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some digging. What I found would change my life: the different types of stars, nebulae, star life-cycles, planets and so much more inspired me to learn. I never thought I’d ever want to pick a book up again after my GCSEs, but here I am doing online courses and looking at going back to do my A levels and then go to university.
Astronomy has given me the inspiration to re-educate myself and one day I hope to volunteer at an observatory or planetarium and show others the majesty of the Universe. I’m nearly 30 years old and had given up on prospects of a career, but discovering the stars has ignited the ambition in me. Jon Adams, via email
ED WATTERS
Your Celestron NexStar 8SE is a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT) with a focal length of 2,032mm, making it an excellent instrument for Solar System observations. For both lunar and planetary observations, orthoscopic eyepieces in focal lengths of between 4mm and 9mm, like the Takahashi Abbe Orthoscopics, are a very popular choice, but they have narrow, 44˚ fields of view and very short eye relief. For a much wider, 82˚ field of view and a more reasonable eye relief of 12mm, the TeleVue 7mm or 9mm Nagler Type 6 would be an excellent choice. At a lower cost, a Pentax XW 5mm eyepiece would also be a good choice with its 70˚ field of view and 20mm eye relief.
Most eyepieces are suitable for terrestrial observing, but the image through an SCT is reversed left to right. So for terrestrial use, you should consider buying an Amici prism diagonal. A Barlow lens will work well, increasing magnification with the advantage of also increasing the eye relief.