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New owner of a Celestron Super C8 Plus!


drstratton

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9 minutes ago, Marmot said:

Sorry, but no pics of my sparrows. I believe that many of the members here are UK based, although there are also a number who are internationally based. It’s a nice mix!

Cumbria is in the UK. It’s the most northerly English county in the west before you enter Scotland. Unfortunately it attracts a lot of cloud due to the mountains in the county. The plus side is that it has large rural areas and has relatively low light pollution.

Glad that you are enjoying you’re scope, even in the day. The other ability that you can practice and get used to in daylight is that of focussing: It requires a delicate touch and small movements can make a big difference.

Its also a useful way to assess the eyepieces you have: Many can suffer from the image not being as sharp toward the edges. By viewing a target in the day, using a subject that fills your view, you will be able to assess how much of an issue this is.

I love meeting people from around the world.  I have some good friends in Australia...we all keep chickens and met through the Backyard Chickens forum.

Sounds like you can get some amazing views on a clear night sky then!

That's what I was trying to do today.  I got my new NexYZ cellphone adapter and used it to take the pictures.  The wind was blowing so it made it a bit more difficult.  I'm happy with the pictures and video that I wound up with, considering conditions that is!  The bug flying in the slow motion video I took, was a fun surprise.  I didn't see it until I played it!

Thanks for the information on how to check my eyepieces.  I will be mindful of that the next time I use it!

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Good morning, afternoon or evening...depending on where you are in the world.

 

As I was reading through my owners manual I ran across a paragraph that said, "do not move the telescope tube while the declination or right ascension clamps are locked."  If they are locked, it seems like it would be very hard to move it or is it saying to not move the whole scope, say to a different location when they are locked...that's what I thought at first, but now I'm not sure? Thanks!

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1 hour ago, drstratton said:

Good morning, afternoon or evening...depending on where you are in the world.

 

As I was reading through my owners manual I ran across a paragraph that said, "do not move the telescope tube while the declination or right ascension clamps are locked."  If they are locked, it seems like it would be very hard to move it or is it saying to not move the whole scope, say to a different location when they are locked...that's what I thought at first, but now I'm not sure? Thanks!

 

Does it have slow motion clutches? The RA and Dec clutches are usually locked to use the 'slow mo' cables or knobs for fine adjustments while observing. Particularly at high magnifications. 

 

MEvOLO9l.jpg

 

If I lock my 80ED Evostar in this position with the silver knob on the mount base, I can still turn the big black azimuth knob to the left of it. This enables the mount to track very finely (slow motion). The mount altitude or azimuth cannot be manually moved when it is locked.

 

uPFacBWl.jpg

 

OTOH the Vixen mount above allows the pre-set friction clutches to be moved and I can use the slow motion. You can see the altitude and azimuth slow motion cables connected to the mount.

 

I suspect your mount is like the former and the clutches have to be loosened for them to be manually moved. Most EQ mounts are like this IME.

Edited by Nightspore
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Thank you for the info!  So this has nothing to do with moving the whole scope to a different location!  I appreciate your help!

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31 minutes ago, drstratton said:

Thank you for the info!  So this has nothing to do with moving the whole scope to a different location!  I appreciate your help!

 

You're welcome. I'm only guessing but that's what it appears like. With larger scopes forcing the clutches may cause damage.

 

07We0bcl.jpg

 

I have a 235mm Celestron SCT with a GOTO. But it has manual clutches that can be loosened to move in altitude and azimuth if they needed to be.

 

BsvFwhVl.jpg

 

 

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4 hours ago, drstratton said:

Good morning, afternoon or evening...depending on where you are in the world.

 

As I was reading through my owners manual I ran across a paragraph that said, "do not move the telescope tube while the declination or right ascension clamps are locked."  If they are locked, it seems like it would be very hard to move it or is it saying to not move the whole scope, say to a different location when they are locked...that's what I thought at first, but now I'm not sure? Thanks!

