Another newbie

[Chung]

Hi all!

I've been following this forum eversince the spectacular McNaught. Stumbled across pictures of it on an aviation site; did a Google and I was brought to this amazing forum. Not one day passes that I'm not reading posts here. I've been watching a lot of documentaries on space, and have recently watched a Hubble Telescope special. My partner surprised me with a telescope today so that I could take my curiosity and pursuit to view what the night sky has to offer to a different level. So I have here with me a Barska 600 Power which I've assembled. I have no prior background other than viewing McNaught astronomy-wise and with this scope I'm hoping to discover a lot more. I've been reading a lot of posts and I must say the jargon and terminologies used can be overwhelming for. The 600 power came with a 12.5mm, 20mm and 4mm EP, 800mm focal length, a Barlow lens and a moon filter. Other threads have referred to binoculars as 10x50 or 20x80, does the same apply to telescopes. Is this scope adequate for viewing planets, nebulas, and nearby galaxies? Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Chung

[maksutover]

Welcome mate! Hope you enjoy this beautiful hobby, no "way of life" we call amateur astronomy. Im sure one of the experts on this forum will get to your Qn.

Cheers.

[ballaratdragons]

Hi Chung,

You are lucky having a partner that supports your interests.

Is this the scope that you got?

http://www.wellingtonsurplus.com.au/showProduct/OPTICAL/TELESCOPES/BB82598/BARSKA+600+x+50mm+450+POWER+REFRACT OR+PAN+HEAD+TELESCOPE+MODEL+AE10090

[Chung]

Heya!

My partner sees this as an effective way for me to seek solace and de-stress. The telescope you posted is an AE10090 while mine's an AE10096. They differ in the following.

Focal length AE10090 = 600mm | AE10096 = 800mm
Maximum power 400x | 800x
Objec. lens diameter 50mm | 60mm
Highest Useful Magnification 150x | 200x
Lowest Useful Magnification 40x | 50x

And mine's silver blue :)

[ballaratdragons]

Yep, found it :)

http://www.wellingtonsurplus.com.au/showProduct/OPTICAL/TELESCOPES/BB8260/BARSKA+800+x+60mm+600+POWER+TELESCO PE+MODEL+AE10096

Even though this scope is very basic, at least you have a scope to use.
Many, many of us started out with that exact scope or a 114 reflector. Some still have them.

My boys have one and I occasionally look through it, so I can give you my own opinion. It will give you some very good Moon views, and when the sky is very clear it actually gives good views of Jupiter and Saturn. I've even seen Venus look good thru it.

Unfortunately it won't give views of Deep Space objects, but no-one would expect it too. Orion Nebula is very hard to see in ours. But some of the star Clusters look OK.

The objective lens in these scopes are quite good, but the let-down is usually the Eyepieces. They aren't normally good quality, but yours might be OK.

You will still get enjoyment out of it, and you'll be suprised at what you can see.

Does it have a .96" or a 1.25" focuser? My sons one is .96" and it is hard to find any good EP's in that size.

[Dujon]

Hello, Chung,

You will have lots of fun with that apparatus, but be aware of aperture fever. My first 'scope was a two inch refractor, which I still possess, and gave me terrific views of our moon, various planets (especially Saturn and Jupiter) along with, in particular, the Orion complex.

If you become hooked, Chung, you are in trouble. You will never stop fiddling with your gear to extract the best possible performance from it; you'll read this forum and drool over the images captured by its members: In effect you will feel totally and utterly inadequate.

You have been warned.

[erick]

Why did no-one warn me earlier!

Concentrating only on the telescope. I've had it less than three months and I have:-

1. Added an extra eyepiece rack
2. Added bumpers as end stops for OTA movement
3. Bought two further eyepieces, seven filters
4. Improved the mounting of the laser collimator in the focusser
5. Rebuilt the Alt and Az bearings with EbonyStar laminate and new teflon
6. Rotated the focusser by 45deg
7. Fitted improved (finger-operated) tilt screws for the secondary mirror
8. Started playing with prime focus webcam

And about to:-

1. Fit an electric focusser
2. Experiment with a support for afocal photography


And thinking about:-

1. An equatorial platform
2. Moving my focusser from LHS to RHS

I need :help:

[dhumpie]

Hey Chung,

While a 60mm scope is small by today's standards you can still get heaps out of it. Most of them have pretty good objective lenses and since your is a focal length 800mm (f/13) you have essentially a color free scope ;) I suggest you bring it to the darkest site you can and you will be amazed at what you can do and see. I know of astronomers (and serious ones at that) who would only use a 60mm scope to test their abilities. As they say its not about the equipment but how you use it. Visual astronomy is all about training ones eyes to see. Anyway have a look at this forum for inspiration. I know I was inspired. Also if you need a list of objects to hunt in small scopes let me know and I can send you a to do list ...

