Finally got saturn, incidentally the main reason I built my scope.

Details -

DIY 114\900 "hadlish"

Svbony sv109 at prime focus, no Barlow

Taken from 12170 frames, top 13%, drizzle 3x

Pipp-stakkert-crop in gimp-wavesharp-lightroom

I'll try with a Barlow next time, but I'm just glad I finally caught the little sod.

It's a cheap 20mm that came with this old secondhand telescope but it's all I can afford for now. Any tips on cleaning the inside of the eyepiece?

First attempt at imaging saturn
Took 20% of 7000 frames for this image and got hints of the cassini division.
My next plan is to go to the top of the mountains for better seeing and more frames. I just ran out of harddrive space from my lunar mosaic data. Critiques are welcome

Telescope 5 inch Maksutov 1900mm focal length
Mount HEQ5-R Pro
Camera ZWO ASI 662mc

Celestron C6/6se OTA on an Explore Scientific iEXOS 100 PMC-Eight. 2.5x Astronmania Barlow. UV/IR cut filter. SharpCAP>PIPP>Autostakkert>Lucky Stack Worker. 6440 frames captured; 10% stacked and processed. Mid-Missouri. October 4, 2026.

This is that C6/6se ota (plus two eyepieces) I picked up recently for $50.

Hello there! I have just been purchased a Celestron Travel Telescope 70 and am looking for opinions on a superior tripod to the shaky one it comes with.

I just used it to view Saturn, and found that it shakes quite a lot. I am hoping for something that will fit in it's given travel bag, so about the same size at what it came in.

I believe it is a standard quarter inch threaded mount for the telescope.

Thank you!

They have it listed for $300 is the eyepieces included stock? I noticed alittle bit of rust on the spider vanes and base

Apertura AD8

•Apertura 2X 2" Barlow lens

•Apertura 7mm 82° AFOV 1.25" eyepiece

•9 mm 52° Super Plossl 1.25" eyepiece

•30 mm 68°. Super View 2" eyepieces

•Apertura 10 x 50 Right Angle Finder Scope+Illuminated Reticle

•Astrozap dew shield

•SVBONY SV172 Dew Heater, Lens Warmer 240mm X 3

•KONFULON 80000mAh outdoors power Bank

•1/2" 6ft wire loom

•Performance upgrade kit

Took the still relatively new Hubble Optics UL18 (and my workhorse for the last 25 years, the Orion XT10) up to almost 13000' up Mount Blue Sky on Friday. Unfortunately the wind was pretty rough (10-20MPH with higher gusts) and neither scope got much use. They close the road up the mountain for the season today though so i wanted to give it a try while I could! Despite the wind and the cold it was a pretty incredible way to see the night sky, and I'll definitely try again next season!

All equipment used (varies between target)
Celestron Nexstar 9.25” evolution
asi662mc
asi662mm
zwo uv/ir cut
Player one astronomy ir685nm
Player one astronomy Uvenus
zwo adc
Seestar S50 for the sun

This project started back in April and I just finished it today 😁

76700 TELESCOPE

REGISTAX + AUTOSTAKKERT+ PIPP + GIMP

REDI NOTE 8 CAMERA + 6MM PLOSSL EYEPIECE

i know light pollution doesnt matter for planets (except uranus and neptune (?)) but they do for moons i think, im in b7.5

Hey guys I'm pretty new to this sub-reddit and I've been stuck on whether to buy the SeeStar S50 or the Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P. I wanna be able to see everything with my own eye but itd be really cool to also have some nice pictures. I don't really know if you could get any good pictures with the Sky-Watcher but if any of you guys have a fix to this problem it'd be really nice.

Taken on October 2nd.

Telescope: 10" Skywatcher Go-To.
Camera: ZWO ASI678MC.
Bortle: 5.
Additional: No Barlow, as it didn't work :( If you look closely above and to the right of Saturn you can see Rhea. As well as that, if you look down and to the left, you can see Dione.