#1901  
Old 10-02-2020, 09:08 AM
hypersonics (Deepak)
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Unfortunately, I live down south and the only thing that I can focus in the daytime apart form the sky is my backyard fence. My street is down the valley

I think my best bet for aligning would to aim at the moon tonight as the clouds have cleared up.

Meanwhile, I am looking at getting a laser collimator from Bintel.

https://www.bintel.com.au/product/or...v=6cc98ba2045f

Any idea about these?

Thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by JeniSkunk View Post
Depak, your user info indicates you're Canberra.
Can you see either the Telstra Tower, or the Parliament House flagpole from your place? If so, when the sun is behind you when you're looking at the top of either object, align the finder on the top of either object.

Here in Brisbane, I don't have such a line of sight to Mt Coot-tha and the television station studio masts. So I have to use the floodlight towers at the local rugby league fields, 500m east of my place, as my target for aligning the red dot finder on my 5" Dobsonian. Do you have any similar sports fields at least 500m distant and visible from your place?
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  #1902  
Old 12-02-2020, 10:12 AM
hypersonics (Deepak)
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Last night I did some basic very observations using my 8" Dobsonian and I am kind of confused and not sure what to do.

Firstly, I couldn't aim at the Moon as it was below the horizon when I did this and hence aimed the finder scope at a clear part of the sky and was able to find a star (sorry, cannot remember its name, but it starts with C as per my Star Walk 2 app). Using the finder scope, I was able to focus it nice and sharp. Later on, started with 30mm eyepiece and was able to get a good focus with this too. However, I did not notice any difference in magnification through the 30mm and thus tried with 15mm and it was the same. In fact, I felt the star looked much better in the finder scope than with either of the eyepieces.

Also tried with 9 mm, it was a bit hard to focus at start, but I ended up getting the telescope back inside by then.

What is it that I'm doing wrong?
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  #1903  
Old 12-02-2020, 10:58 AM
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Allan_L (Allan)
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I don't think you are doing anything wrong.
As I understand it, Stars are only a single pixel of light even to the highest magnification of most telescopes.

Try focusing on a nebula like the Orion nebula.
Look for the sword of Orion (some people refer to it as the handle of the saucepan in Aust) and focus on the middle "star" which is really a bright nebula.

Use your 30mm eyepiece.

If you can aim your telescope manually at it, then adjust the finder to centre it in that. But be warned, it "moves" (or the Earth moves in reality) relatively quickly.

Hope this is of some help.
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  #1904  
Old 12-02-2020, 11:09 AM
m11 (Mel)
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Are you saying the object did not change or increase in size?

I would recommend as Allan has mentioned to point at Orion M42 and test your scope and eyepieces on that.

As you use your 15mm and 9mm eyepieces you should see a smaller field of view but more details, especially the Trapezium of at least 4 stars.

See you you go after that.

M11

Quote:
Originally Posted by hypersonics View Post
Last night I did some basic very observations using my 8" Dobsonian and I am kind of confused and not sure what to do.

Firstly, I couldn't aim at the Moon as it was below the horizon when I did this and hence aimed the finder scope at a clear part of the sky and was able to find a star (sorry, cannot remember its name, but it starts with C as per my Star Walk 2 app). Using the finder scope, I was able to focus it nice and sharp. Later on, started with 30mm eyepiece and was able to get a good focus with this too. However, I did not notice any difference in magnification through the 30mm and thus tried with 15mm and it was the same. In fact, I felt the star looked much better in the finder scope than with either of the eyepieces.

Also tried with 9 mm, it was a bit hard to focus at start, but I ended up getting the telescope back inside by then.

What is it that I'm doing wrong?
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  #1905  
Old 12-02-2020, 11:28 AM
hypersonics (Deepak)
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Thanks Allan.

Will try to observer Orion with a 30mm eyepiece and come back with what I see.

Meanwhile, I watch Moon over the next coming days and also some planets if lucky.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Allan_L View Post
I don't think you are doing anything wrong.
As I understand it, Stars are only a single pixel of light even to the highest magnification of most telescopes.

Try focusing on a nebula like the Orion nebula.
Look for the sword of Orion (some people refer to it as the handle of the saucepan in Aust) and focus on the middle "star" which is really a bright nebula.

Use your 30mm eyepiece.