Nightspore has done a good job of explaining exactly how I also understood the issue:

Clearly the instruction in your manual warns against moving the “tube” rather than the whole unit. When reference is made to the “tube” I would interpret that as meaning the actual metallic tube containing the lens/mirror rather than the whole unit including the tripod etc.

 

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On 7/14/2021 at 10:57 AM, Nightspore said:

 

You're welcome. I'm only guessing but that's what it appears like. With larger scopes forcing the clutches may cause damage.

 

07We0bcl.jpg

 

I have a 235mm Celestron SCT with a GOTO. But it has manual clutches that can be loosened to move in altitude and azimuth if they needed to be.

 

BsvFwhVl.jpg

 

 

Thank you again!  I didn't want to break something and I had thought that I miss read it the first time, so looked at it again and decided to ask just to make sure!

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22 hours ago, Marmot said:

Nightspore has done a good job of explaining exactly how I also understood the issue:

Clearly the instruction in your manual warns against moving the “tube” rather than the whole unit. When reference is made to the “tube” I would interpret that as meaning the actual metallic tube containing the lens/mirror rather than the whole unit including the tripod etc.

 

I agree, the explanation was great...after I looked at it again, that was also my conclusion, but I needed to make sure.  I would hate to ruin this beautiful scope!

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41 minutes ago, drstratton said:

Thank you again!  I didn't want to break something and I had thought that I miss read it the first time, so looked at it again and decided to ask just to make sure!

 

If in doubt, don't force anything lol. I don't know if modern Celestron reducers will fit the visual back of your C8 but it might be worth looking at one (if you don't  have one already). It changes the focal ratio from f/10 to f/6.3 and is used predominantly by astrophotographers but also makes the scope a bit more versatile for visual. 

Edited by Nightspore
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3 hours ago, Nightspore said:

 

If in doubt, don't force anything lol. I don't know if modern Celestron reducers will fit the visual back of your C8 but it might be worth looking at one (if you don't  have one already). It changes the focal ratio from f/10 to f/6.3 and is used predominantly by astrophotographers but also makes the scope a bit more versatile for visual. 

I would definitely stop when I meet any resistance.🙂

 

So, you attach it where your eyepieces fit?  It will probably be awhile before I venture into taking the complete plunge into astrophotography! I am excited to get some pictures of the moon and I might try to get some video of the Perseid meteor showers when they hit their peak!  Would the reducer help with that?  When you say it makes it more versatile, does it make the view wider?  Forgive all of the questions!

 

Edit to add video!  After I asked my questions, I found a video that answered them!  Thank you for sharing the information about it!  I will add this to my wish list! 🙂

 

 

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1 hour ago, drstratton said:

I would definitely stop when I meet any resistance.🙂

 

So, you attach it where your eyepieces fit?  It will probably be awhile before I venture into taking the complete plunge into astrophotography! I am excited to get some pictures of the moon and I might try to get some video of the Perseid meteor showers when they hit their peak!  Would the reducer help with that?  When you say it makes it more versatile, does it make the view wider?  Forgive all of the questions!

 

Edit to add video!  After I asked my questions, I found a video that answered them!  Thank you for sharing the information about it!  I will add this to my wish list! 🙂

 

 

 

It's a useful gadget to have with an SCT. I'm sure I saw a couple of Perseids tonight. They were heading north under Cassiopeia. Which is near Perseus and Andromeda, who are near each other as you might expect.

 

gyYxnzYl.jpg

 

I also like Baader diagonals with a helical focuser for my Mak's and SCT. Cat's focus by moving the primary mirror. Sometimes there can be play in the mechanism, so I like a fine focuser on the diagonal. 

 

g4OvWX7l.jpg

 

I'd also consider a dew shield like on my 127mm Mak below.

 

2iPzcJBl.jpg

 

Without a dew shield or any dew control cat's can dew over amazingly rapidly.

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1 hour ago, Nightspore said:

 

It's a useful gadget to have with an SCT. I'm sure I saw a couple of Perseids tonight. They were heading north under Cassiopeia. Which is near Perseus and Andromeda, who are near each other as you might expect.

