2025/12/30 - Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Io

[fiery owl]

This is so clean

you get so much out of that C8 with good seeing and processing

[spice prawn]

very noice

[fiery owl]

Oh I forgot to ask, how do you like the Celestron X-Cel 2x Barlow? I've been thinking about a budget Barlow lens for some time, the Celestron Barlow seems good from what I've heard from reviews on YouTube but I always take them with a grain of salt, save for people like Ed Ting who've been in the hobby for multiple decades

[delicate glen]

Crispy

[smoky rock]

I have the 3x version and its great

[fiery owl]

How does it perform in regards to chromatic aberration, coma, etc?

[smoky rock]

I get like none

[fiery owl]

Ah, good to know

[slow hedge]

I really like my 2x

[compact wigeon]

It’s not coma corrected, so you’ll need to make sure you keep the target centred on the sensor. I have the 3x version and I like it, but it’s all but versatile. Basically your only option is to put your camera in and tighten with the screw on the Barlow. Impossible to screw the Barlow directly onto your cam or ADC without buying very precise adapters.

If I had known that before buying, I would probably have bought a different one that does have proper thread sizes to screw it onto my ADC and such.

[timber hollow]

Good optical performance but my optics have a deffect that puts me at 2.7x so kinda annoying.

[fiery owl]

Is this still an issue if I'm only doing visual and not photography?

[compact wigeon]

It can be noticeable on the moon and on planets too if they're near the edge of the FoV.