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Starlog June 22nd, 2026, 10:09 p.m. local time
I recently performed a minor re-assessment of how to best utilize my equipment at hand and to identify tweaks that may help to improve both my observations and imaging.
This year my homemade Dobsonian will be 10 years old. I realized that in recent times, when I have been able to use a telescope, I have turned almost exclusively to my Celestron 9.25″ SCT, with an ever-continuing increase in automation of my astrophotography processes. But there is still opportunity for my other scopes, particularly my Dobsonian, which I have not used in at least a year. This is a shame and I have to begin correcting this mistake, especially on clear nights when the Moon is in its early phases.
Afocal photography is my oldest means of photographing the night sky, with an emphasis on the Moon and Sun. The 10″ manual Dobsonian is still the prime candidate for my afocal Moon photos, but I have felt for a while two pain points.
The first is the smartphone adapter itself. Though the prior one I used was sufficient (an Orion model, if I recall without opening my equipment case), it requires considerable effort first to align the phone inside the adapter and then to align the adapter to the eyepiece. I decided to go “premium” finally and purchased Celestron’s NexYZ adapter. While it is a bit bulky and clumsy, it is surprisingly lightweight and, once you understand its operations, makes the afocal prep significantly easier. I have used it now on several nights and each iteration is showing process gains.
The second area I wanted to address is the eyepiece itself. I have been using a stock Plössl eyepiece, and wanted to do better. After some research and AI advice, I settled on Baader’s Morpheus 17.5 mm with a 76-degree FOV. It seems perfect for fitting the entire Moon into the eyepiece view and, most importantly, allows easy alignment to my phone’s camera via the aforementioned Celestron NexYZ.
My first published result with the Baader Morpheus is included here with this article. Any focus issues and flaws in the image are, I believe, more attributable to the mirror alignments in the Dobsonian. I am planning, given this 10-year mark, to remove the primary mirror, clean it, and then do a full re-alignment on the secondary mirror.
Equipment Used:
- 254mm Dobsonian telescope (homemade)
- Baader Morphus 17.5 mm 76° 1.25″ eyepiece
- No eyepiece filter
- iPhone 17 Pro Max
- Celestron NexYZ Universal 3-Axis Smartphone Adapter
- NightCap app on iPhone
- Apple Watch Series 10 (acting as NightCap shutter)
- f/1.8
- 1/2169 sec exposure
- ISO 54
- Focal length: 7mm
- Touchups in PaintShop Pro and AfterShot Pro
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