 

gyYxnzYl.jpg

 

I also like Baader diagonals with a helical focuser for my Mak's and SCT. Cat's focus by moving the primary mirror. Sometimes there can be play in the mechanism, so I like a fine focuser on the diagonal. 

 

g4OvWX7l.jpg

 

I'd also consider a dew shield like on my 127mm Mak below.

 

2iPzcJBl.jpg

 

Without a dew shield or any dew control cat's can dew over amazingly rapidly.

I believe I saw one last night also!  We will be spending some time on our deck! We used to throw a mattress out there when our kids were little to watch for meteors and satellites zipping across the sky...I miss those days!  This scope is getting us back out to enjoy the night sky!  I just found a local astronomy club.  They are having a star party on Friday and Saturday night, so I think we are going to go check it out and take our scope with us!  It will be good to have some hands on learning! Someone else mentioned a dew shield, I have it in my wish list.  That's a great looking setup and you've given me another item for my wish list...it's growing long.  Thank you for more great information! 🙂

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 Local Astro club sounds a great idea. It will also give you the chance to see first hand other pieces of gear that others use ie eyepieces.

Dont forget to mention this wonderful forum🙂

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8 hours ago, drstratton said:

I believe I saw one last night also!  We will be spending some time on our deck! We used to throw a mattress out there when our kids were little to watch for meteors and satellites zipping across the sky...I miss those days!  This scope is getting us back out to enjoy the night sky!  I just found a local astronomy club.  They are having a star party on Friday and Saturday night, so I think we are going to go check it out and take our scope with us!  It will be good to have some hands on learning! Someone else mentioned a dew shield, I have it in my wish list.  That's a great looking setup and you've given me another item for my wish list...it's growing long.  Thank you for more great information! 🙂

 

The astronomy club sounds like a good idea. Although get a red light torch (flashlight) for when you're setting up in the dark at a star party. It can take over 15 minutes for human eyes to 'dark adapt' and you don't want to get thrown out of the star party by irate light-dazzled astronomers lol. 

 

The dew shield isn't an accessory so much as a necessity on a catadioptric as most (unlike refractors) don't have integral shields. You can get heated dew shields as well but you'll need a power source. I have a heated shield for my 235mm SCT and some of my Mak's. It's not so bad for me at the moment in the English Midlands (Worcestershire), but around late August to September autumn dew can be a problem. Generally in the spring, summer and winter it isn't so much. 

 

IoWZKLRl.jpg

 

There are a variety of power tanks on the market. You'll need a control unit between the shield/heaters and power source as well.

 

nvqkagZl.jpg

 

I often add a flexible shield to small refractors that already have an integral shield just to make sure.

 

qBvM3GOl.jpg

 

A lot depends on the weather where you live and the time of year. Notwithstanding the actual time you're observing. The UK has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen classification).  

 

n2tr05Sl.jpg

 

It's always worth checking the dew point temperature locally to you when you observe. Newtonian telescopes and some Cassegrain scopes don't generally suffer excessive dewing as the OTA itself acts as a sort of shield. There is no objective glass surface. Doesn't stop the finder dewing though!

 

CqTx1vGl.jpg

 

You know that wish list is going to get longer, right? lol

Edited by Nightspore
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On 7/16/2021 at 1:04 AM, Marmot said:

 Local Astro club sounds a great idea. It will also give you the chance to see first hand other pieces of gear that others use ie eyepieces.

Dont forget to mention this wonderful forum🙂

I spoke with someone from the club and he said there are a few members with the same scope and other similar ones!  I'm really looking forward to it! 🙂

 

I will definitely share this forum! 💗

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On 7/16/2021 at 4:22 AM, Nightspore said:

 

The astronomy club sounds like a good idea. Although get a red light torch (flashlight) for when you're setting up in the dark at a star party. It can take over 15 minutes for human eyes to 'dark adapt' and you don't want to get thrown out of the star party by irate light-dazzled astronomers lol. 

