Beginners Start Here! - Page 2

Striker (Tony) · #21 23-12-2004, 11:55 AM

Yeah Iceman I have a moon filter which dimms the brightness a little.....I will continue looking at the moon testing and playing a bit with my first scope....one thing?....whats with all the abbreviations.......and what the hell is a M42.....it sounds like a gun.....lol

DSO..FOV...? remember my scope come with no instructions.....

ving (David) · #22 23-12-2004, 12:01 PM

DSO = deep space object
FOV = field of view

M42 is one of a number of DSOs discovered by a gentleman called Charles Messier (hence the "M"). it is also called "orions nebula". the constellation orion rises in the east at night, you may know part of orion already as part is known as "the saucepan" or "pot". the nebula is in the handle of the pot and is one of the prettiest things you will see in the night sky.

iceman (Mike) · #23 23-12-2004, 12:03 PM

heh sorry, i'll elaborate.

M42 is a catalog code for a Deep-Space Object (DSO). The "M" stands for Messier, some guy (Charles Messier) who did a list of deep-space objects to view. So 42 is just the 42nd in his list.

M42 is the Orion Nebula, which is a big area of gas and dust where stars are being born. It's in the Orion constellation. Through the telescope it looks like a hazy patch of gas/dust surrounding 4 small stars.

A DSO (as I said) is a Deep-Space Object, basically, everything that's outside of our solar system (which is the moon and planets, asteroids, comets). DSO's include stars (!), nebula, galaxies, globular clusters, open clusters, etc.

FOV is Field-Of-View, the area of sky you see when you look into your eyepiece.

I suggest you go to your local bookshop and check out the astronomy/science section, or to your local telescope supplier. There should be some begineers books on astronomy, which will tell you all about these terms and give you a great head start.

ving (David) · #24 23-12-2004, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Striker
I joined the Astronomy online forums today and saw a member called Ving talking about these forums.....so here I am...

.

wasnt me! I swear!

silvinator · #25 23-12-2004, 12:05 PM

I always thought DSO meant deep sky object...not that it matters.
Very nice description of M42 Ving, nice & poetic for a librarian of your stature

ving (David) · #26 23-12-2004, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by silvinator
I always thought DSO meant deep sky object...not that it matters.
Very nice description of M42 Ving, nice & poetic for a librarian of your stature

aww shucks

I could reply in haiku if you like

iceman (Mike) · #27 23-12-2004, 12:08 PM

Quote:

I joined the Astronomy online forums today and saw a member called Ving talking about these forums

'atta way Ving!

Silvie,

deep-space, deep-sky, same thing

Striker (Tony) · #28 23-12-2004, 12:24 PM

I am reading Astronomy 2005 as we speak....what computer software would you recommend that can be accessed easily for a basic planet finding program........has to be Noob Striker proof. or would a star chart be easier to understand?

What time of the night do you all most commonly view and do you all look to the east.....

ving (David) · #29 23-12-2004, 12:48 PM

having a star chart and understanding the basics of that will make planets easier to find... i use cartes du ciel on my puter. its free and works great.

at the moment saturn is the easiest planet to observe rising in the east in gemini, a fair way below orion. most most other planets either rise in the early morning or are of the type that are hard to find.

I start viewing from about 10- 10:30pm and rarely stay out after midnight or i get nagged

Striker (Tony) · #30 23-12-2004, 12:54 PM

Thanks Ving...just downloaded that program.

rumples riot · #31 23-12-2004, 02:07 PM

Striker I generally take advantage of any hour of the night. Although getting up early sure does take the wind out of your sales. And from my place and court yard I can only see to the east down to the south. I think I go the best of it, if it had been facing to the north I would not have been happy Jan.

Striker (Tony) · #32 23-12-2004, 06:29 PM

Ok......so approx 10:00pm tonight I can see Saturn from the east...pending on conditions..is that right....anything else to look for before 10:00pm and how high of the Horozon should I start looking...

One thing I do know is where East is...so tell me which direction and I will find it...maybe.

I hope the Mozzies have gone to bed by 10:00pm....lol

jackenau · #33 23-12-2004, 07:38 PM

At around 10, I would say it would be pretty low in the sky, probably just above tree line. Would start to get higher by 11 and is in the east north easterly direction.

Ken m

Striker (Tony) · #34 23-12-2004, 08:45 PM

Thanks Jackenau.........I will try to check it out tonight.........

Striker (Tony) · #35 24-12-2004, 08:21 AM

Ok.....I have seen my first planet Saturn with the help from Ken and Ving.......thankyou.

I spotted saturn easily once some of the fast moving low cloud dissapeared around 10:00pm last night.....11:00pm EDST.....then 15 mins later suddenly I was getting abused (Wife) no need to say anymore...lol...

I focused in on Saturn with my 25mm to spot, then I changed to my 6.5mm only to find each time I changed the eyepiece I managed ever so slightly to nudge the scope...lol...so this went on about 5 continuous times...once finaly fitted with the 6.5mm and in my FOV...haha had to throw that abrevo in.... the Monster(Wife) broke through her Chains and started abusing me of the time.

So I had a good 5 mins of actualy viewing time and found the focus was clear and considered the image to be very sharp but could not see any color....the conditions could have been better but should I be able to see some color on a good day......and considering the image was sharp..does this mean that my scope doesn't need collimating.......I just want to make sure my scope is set up right from the start...I would hate to think 3 months down the track that my scope was out of tune and I didn't know better.

ving (David) · #36 24-12-2004, 08:44 AM

colour is something that will come to you. the more you observe an object the more you see in it. sxaturn being low on the horizon wouldnt ahve show a lot of colour anyhow. once it rises up further you will see more.

Striker (Tony) · #37 24-12-2004, 08:04 PM

Ok..next question.....where and what camera to buy to fit my Guen Sheng 8" dob....

I want to take picture of the moon seeing I discovered it earlier this week...lol..

silvinator · #38 27-12-2004, 11:13 AM

hey Striker, if you have an old SLR film camera lying around, then you could use that for prime focus moon shots. Otherwise, any digital camera coupled afocally (or just held up to the eyepiece, though it's hard to keep from shaking in winter!) could give you some great moon shots as some forum members here have done. But you would be limited to capturing bright objects unless you have a way of tracking things with your dob. Also a cheap and nasty webcam would be good too.
Mike, I just had to point it out being a mother hen and all.

But you're right, there really is no difference eh! As long as we all know that it's something far away, that is not a part of our solar system, then I'll be satisfied

Striker (Tony) · #39 29-12-2004, 05:18 PM

Hey Iceman,

I hate my Dob's wooden mount already......it would be ok if I was like 2 ft tall on some occassions, I just find I am always in a very uncomfortable position which make viewing all the worse....is there anything wrong with going to a EQ5 mount for a Dob 8...or am I going over board.

Next question Konus Maksutov-cassgrain scopes...are they any good?...remember I am looking mainly at panets/moon and orion m42 atm....

jackenau · #40 29-12-2004, 07:40 PM

Evening Striker

From what I have read, it is quite reasonable to mount up to a 10" dob on an EQ5 mount. I suppose it has something to do with the stability-weight configuration.

Another option would be to pier mount the scope, I suppose this would be only useful from viewing in the one location.

I have the same problem with my 12" scope, but have a couple of garden chairs which are pretty comfortable and allow me to see into the eyepiece with very little contortionabilty.

Ken M