My Telescope

[jjajadam]

Hey all, im still sorta new to this and what i know is only what ive read

I was just wondering if anyone can tell me if telescope is any good for looking at deep sky objects, ive tried to find some and i just cant. I have a SkywatcherRefractor scope. its 90 by 910 and to be honest im not entirely sure what that means :shrug:

Any help would be greatly appreciated :D

[LAW]

Try checking out these links, there's loads of info in the Articles tab over on the left..

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-260-0-0-1-0.html

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=5954

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-652-0-0-1-0.html

I haven't been on this site long and I still have an awful lot to learn about astronomy but you've managed to find IMO the best source of knowledge in Australia.

If the threads above don't give you what you want, or you get to the point where you want more, try looking for Suzy's threads. She must spend hours helping out beginners like us :D

[barx1963]

OK Josh, welcome to IIS
The numbers refer to the aperture and focal length of your scope, so the main lense is 90mm wide and the tube would be approx 910mm long.
The critical factor as far as telescopes are concerned to see most deep space objects is aperture. The other factors are atmospheric conditions and light pollution.
90mm is a fairly small scope and if you are in a light polluted area such as Brisbane it is going to struggle. That said the brighter DSO's such as M42 and 47Tuc or Omega Cent should still be visible.
The scope should give some nice views of the moon and planets, Jupiter is nicely placed at late evening, early morning and is easy to find ( it is the brightest object in the northern part of the sky.

Well done for asking the question!!

Malcolm

[Scorpius51]

Hi Josh & welcome to the IIS forum.

Your 'scope is probably a 90 mm diameter objective (the big lens at the front), with a focal length of 910 mm. This means that it is an ~ f/10 focal ratio refractor 'scope. This 'scope is probably better for lunar & planetary viewing, but don't let that stop you enjoying the deep space/sky objects (DSOs).

With this scope, for DSOs you are better off using a low power eyepiece, say 20 - 40 mm for a wider field. If you are using shorter focal length eyepieces, say 10 mm or less, then you may have more difficulty getting a good view. Can you focus it properly on any object - the Moon, for instance?

Also, is your finder scope properly aligned with the main 'scope tube - if not, then you will have trouble finding your way around the sky? To do this, through the scope find a clearly visible object in the sky (NOT THE SUN - if daytime!) or on land. Centre it in the field of view. Then look through the view finder and see if you can adjust it to centre the same object in the finder.

Just to recap - start your sky search at low power, then increase if necessary.

Cheers
John

[jjajadam]

heyyy everyone thanks for the replies and help. i have found jupiter and saturn and looked at some globular clusters. i looked up my model on the skywatcher site and its said its lowest visual magnitude will be about a 12.

Malcolm im about an hour north of brisbane in a semi rural area so light pollution isnt too bad. And John my set up is all good thats bout the only thing im good at doing :lol: i always start viewing with a widefield view and when i find the object im looking for i change lenses to stronger magnification, it does focus quiet fine :)

thanks a lot for the replies im glad i found this website :thumbsup:

[barx1963]

Josh
Looks like you've got it under control!

The mag 12 posted is based on some assumptions, mainly perfect seeing, visibility and no light pollution and really applies mainly to stars. DSOs are spead out so a mag 12 galaxy is a lot harder to see than a mag 12 star as its surface brightness is a lot lower.
I can get mag 14 stars on a good noght in my 12" but have never seen a a galaxy fainter than mag 12.
Keep trying though, there are still 100s of objects that you should be able to get if your LP is not too bad.

Have you tried for NGC 253, one of the easier galaxies to find and very bright, I can easily get it in 10x50 binos or in my finder most nights!

Malcolm

[jjajadam]

is that the sculptor galaxy? around a magnitude of 8?

[barx1963]

That's the one!

[jjjnettie]

Hey Josh, you're just up the road from me.
If you get the lastest issue of Australian Sky and Telescope mag, they have an all sky map showing a good selection of brighter objects that will be within reach of your scope.

[jjajadam]

yer i always get sky and telescope :)

alright ill have a look malcolm, its a bit cloudy here unfortunately :/ whenever i plan to have a viewing night its cloudy :(

[Varangian]

get used to that!:lol:

[ZeroID]

Hi Josh, there's a nice big nebula coming into view over the next month or so ( if you stay up a bit late ). M42, The Great Nebula in Orion will quite easily show you dust clouds and structure in a 90mm. Look for Orions 'sword' above the 3 stars that form his 'belt'. Lot of stuff going on around there. I can even see dust in my 12 x 50 binocs froma suburbam location so you should see heaps, maybe even a little colour.
Orion is best seen jan-feb becaiuse it rises earlier but depending on your eastern horizon and how late you want to stay up it's in view now.

[jjajadam]

is it right alon the eastern horizon? because my view is pretty restricted to the east because of trees :/

[ZeroID]

MIne too but just be patient, Jan & Feb it will be higher in the sky earlier so it will get over the trees at some civilised time of the night.
I don't have an Eastern Horizon at all, trees are at about 15* short of zenith and East is all over the LP'd CBD and almost useless anyway.

Got Stellarium ( or similar ?). Advance the date to middle Jan and see where M42 and friends are by about 10pm. You'll be sweet.