 

The dew shield isn't an accessory so much as a necessity on a catadioptric as most (unlike refractors) don't have integral shields. You can get heated dew shields as well but you'll need a power source. I have a heated shield for my 235mm SCT and some of my Mak's. It's not so bad for me at the moment in the English Midlands (Worcestershire), but around late August to September autumn dew can be a problem. Generally in the spring, summer and winter it isn't so much. 

 

IoWZKLRl.jpg

 

There are a variety of power tanks on the market. You'll need a control unit between the shield/heaters and power source as well.

 

nvqkagZl.jpg

 

I often add a flexible shield to small refractors that already have an integral shield just to make sure.

 

qBvM3GOl.jpg

 

A lot depends on the weather where you live and the time of year. Notwithstanding the actual time you're observing. The UK has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen classification).  

 

n2tr05Sl.jpg

 

It's always worth checking the dew point temperature locally to you when you observe. Newtonian telescopes and some Cassegrain scopes don't generally suffer excessive dewing as the OTA itself acts as a sort of shield. There is no objective glass surface. Doesn't stop the finder dewing though!

 

CqTx1vGl.jpg

 

You know that wish list is going to get longer, right? lol

Yeah, I know it just keeps growing and growing...lol!

 

I live in a sort of desert climate.  I think dew might be a problem in the fall.  I will be ordering a dew shield.  I'm not sure if our climate would warrant a heated one or not, so I'm holding off on which one I buy until I can talk to some locals.  We are planning on arriving early enough to set up.  I have a light on order, but it won't arrive on time! I will have to borrow someone's flashlight if I need to be able to see!

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1 hour ago, drstratton said:

Yeah, I know it just keeps growing and growing...lol!

 

I live in a sort of desert climate.  I think dew might be a problem in the fall.  I will be ordering a dew shield.  I'm not sure if our climate would warrant a heated one or not, so I'm holding off on which one I buy until I can talk to some locals.  We are planning on arriving early enough to set up.  I have a light on order, but it won't arrive on time! I will have to borrow someone's flashlight if I need to be able to see!

 

Dewing happens when the surrounding air temperature drops enough for condensation to form on the objective and OTA. So I'm guessing humidity is a big factor. The night, and especially early morning, seem to be the predominant dewing periods. Time of the year is also important. I'm not an expert though lol. I'm OK mostly except for the autumn when I often need a heated shield. By late November it isn't really a problem. I always associate excessive dewing with early morning sessions later in the year trying to catch an early glimpse of the Orion Nebula. I can recall dew literally dripping off my Newtonian. Dew shields also help with stray light problems sometimes associated with SCT's and Mak's. Good luck at the star party, there's a lot of interesting stuff in the sky at the moment. The gas giants are getting closer to opposition. Saturn (16 days away) and Jupiter (34 days away). 

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7 minutes ago, Nightspore said:

 

Dewing happens when the surrounding air temperature drops enough for condensation to form on the objective and OTA. So I'm guessing humidity is a big factor. The night, and especially early morning, seem to be the predominant dewing periods. Time of the year is also important. I'm not an expert though lol. I'm OK mostly except for the autumn when I often need a heated shield. By late November it isn't really a problem. I always associate excessive dewing with early morning sessions later in the year trying to catch an early glimpse of the Orion Nebula. I can recall dew literally dripping off my Newtonian. Dew shields also help with stray light problems sometimes associated with SCT's and Mak's. Good luck at the star party, there's a lot of interesting stuff in the sky at the moment. The gas giants are getting closer to opposition. Saturn (16 days away) and Jupiter (34 days away). 

Thank you for the additional information! I will definitely be getting one.

 

I'm excited to go and get an idea of what's what up above us! 🙂

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1 hour ago, drstratton said:

Thank you for the additional information! I will definitely be getting one.