Hope that helps.

Darren Wong

p/s: here is the site:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/60mmtelescopeclub/

[dhumpie]

Oh and by the way the maximum magnification is usually 50x per inch of 2x per mm. Therefore the natural maximum magnification for your scope is 120x. I usually find the barlows with these scopes to be useless...

Darren

[Ric]

Hi Chung and welcome to the group

Cheers

[mickoking]

G'day and welcome Chung :)

[ispom]

Welcome chung!
and greetings from Germany, quite near the G8 summit in Heiligendamm :)

[ving]

hiya chung :)
i started with a similar scopen some 3 years + back. i started a thread at teh time in the astronomy.com forum called "club 60mm" and was suprised at what people were seeing in these little scopes. I personally hit the cieling at m78 (i think it is in orion) in my ebay 60mm :)

use the scope for a while, tweak it to get the maximum performance and have fun :) dont use too high magnification tho as objects will become too dim to see.

[jjjnettie]

Hi Chung!
I started off with a very similar scope and used it for a year before I upgraded to a bigger one.
The eyepieces I used the most were the 20mm and the 12.5mm. I used the barlow a fair bit as well on the planets. Though they tended to zip through the field of view very quickly.
You'll be able to see Saturns rings and a few of his moons and Jupiter will show his banding and all 4 of his bigger moons. Try this - sketch the position of Jups moons, then come back in half an hour and sketch them again. It's amazing how quickly they move!
The larger and brighter of the DSO's be within reach as well. Use your 20mm eyepiece to find them first, then try using the 12.5mm to have a closer look.
To be honest, I hardly ever used the 4mm ep. It didn't allow enough light through and whatever I was trying to look at faded from view. The only exception was the moon.
Use the maps from one of the Astronomy mags, such as Sky and Space or Sky and Telescope. Marked on the maps are targets that should be visable through your scope.
One thing you might concider doing is to increase its stability of your telescope by hanging a milk bottle of water from the accessory tray. This will help to keep the wobbles down to the minimum.
Have fun!

[Chung]

Thank you all for your kind responses and I apologise for the late response. I had a good look at the moon for the very first time just after starting this thread and the enthusiasm and exciting made me forgot how cold it was and I came down with very heavy fever. It's a great start to a very interesting hobby. I was blown away just being able to see each individual crater, and was on the hunt for the infamous "X." I started at 20mm to lock onto the subject, and 12.5 for a better look. I live in Melbourne CDB so there's a lot of light pollution but when the moon made an appearance over the patchy clouds, I was overwhelmed. My partner also got me a 2 Sided Planisphere along with a planet finder so I cant wait to go to the suburbs on a clear night.

Dujon, Erick; I think I'm in trouble already. Though I'll use this scope to learn the fundamentals, I won't be surprised to find myself getting something stronger soon. But for now, I'm glad I have a scope. Eversince Comet Mcnaught, I've been scouring through Google Images, documentaries every single day and IIS is a daily must have visit if not I won't feel content.

Darren, I've tried using the Barlow lens and I cant see anything at all. Too dim.

jjjnettie, Thanks for the tip. That was one of my biggest concerns. Every movement seemed to be amplified

I've also got another question. Why does everything in the focuser and the eye piece inverted? Could it be because of the prism mirror?

Best regards,
Chung

[Dujon]

To answer your last question, Chung; because it doesn't matter. You will soon get used to thinking about where the 'scope is pointing rather than the view at which you are looking.

Expanding a little bit: What you see through your eyepiece depends on the number of refractions and reflections that the light you see is 'processed'. Think of looking into the bathroom mirror each morning (I'd rather not, thank you) and think about what you see. You are so used to seeing yourself reversed - left to right - that you don't even think about it. The same applies to telescopes. Some combinations will turn your view, like the bathroom mirror, left to right while others will also turn your view upside down. Once you get your bearings with whatever 'scope you use you'll be right (or left, or something).