Refractor needs help

In the last year, I rescued a 93mm achromatic refractor (make: Soligor) unused from a brother in law's attic, where its been hiding for a few years now. It got me started looking at the sky, but I recently purchased a 200mm newtonian, and have started to go 'wow' quite a lot on any given clear night. The difference between the two scopes is amazing, and I wonder is it simply because one is twice as fast as the other, or is it possible that years of neglect have deteriorated the object lens of the refractor, in which case is there a need to have it cleaned/recoated/replaced, and where could I get this done?
I'm not yet a member of any astronomy club, so as yet have had no chance to compare it to any similar scope, but can only imagine the attic isn't the best environment long term for a telescope lens to live in.

Thanks in advance,

Eamonn

Hello Eamonn, first of all welcome along ! You'll find many a good topic/pictures and advice here.

I guess the wow factor is due to the 200mm (8") just gathering more light, so it will show fainter objects in the night sky, and brighter things like the moon and planets in great detail.

But a 93mm refractor is not bad either it's just a different designed scope. As for the optics, when it was stored did it have a cap on? Is the front lens dusty/dirty looking, how about the eyepiece?

If it needs cleaning, just go to specsavers or any optometrists and get a good quality lens cloth and lens cleaning solution for about €8, and gently wipe the lens and eyepiece.

Keith..

Hi Eamonn, Keith is spot on about the cleaning, and about the WOW factor.

I had a Soligor 93mm refractor some years back and I found it to be a great scope, it's great for the Moon and double stars.

Hi Eamonn and welcome,
You've just discovered that a 200mm scopes floors a 93mm scope any day of the week.
Its all about light gathering power, you might think that the 200mm scope gathers just over twice the light of a 93mm as it is over twice the diameter, well that ain't so, it works on surface area.
A 200mm scopes gathers 4.6 times the light a 93mm scopes does, the larger aperture also physically resolves images better also.

Is the lens on the refractor dirty? mild dust has little affect on the image.

I'll try the cleaning kit. Originally I was kind of apprehensive about doing this, but will give it a go. Thanks for the help

Eamonn

Welcome to IFAS Eamonn. That little Soligor sounds like a nice little catch, though I'll admit, you'll agree that, except for its portability, it has been left on the substitutes bench longer now that the WOW Newt is playing a stunning game (sorry, slight Euro 2008 fever here...).

As the guys said above, it is of course the larger light collecting power the 200mm gives you that makes it the beast. Think of another scenario: if you got a 250mm (10 inch) Newtonian, you would have almost 50% - yes, 50% - more light gathering power despite only an increase of 2 inches in aperture.

You might think you have a good scope in the 200mm (and you do, don't get me wrong), but I'd reserve judgement until you have looked through a 300mm (12")! And don't get me started about going bigger than that again...



Seanie.