 

I'm excited to go and get an idea of what's what up above us! 🙂

 

You're welcome. There's a lot of software for astronomy, much lot of it is freeware and can be used on various platforms:

 

Celestron SkyPortal

 

SkySafari

 

Stellarium

 

Cartes du Ciel

 

Starry Night

 

Celestia

 

KStars

 

6xMsdjl.jpg

 

I run Ubuntu, Android and macOS and have ran all of these programs at some time. I've ran Stellarium for at least fourteen years. I still run it and CdC on Ubuntu.

 

JCm6GaU.jpg

 

They're educational and fun.

 

QtL3eg0.jpg

 

In an anorak kind of way lol.

 

emXim0U.jpg

 

Invaluable for planning sessions.

Edited by Nightspore
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On 7/17/2021 at 12:01 PM, Nightspore said:

 

You're welcome. There's a lot of software for astronomy, much lot of it is freeware and can be used on various platforms:

 

Celestron SkyPortal

 

SkySafari

 

Stellarium

 

Cartes du Ciel

 

Starry Night

 

Celestia

 

KStars

 

6xMsdjl.jpg

 

I run Ubuntu, Android and macOS and have ran all of these programs at some time. I've ran Stellarium for at least fourteen years. I still run it and CdC on Ubuntu.

 

JCm6GaU.jpg

 

They're educational and fun.

 

QtL3eg0.jpg

 

In an anorak kind of way lol.

 

emXim0U.jpg

 

Invaluable for planning sessions.

Thank you so much!  I downloaded Stellarium onto my phone and now I'm loading it onto my computer!  Do you feel it runs better on Ubuntu?  I use windows, but my oldest son uses Ubuntu, he could get me setup with it if it will make a difference! I'm looking forward to learn how to use it!  Thank you again!

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Good afternoon everyone!

 

We made it to the star party and had a great time.  There was a man there that had a scope close to mine, I believe his was just a C8.  He was so helpful and spent quite a bit of time explaining different things to me about the scope and getting it set up properly. He had a power pack that he brought over so that we could plug the mount in and see if it still worked.  It worked great and he was really impressed with how well it tracked. He has a great setup and had a camera and a laptop connected to his scope, yes I want to be able to do the same smile.gif .  He was excited to see that I had a NexYZ and liked how well it worked.  He said he's going to buy one.

 

I finally got a picture of the moon, plus Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Vega and Alberio!  Seeing wasn't as good as it could be, there was a lot of smoke in the air, but I'm very happy with my first night sky pictures through my scope.  I also shared these pictures with my friends on FB and was told that one of the guys my husband plays golf with is an amazing astronomer and that he takes fantastic pictures.  I will be reaching out to him, it will be nice to have someone more local to me!  The star party was an hour away from where we live.

 

A video I took, I was amazed at how fast the moon went out of view, 1 min. and 38 seconds!  I'm glad that I now know the motor works!

 

https://youtu.be/gnITg27PTXA

 

My pictures, not fancy, but I love them! In the order of viewing!

 

887620745_Moon7_17_2021.thumb.jpg.5b83fb19febbf1f569e1e085db68d8d6.jpg

 

Venus, before the sun went down!1476270084_Venusbeforethesunwentdown7_17_2021.thumb.jpg.7ea058f65823e984b55e32fee0c725fe.jpg

 

Saturn!  I'm looking forward to getting some better pictures, someday!

1681881163_Saturn7_17_2021.thumb.jpg.18848a1fcd97d8c3fc53371782518668.jpg

 

Jupiter

320156250_Jupiter7_17_2021.thumb.jpg.436bf0b7c6d5314d6bf0d473eca9d0dd.jpg

 

Vega

92651428_Vega7_17_2021.jpg.2ef5d9caf8f515766a89b5c8f9fcab66.jpg

 

Albireo

882083823_Alberio-DoubleStar7_17_2021.thumb.jpg.36f2c6ec6beaa3eb7bdea183f3f1110a.jpg

Edited by drstratton
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1 hour ago, drstratton said:

Thank you so much!  I downloaded Stellarium onto my phone and now I'm loading it onto my computer!  Do you feel it runs better on Ubuntu?  I use windows, but my oldest son uses Ubuntu, he could get me setup with it if it will make a difference! I'm looking forward to learn how to use it!  Thank you again!

