Someone Save my Sanity PLEASE

[fishinglizard]

Hello I have a couple of questions for you all so I can try to save my sanity, can anyone tell me how to read a star map, the bottom numbers like 00h 23h 22h ect if i new where the 00 starts from i could under stand it and then the -40 -30 ect up the side of the page, whats it all mean then some maps have the -40 ect down the side and along the bottom, also which direction do you look to find saturn, luckily Jupiter is easy to find and If i start feeling dizzy trying to nut out the other stuff I look at it and it makes me even keener to find other stuff to see, it took me 2 hours to work out the moon map, and I was pretty pleased with myself after I did. Dont even get me started on the eq mount :eyepop:, but I am pretty happy with my slow progress given next time i get the scope out will be the 4th time I have ever looked into one. Also I have copied a question from another thread here too, I havent had a reply to it yet. Thanks in advance love this site. (I have an 8 inch newt with eq5)


Thx for the advice, another question for you, I set my scope up last night before dark, wife and I had tea cleaned up kiddy to bed ect, then went out to the scope and it was like it had been hosed down it was that wet with dew, The cover was on, should I be covering it (the hole scope) with something to stop this?? Also the EQ5 mount I have, the leg with N on it to face to North, but my father reckons that should point south in the southern hemisphere?

[dannat]

I agree with your father, it should point S to the scp - with the other legs facing east/west. Remember to use a compass and adjust for magnetic variation/deviation - if you search the threads you should find a map http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/magmapsp.html
Looks like you need to be about 11 /34 to the East oh the N compass bearing.

The eq mount should also be raised to point to the south celestial pole, which is basically your current latitude, if you don't know it just ggogle your town latitude. your mount should havr a scale which raises it from 0 degrees horizontal to 90 degrees vertical.

The hours on the charts refer to right ascension. 1 hour = 15 degrees rotation of the earth.

At the moment after dark the west horizon is about 10H, stretchig to the E horizon at about 18H. this moves then 15 degrees every hour of time.

I thinkyou will find it easier if you download a computer program like stellarium or cartes duciel - which are free astronomy programs. enter your latitude / longtidue and the program will show you what you cn see. you can rotate in every direction.

saturn is about a hands width above the west horizon at sunset, and is getting low to see much detail - it is reasonably bright in the WNW direction - you'll be able to make out the rings but no much else - too much air to look thru

[marki]

G'Day

Last question first: The leg with the "N: should face south as should your scope when you first set up (aligned on the south celestial pole). Heres a good site on alignment. Just remember that all references to North must be changed to South as you are in the southern hemisphere. You need to align on octans not polaris.

http://www.themcdonalds.net/richard/astro/writings/setupEqPolar.shtml

It is normal for dew to settle on your scope (and you) when outside on a cold night. Dont worry about it unless it is interfearing with your viewing e.g. fogging up the primary and secondary mirrors. In that case a secondary dew heater and fan on the primary will help. The only other thing is when you bring it all inside at the end of the night leave it out to dry off before putting it into a case or similar or the dew will leave marks on your optics (do not touch either mirror as you will damage them, let the warm air do its job).

For your first question the following websites may help.

http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/astroinfo/coords/coordinates.html

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/time/coordinates.html

[Lee]

Easiest way to understand is to google up "right ascension" and "declination" and buy a planisphere - will help you visualise how everything rotates......

[Screwdriverone]

Hi FishingLizard,

Ok, lets start this off slow.

Dont worry about the star coordinates from a star map just yet, what you need to do is get the scope and everything set up one step at a time.

Firstly.

Orientation of the scope

1) Align the telescope tube along the mount so that the tube is over and parallel to the angled bit of metal that points up towards the sky.
2) Under the middle of the tripod head is a screw that attaches the head to the tripod, loosen this and rotate the whole telescope head around so that the tube lines up with ONE of the tripod's legs. (you can use the one marked N if you like)
3) When you take the telescope outside, point the tube and the leg underneath it towards the south pole by finding that direction (use a compass away from the scope to find the direction). You will need to adjust the direction slightly based on your location's magnetic declination. Mine is 12 degrees EAST of magnetic south at Sydney, which means I point my telescope to 168 degrees (as south is 180 degrees and 180-12=168!). This means my telescope is slightly pointing towards the eastern horizon to compensate for the magnetic variance.
4) Adjust the ALTITUDE of the telescope (tilt) of the head so that the direction the tube points up into the sky towards the South Celestial Pole is EQUAL to your Latitude (find out what your latitude and longitude is here http://www.satsig.net/maps/lat-long-finder.htm)
If your Latitude is equal to 33 degrees south then your scope needs to point UP 33 degrees into the air. (this is a scale on the side of the head)
5) Once you have the direction and the altitude set, you should be fairly close to the South Celestial Pole(SCP). I think the EQ5 has a POLAR scope built into the mounts head which you can look through and sight the SCP. It shouldnt matter too much for visual observation if you are close, but if you want to fine tune the mount, look here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=63,466,0,0,1,0) for my guide on lining it up correctly using star hopping.

