Page 95 - All About Space 68 - 2017 UK
P. 95
STARGAZER
Telescope advice
The Solarix’s optical system provides
good views at low magnifications Telescope
“ The 20mm advice
eyepiece Cost: £99 ($130.80)
From: Telescope House
provided Type: Reflector
Aperture: 2.99”
good views of Focal length: 13.78”
Best
for...
Jupiter and its
four Galilean Beginners
moons ” £ Small budget
must for those observing our nearest fully without extra guidance. Planetary viewing
star for the first time. We also With Jupiter in the evening sky,
strongly advise assisting shining at a magnitude of -1.9, we Solar viewing
children with this caught it in our field of view before it
telescope when viewing set in the western horizon. As with the
Bright deep-sky objects
the solar surface. Moon, we discovered that the 4mm
We were treated to a eyepiece pushed the telescope’s optical
long run of clear nights in system a tad too far, causing blurry Basic astrophotography
July and into early August, views. However, the 20mm eyepiece
affording us the opportunity provided good views of the gas giant
to test the Solarix’s mettle. With and its four Galilean moons. There well, so to be on the safe side we used
a waxing crescent readily visible, is a degree of coma when observing elastic bands to ensure that it was
we used both the 20mm and 4mm brighter targets, meaning that they fitted securely. Imaging through the
to tour the lunar surface. It was the look somewhat ‘stretched’ through the Solarix appeared to provide similar
20mm that provided a very good edges of our field of view. Meanwhile, results to our optical views – especially
view of the cratered, rugged terrain, observations of deep sky targets such using low-magnification eyepieces.
picking out the lumps and bumps as the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus fit Views of the Sun’s disc are
The Bresser Solarix along the terminator. Sadly, the 4mm nicely and vibrantly in the three-inch satisfactory at low magnifications
does not have a
finderscope, but can eyepiece, which gives the telescope aperture at low magnification, as does and showed darkening close to the
easily be slewed to a magnification of 175x, struggled the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) – which solar limbs. This month, our Sun
objects by peering to obtain a clear image, forcing us appeared as a fuzzy ellipse – in the is going through a period of quiet
down the tube to consider collimating the optics. constellation of Andromeda. While activity, and so we were unable to
Unfortunately, the secondary mirror is the sky was still clear, we popped our view any sunspots.
only provided with collimation screws smartphone onto the holder to try out Affordable, easy to set up and
‘Suckers’ hold and we struggled to line up the optics astrophotography. The ‘suckers’ on the portable, the Bresser Solarix is ideal for
smartphones in place holder didn’t grip our phone especially those who are looking to make their
for astrophotography, first steps into astronomy. While the
but we recommend optics do make it difficult to achieve
using elastic bands for sharp views of the night sky at higher
added security magnifications, the Newtonian does
the job in providing observations of
a variety of targets at an affordable
price. Certainly worth a look if you’re
on a tight budget or have children
who have been pestering you for
a telescope.
© Chaz Scott
95