If you can aim your telescope manually at it, then adjust the finder to centre it in that. But be warned, it "moves" (or the Earth moves in reality) relatively quickly.

Hope this is of some help.
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  #1906  
Old 12-02-2020, 11:32 AM
hypersonics (Deepak)
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Thanks M11.

When I look at Orion M42 with 8" + 30mm eyepiece, what would be the relative magnification that I can expect in comparison to viewing via naked eyes?

Quote:
Originally Posted by m11 View Post
Are you saying the object did not change or increase in size?

I would recommend as Allan has mentioned to point at Orion M42 and test your scope and eyepieces on that.

As you use your 15mm and 9mm eyepieces you should see a smaller field of view but more details, especially the Trapezium of at least 4 stars.

See you you go after that.

M11
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  #1907  
Old 12-02-2020, 12:19 PM
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JeniSkunk (Jenifur)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hypersonics View Post
When I look at Orion M42 with 8" + 30mm eyepiece, what would be the relative magnification that I can expect in comparison to viewing via naked eyes?
https://astronomy.tools/calculators/magnification

Your Bintel 8 inch GSO telescope has a focal length of 1200mm
With the 30mm, 40x
With the 15mm, 80x
With the 9mm, 133.3333333333......x
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  #1908  
Old 12-02-2020, 01:25 PM
m11 (Mel)
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Hi Deepak,

Jen has provided good info.

Main thing is try and test things out for yourself. Experience helps alot and also if someone can show you, makes it alot easier.

Main thing is to find the object and then test your different eyepieces after.

Regards,

M11
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  #1909  
Old 13-02-2020, 09:05 AM
hypersonics (Deepak)
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I'm quite thrilled at the moment after some successful observations last night.

Firstly, I pointed to Sirius star with 30mm eyepiece and was able to get the finder scope aligned with the eyepiece.

Next, pointed towards constellation of Orion as suggested by a few here and I was able to clearly see the 3 stars almost in a slant line and a set of 4 more stars just below the last star in a trapezoidal arrangement. Further, I could also see some faint grey coloured cloud like feature surrounding these 4 stars.

I changed over to 15mm eyepiece and the 4 stars and the grey coloured cloud like feature was even more apparent and I was so happy to see them. At this point, I was under the impression that its Orion nebulae that I'm viewing. However, after referring to the Star Walk App, I may have been possibly looking at the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) in the constellation Orion as this NGC 2024 seems adjacent to the last star in the line, unlike the Orion nebulae which is slight right (when viewed from the telescope) to the set of these 3 stars.
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  #1910  
Old 13-02-2020, 10:36 AM
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With a Newtonian telescope, you have to remember that everything seen in it, is flipped upside-down. So you need to allow for that when you're comparing what you see in your telescope, to the app. You'll get used to doing it, just takes time, that's all.
YouTube video by Astronomy and Nature TV Why is my image upside down?
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  #1911  
Old 13-02-2020, 10:40 AM
m11 (Mel)
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Glad you got it all going well and can view stuff.

Sounds like you saw the Orion Nebula. Flame is kinda dim.

Keep going buddy, you are kicking goals

Always fun to explore and find new things.

M11

Quote:
Originally Posted by hypersonics View Post
I'm quite thrilled at the moment after some successful observations last night.

Firstly, I pointed to Sirius star with 30mm eyepiece and was able to get the finder scope aligned with the eyepiece.

Next, pointed towards constellation of Orion as suggested by a few here and I was able to clearly see the 3 stars almost in a slant line and a set of 4 more stars just below the last star in a trapezoidal arrangement. Further, I could also see some faint grey coloured cloud like feature surrounding these 4 stars.

I changed over to 15mm eyepiece and the 4 stars and the grey coloured cloud like feature was even more apparent and I was so happy to see them. At this point, I was under the impression that its Orion nebulae that I'm viewing. However, after referring to the Star Walk App, I may have been possibly looking at the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) in the constellation Orion as this NGC 2024 seems adjacent to the last star in the line, unlike the Orion nebulae which is slight right (when viewed from the telescope) to the set of these 3 stars.
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  #1912  
Old 13-02-2020, 02:43 PM
hypersonics (Deepak)
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Thanks M11.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard...e-orion-nebula

The image on the right in the above link is what I spotted and the faint cloud like features.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapezium_Cluster



Quote:
Originally Posted by m11 View Post
Glad you got it all going well and can view stuff.