OK, now, all the above is done to point your German Equatorial Mount towards the SCP so that the Right Ascension (RA) and Declination (DEC) circles marked on your mount can be used for finding stars, but more on that in a minute.

Using the Setting Circles on your mount to find some stars/objects

1) With the scope pointing at the SCP and the DEC circle showing 90 degrees, look into the sky and find a star that you KNOW. e.g. Acrux in the constellation of the Southern Cross.
2) Rotate the scope so that the star that you know the coordinates of is centred in the finderscope and the telescope's eyepiece. Loosen the RA setting circle and spin it around so that the pointer of the dial is lined up with that star's RA coordinates.
3) The declination of the star should be showing correctly on the DEC circle (or near enough not to care) as the DEC is relative to the SCP which you lined up before.
4) By staying in THAT half of the sky that your reference star is in (split the sky into East and West halves based on the scope's starting position) move the scope to point to another star that you can determine the coordinates from your star charts and check that your DEC and RA circles match when you have that star centred. If you do, GREAT, you are ready to find some objects.

Finding some Objects using RA and DEC circles.

1) Point the scope to the half of the sky where the object should be. e.g. Arcturus in Bootes.
2) Set the RA circle to Bootes RA coords based on star charts or Astronomy 2008 magazines tables at the back. (14h16m)
3) To find M3 Globular cluster (RA 13h42m and 28deg23sec DEC.) Move the scope until you are close to these numbers on the circles and you should be in the area of M3.
4) Use a low magnification eyepiece to look for M3 and then increase magnification once you find it in the telescope.

Notes
If you have a drive motor on the RA axis, you can use this to "follow" the star or object in your scope for long periods of time as the earth turns.
If you change to the other HALF of the sky (East or West) of the N-S line, you will need to "set" the RA circle again for a nearby known star before using the circles again to find something.
Make sure you keep setting the RA circles as you go on during the night as they become inaccurate if left too long as the Earth has turned during the night.

Make sure you buy a copy of Astronomy 2008 from a shop and a good quality Planisphere (round circle thingy with stars on it) as these come with tables that show you where the planets and comets etc are going to be at different times of the year.

Also, become familiar on clear, dark nights with star patterns and constellations so that you can find objects easily later on as most interesting things are listed in a constellation and if you dont know what they look like, its hard to get started.

Most importantly, ENJOY yourself. Its fun once you get the hang of a GEM mount and as soon as you find the right spot to point it towards the SCP, MARK THE GROUND with paint or pavers etc where the tripod legs are so that you can quickly set up the next time.

I hope this helps, I am known for writing essays on IIS, so I hope I havent lost you or bored you with the length of this answer.

Cheers

Chris :thumbsup:

[fishinglizard]

:thumbsup:Thank you very much for all those answers they have helped a lot and i really appreiciate your time for writing them. I wont have any time off work till thursday night, but im getting excited already!! Slow is good as the name implies it took me a few years to catch fish consistantly using different techniques and getting there was half the fun, then you find out there about a billion more things to learn.

[TrevorW]

My two bobs worth

The leg with the North on it, paint out the N use a dyno-labler to make a S and stick that in the place of the N.

Get a compass to find magnetic south.

Get a builders line level to use to make sure your mount head is level.

Get an adjustable protractor to make sure the head of the mount is set to the right angle for your latitude.

Happy skywatching

[Jen]

:stupid::stupid::stupid::stupid:
Thanks Chris now all i need is some ink so i can print out your long theory :lol:
(jen can do this) :whistle:
:shrug:
:screwy:

[jjjnettie]

It really really helps if you use binoculars, not a telescope, when you first start learning the night sky.
The wide field of view lets you star hop with ease.