Hello from Rowville, Vic

[mobbie (Andreas)]

Hello All,

Awesome forums here, been doing quite a bit of reading over the last few weeks and keen to jump in feet first!

I recently had my two children (one 8 and the other 5) both get very interested in understanding and looking at the sky at night. So after many weeks of research I finally purchased a 10" Dobsonion Saxon Telescope which I absolutely love already.

I'm a keen photographer as well and looking forward to getting some great photographs of things in the sky! (I posted a question regarding this in another section)

Couple of questions,

1. I found Saturn and could see the rings etc quite well, but it was very small in the 9mm and 25mm lens I used. I tried the different sizes, barlow etc as well but still found that I could see the planet and the main parts of the rings but no features (such as the gap between the rings). How do I get closer and more detail?
2. Also what do I need to do to start seeing/finding nebula's and other awesome things?

I'm thinking that trying these things in the backyard is a start, but I do need to find a good dark site!

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Originally Posted by mobbie

1. I found Saturn and could see the rings etc quite well, but it was very small in the 9mm and 25mm lens I used. I tried the different sizes, barlow etc as well but still found that I could see the planet and the main parts of the rings but no features (such as the gap between the rings). How do I get closer and more detail?

Sadly, you can't. This is a fact of life, sorry to say, unless you buy a much bigger scope with a humongous focal length that gives you both high resolution and high magnification. And then you just need to get the atmosphere to stay frozen for the half an hour or so that you want to view, or better still get up into space where there is no atmosphere at all moving in front of you! And altough Saturn might be a little smaller than Jupiter it is nearly twice as far away. Buy all the eyepieces and barlows you want, but it isn't going to help much.

The speccy pictures you might see are done either by the Cassini spacecraft orbiting around the planet, or if its from the ground here on Earth it is with video footage through a large (12" at least) aperture with a longish focal length, then the best frames in the video picked out, stacked and processed. The normal method of snapping a one-off shot wont get you much satisfaction. I do encourage you to range through the photography sections of the forum here to see what others are doing, they usually describe their gear and settings to help you see what you need to do.

Good luck, I'm sure the other will be a long soon, and I hope you have deep pockets - if you're serious about your photography, you're going to need them.

[mobbie (Andreas)]

Originally Posted by Blue Skies

then the best frames in the video picked out, stacked and processed. The normal method of snapping a one-off shot wont get you much satisfaction. I do encourage you to range through the photography sections of the forum here to see what others are doing, they usually describe their gear and settings to help you see what you need to do.

Good luck, I'm sure the other will be a long soon, and I hope you have deep pockets - if you're serious about your photography, you're going to need them.

Thanks Jacquie, either way it's still awesome to see in the backyard of all places . Yea I've looked into the video/stacking so interesting options there, so lots of playing/trying/testing to be had- which is what it's all about!

I was impressed last night, my 8y/o who never used a scope or anything similar, was able to locate Saturn and use the 25mm and focus it... proud parenting moment!

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Yep, there is still the satisfaction of seeing it yourself. Don't stop enjoying it, no matter how small it seems! Lots of people still get a thrill from it. There's a big learning curve ahead for you all. Don't rush, the sky will still be there tomorrow. But it sounds like you're off to a good start.

[raymo]

You will get occasional nights when the seeing is much better than usual,
and you can rack up the magnification considerably, and see detail that
is usually invisible. You will treasure those nights.
raymo

[mobbie (Andreas)]

Originally Posted by raymo

You will get occasional nights when the seeing is much better than usual,
and you can rack up the magnification considerably, and see detail that
is usually invisible. You will treasure those nights.
raymo

Thanks Raymo, even tonight was better than the other night as there is no wind (and much more pleasant outside) and tonight I was able to make out the Cen Cluster which was just a buzz!

[raymo]

I assume that you mean the globular cluster Omega Centauri.[NGC 5139]. It and 47 Toucana [ NGC 104] are the finest two examples in the sky, although 47 Tuc doesn't photograph as well as O.Cent.
raymo

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Andreas
Congratulations on the scope and well done introducing your kids to the night sky. Dark skies are hard to find in Melbourne, if you don't mind a bit of a drive, we have an Astro Camp in Novembers at Snake Valley a bit past Ballarat. A thread about it is here http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=137600
We are a fairly casual group and welcome new astronomers. A 10" dob will show a lot of stuff under the skies we get there.
Let me know if you are interested.

Malcolm

[mobbie (Andreas)]

Originally Posted by raymo

I assume that you mean the globular cluster Omega Centauri.[NGC 5139]. It and 47 Toucana [ NGC 104] are the finest two examples in the sky, although 47 Tuc doesn't photograph as well as O.Cent.
raymo

Hi Raymo, yes it was NGC5139, also happened to be up at 5:30this morning with my Son who wanted to track the ISS as part of his Space badge for Cubs. So while we were waiting for that could see NGC1976 as well this morning. Lucky to have still and clear morning

[mobbie (Andreas)]

Originally Posted by barx1963

Andreas
Congratulations on the scope and well done introducing your kids to the night sky. Dark skies are hard to find in Melbourne, if you don't mind a bit of a drive, we have an Astro Camp in Novembers at Snake Valley a bit past Ballarat. A thread about it is here http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=137600
We are a fairly casual group and welcome new astronomers. A 10" dob will show a lot of stuff under the skies we get there.
Let me know if you are interested.

Malcolm

Hi Malcolm,

Thank you for the welcome, yea it's amazing and the kids are just loving it a lot, the main reason I purchased the scope as my youngest was really interested in Jupiter/Venus etc that was in line with each other a couple of month back and really been researching scopes for about 4 months before finally deciding - now really considering GoTo at some stage so I can take long exposures.

Thank you for the invite I would love to go and would be very interested and could do with heaps of help and advise - that's just a bugger of a weekend where I need to be here, as I have my parents here.

When's the next one planned?

Andreas

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Andreas
The next one is planned for March 11-14 2016. Also check out the ASV (Astronomy Society of Vic) lots of things they do. They have a scope loan scheme, new astronomers group, and young astronomers group, several camps at Heathcote each year among other things.

Malcolm

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Welcome, i am sure our 10" will give you hours of enjoyment. on the nebula and DSO point, for visual astronomy, learn to use averted vision to pick these objects out. your eyes are much more sensitive to dull objects on the edges because there are no rods in the centre of our eye. also be aware that these are just going to look like grey fuzzies, not like the images you see on these forums

[mobbie (Andreas)]

Thanks Somnium, I did notice that with the Orion nebula this morning that I can see more of the 'grey fuzzy' when it was near the edges of the lens/not straight on too, so now I know why. Yea I'm assuming the 'photos' that I see is because of long exposures being able to pick up a lot more light than the eye can see.

Thanks again everyone been made to feel very welcome into the world of astronomy!

And thanks Malcolm I'll check out the ASV as well.

A

[Tony_ (Tony)]

Hello Andreas - fellow Rowvillian!!

Welcome to the world of astronomy - you have come to a great site.
Astrophotography is a brilliant hobby - even at a fairly basic level is is very rewarding, but if you get obsessed it soon becomes very expensive!

Regards,
Tony.

[DavidU (Dave)]

Hello from Wheelers Hill.