Sounds like you saw the Orion Nebula. Flame is kinda dim.

Keep going buddy, you are kicking goals

Always fun to explore and find new things.

M11
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  #1913  
Old 13-02-2020, 02:47 PM
hypersonics (Deepak)
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I worked out by orienting the Star Walk app to how I viewed on the telescope and then locked the screen. This way, it was less of a confusion.

Thanks for the YouTube link.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JeniSkunk View Post
With a Newtonian telescope, you have to remember that everything seen in it, is flipped upside-down. So you need to allow for that when you're comparing what you see in your telescope, to the app. You'll get used to doing it, just takes time, that's all.
YouTube video by Astronomy and Nature TV Why is my image upside down?
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  #1914  
Old 13-02-2020, 03:05 PM
m11 (Mel)
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Yep, good work.

I highly recommend also to find ngc104 - 47 Tucane globular cluster. In the Southern portion of the sky

All the best,


Quote:
Originally Posted by hypersonics View Post
Thanks M11.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard...e-orion-nebula

The image on the right in the above link is what I spotted and the faint cloud like features.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapezium_Cluster
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  #1915  
Old 15-02-2020, 01:56 PM
tango (Antony)
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Hello All,

Recently discovered astronomy as my new hobby and I'm glad to have joined this forum (Forum helped me purchased my first telescope).

It all began when I was on holidays in Hawaii couple of months ago and I saw jupiter from a busker's telescope on Waikiki streets!

Since then, I have read couple of books: Turn Left at Orion, A Walk through the Southern Sky and Atlas Of The Southern Sky.

Had a chance to use my new 10" DOB first time last night, which ended up turning into an unexpected stargazing party with mates and neighbours rocking up.

We all had a laugh moving the awkward dob around and things got really competitive when we started to hunt for sirius, betelgeuse, aldebaran and rigel.



Dob theme for the night:
- Finder scope - Star located
- 30 mm eyepiece - Star located "oooo aaaahh"
- 9mm eyepiece inserted (skip the 15mm, let's be greedy and zoom in more!) - what! where did it go?
- 30 mm eyepiece re-inserted - found it again! "oooo nice"

Needless to say, everyone walked out with skysafari installed on their phones!

Thanks for reading my first post, hoping to learn and share with you all and perhaps even join a local astronomy club


Cheers,
Antony
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  #1916  
Old 16-02-2020, 02:12 PM
m11 (Mel)
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Hi Antony,

Nice first light report and getting some new astro friennds and neighbours in the process. Always fun to do outreach.

Welcome to the forums.

M11
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  #1917  
Old 18-02-2020, 09:22 PM
tango (Antony)
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Cheers Mel

Second week into this hobby and I'm already looking into Televue eyepieces, is this normal?
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  #1918  
Old 18-02-2020, 11:08 PM
m11 (Mel)
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Hey Antony,

You are doing better than me, I went in hard at the start

Enjoy the journey and experience, you only live once - or should I say you can only afford to live once.
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  #1919  
Old 31-03-2020, 08:39 PM
Jam
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Hello everyone, I have been on this forum for a few months and I'm really enjoying how helpful everyone is!

I'm from sunny Manchester in the UK. I started my stargazing journey when I was 15 (a long time ago...) when I went on holiday in the south of France with my family.

We went somewhere in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere, and I remember being able to see the milky way for the first time. And so my love for astronomy began.

I spend most of my free time reading books about space or watching documentaries about it. I like to write and I sometimes post on my amateur website StarLust whenever I feel inspired and have the time.

I have never really managed to get properly into astrophotography, mainly due to budget restrictions but I hope to start this year. I'm hoping to acquire my very first DSLR within a couple of months. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Thanks for reading, have a lovely day everyone.
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  #1920  
Old 30-04-2020, 02:46 AM
jacquesauff (Jacques)
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Hello everyone, I have just join this forum.
I have a 5 inch SCT Celestron natural F6 (750mm) its an old telephoto. Intend to set it up for astrophotography with my Canon DSLR 650d with a second hand HEQ5 PRO mount. I am unable to get focus with a Meade focal reducer (f6.3) which brings the SCT telephoto to around F4. Any idea ,what I can do to bring it to focus in visual. I am using 1 1/4 eyepiece and canon camera adapters.

Jacques

Many thanks
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