 

Around seven years ago Stellarium started to shag with the BIOS clock in Windows. The Stellarium developers had introduced a new rendering engine into it. Every time Stellarium was opened it would push the BIOS clock forward a minute. The Windows BIOS clock was notoriously inaccurate anyway and generally knackered in my opinion (like most of Mickey's software). Stellarium has always worked well on Unix-type platforms. Unfortunately Alex (Stellarium developer based in the Ukraine) hasn't managed to get Stellarium signed for Apple as I can't get it past Gatekeeper. He told me he was working on it. Although I can't get GIMP past it either. The Apple 'walled garden' is bloody impenetrable lol. 

 

I don't know about running Ubuntu in a virtual box. I just run it the old fashioned way on a Lenovo laptop. All Linux flavours can have hardware compatibility issues. So it's best to make sure the OEM hardware itself supports Linux. I doubt this would affect a virtual box though. 

 

I'm not an expert though lol.

 

Oh yeah, if you're reading this Alex, pull your bloody finger out! ROTFL (just kidding Alex).

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2 hours ago, Nightspore said:

 

Around seven years ago Stellarium started to shag with the BIOS clock in Windows. The Stellarium developers had introduced a new rendering engine into it. Every time Stellarium was opened it would push the BIOS clock forward a minute. The Windows BIOS clock was notoriously inaccurate anyway and generally knackered in my opinion (like most of Mickey's software). Stellarium has always worked well on Unix-type platforms. Unfortunately Alex (Stellarium developer based in the Ukraine) hasn't managed to get Stellarium signed for Apple as I can't get it past Gatekeeper. He told me he was working on it. Although I can't get GIMP past it either. The Apple 'walled garden' is bloody impenetrable lol. 

 

I don't know about running Ubuntu in a virtual box. I just run it the old fashioned way on a Lenovo laptop. All Linux flavours can have hardware compatibility issues. So it's best to make sure the OEM hardware itself supports Linux. I doubt this would affect a virtual box though. 

 

I'm not an expert though lol.

 

Oh yeah, if you're reading this Alex, pull your bloody finger out! ROTFL (just kidding Alex).

Thank you! I will have my son look at it! He's my computer expert. I know he uses linux & ubuntu, he's so far beyond me...he will be able to look at the program & let me know what would be best! If it runs fine on windows I will probably stick with that, but we'll see! 

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Considering those are your first images, I think they are great. There is a lot of detail on your moon shot.

Your remarks re the speed that the moon drifts out of view are so true! I am purely an observer, but viewing the moon always feels like you’re chasing it across the sky. Sometimes I find that by the time I have changed eyepieces, it has gone out of view. For this reason I prefer to view it with an eyepiece with a slightly wider FOV so it stays in view a bit longer.

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5 hours ago, drstratton said:

Thank you! I will have my son look at it! He's my computer expert. I know he uses linux & ubuntu, he's so far beyond me...he will be able to look at the program & let me know what would be best! If it runs fine on windows I will probably stick with that, but we'll see! 

 

There is an online web version. If you have an Android phone or tablet SkyPortal  is basically a free version of SkySafari. 

 

6mkyDFO.png

 

I used it on a Chromebook and an Asus tablet for quite a while until I upgraded to SkySafari Pro. The freeware Celestron app is based on the same rendering engine as SkySafari and has a lot of the same functionality. 

 

C9elOYB.png

 

It's well worth downloading if you have an Android device.

 

IFsHkEK.jpg

 

The pictures above are SkyPortal on a tablet. The picture below is SkySafari 6 Pro on macOS. You can see how similar they are. Although I used Stellarium for over a decade I tend to plan most of my sessions in SkySafari nowadays. 

 

4ueFaH2.jpg

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