New to it all

[Navman]

Hi all,

My names Adam and i am new to Astronomy. I am so green all i know what to do is point my new telescope up into the sky and try and find things :). Have had good luck so far finding the moon :P

i live in Rockhampton/Qld and i was hoping there might be a club or something i might be able to join and learn all about looking up at the sky.

as for my kit i have a SkyWatcher Heritage P130 Dobsonian. it seemed like a nice little kit and i could take it out camping with me. a big bonus since i like camping.

Anyways, if anyone knows of anyone/club in the rockhampton area please let me know.

Cheers
Adam

[julianh72]

There's a list of astronomy clubs here:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/clublistings.html

I can't see any in Rockhampton specifically, but there are a few around Queensland, and I'm sure there would be a few members in the Rockhampton area who would be happy to help you out.

Welcome to your new hobby!

[Monstar]

I can't help with clubs I'm afraid but there's a few of us on here with the Heritage 130 which is a great scope to get you started, so if you have any question just ask away.

[Navman]

Cheers for the replys.

Ill keep a eye out on any communities in my region.

I do have a question. Is it possible to connect a webcam to the eye piece of the telescope ?. I have bad eyes and when i look at the moon normally i see it like the photo below, so being able to view it on a screen would help immensely. that and i could record what i see to show others.

http://www.drblaze.com/img/night-sky-kc-mild.jpg

**edit**
So it looks like you can buy a eyepeice that already has a camera connected to it, but there a little pricey. Does anyone know if its safe to order one from the US ?

Anyways thank you for the warm invite and i look forward to sharing my experiences :D

[OzStarGazer]

Hi, and welcome. If you mean the NexImage, yes, it's safe. I bought mine from the USA and it works fine. Keep in mind that the warranty won't be valid in Australia, but considering the price difference it is worth the risk I think.
There is a bit of a problem with your dob (I have it too) because it is a bit awkward to focus with the camera connected to a computer as you might twist the cable, but I think it can be done. I usually use mine with another scope though.

You can also buy a normal cheap webcam and modify it. There are tutorials on how to do it. :)

[OzStarGazer]

PS: Is your dob collimated? Maybe you can't view the image properly because it is not collimated?

[mental4astro]

G'day Adam! :welcome: & good to have on board IIS :)

You have a wonderful scope there with you as a first scope. My first scope was a little 2" Tasco refractor, and I learnt a heck of a lot with it.

If you are having some trouble with finding stuff in the sky, it could be that your small finder scope is not properly aligned with the main scope, or that you are not using it correctly. Neither is difficult to overcome. And you don't need anything more for now than what you have already - a pair of eyes, ;)

Tonight, set up your scope to find the Moon. It is the easiest target, and one you've managed to pin already. Once you've got it, use it to align your finder scope to the image you see in the scope. You might like to increase the magnification just so you can make the aiming area of the finder tighter which will help a lot. Say you could aim the finder at the center of the Moon (note that the current phase of the Moon is half the Moon, or first Quarter. Aim the red dot finder at the middle of the Moon right where the light and dark areas meet. The good thing about a red dot finder is you can use both eyes open - one eye is on the sky, and the other concentrates on the red dot to overlap the bare eye's image. When the two coincide both in the finder and scope, then your finder is correctly aligned.

Once you have your finder set, try tracking down a bright star. This will do two things: 1, verify that your alignment, & 2, gives you practice before trying to chase down stuff in the sky.

Before looking at getting atlases or smart phone apps to look for stuff, try to look for curious things with your own eyes first and use your scope on them. Things that look like little fuzzy patches of faint light in the sky are just the thing to chase down. These will surprise you through your scope, :)

Don't worry too much about things like collimation for now. It isn't essential when you start out. When you've found your feet with the new scope, then you can look at fine tuning it - the rewards in image quality then make sense and rewarding.

And YES, you can attach a webcam to your scope, :D A web cam is best suited to bright objects like the Moon and planets as they are bright, and a tracking capability in the scope isn't essential. There is a great article here in IIS on how to modify a web cam to then use it on a dob:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-431-0-0-1-0.html

I too did this modification to a webcam as my first camera. It works beautifully and will really give you a thrill. Great thing about this article is it shows you how to modify an existing webcam that is no longer being used quickly and cheaply.

Welcome, again, to IIS. I hope you get many, many fruitful hours with your ventures into astronomy.

Mental.

[PeterEde]

lots of big sky up there. Surely a group to Klingon to.
Spent a few nights under the Shoalwater bay skies

[Navman]

Heya all,

Cheers for that information. I didnt even know there was a red dot on that scope >_< after i turned it on and pointed it to what i wanted to see it all just worked and i was able to see the moon really well. Its still too bright in the city to see much, but i had a go at a few dots in the sky and i was really happy with the results.

i look forward to tomorrow nights run, i should have that webcam eyepiece made by then. Cheers for the link too :D

Ill post up what i see

Cheers again and thank you :D

[OzStarGazer]

Maybe you could try a light pollution reduction filter. :)