FIRST LIGHT
are included under Star. Choose Star and your targets include the Solar System (planets, Sun and Moon) named stars and double stars. Under the Deep Sky menu you have a named objects icon or can select from the Messier, Caldwell, NGC or IC catalogues. There’s also a point and slew option, which we found to be great fun – the mount slews to the approximate location you’re pointing at and then offers you a selection of targets to home in on.
Control options
The app’s settings give you the option to have your device display a black background with red text to preserve your night vision but if you wish to enter a number for any of the deep-sky categories then the pop up screen is white – something we hope will be addressed in a future update.
You don’t have to use the app, though. The mount can be operated with a SynScan hand controller and you can download an ASCOM driver from the Sky-Watcher website and control the scope with a computer.
We took a tour of various targets, taking in Uranus and Neptune, open cluster M45 in Taurus and the Double Cluster in Perseus, the latter just fitting in the view using the 25mm eyepiece. The Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula had a nice glow to it, while the Ring Nebula in Lyra lived up to its name when glimpsed through the 10mm eyepiece. On another night we saw the Moon was replete with cratered detail along the terminator using both eyepieces, and each one is certainly capable of revealing fine detail, such as lunar domes and rilles.
This is a fun system to use. Although there is an option to connect a SynScan hand controller, to get the most of this setup its worth downloading the SynScan app for your smartphone. The SkyMax-127 feels like the future of telescope control, certainly for anyone that likes technology and is just beginning their exploration of the sky.