You know what really freaks me out ?

[Stu Ward]

The fact that Star maps are exactly as the stars appear in the sky. and yet through the eyepiece everything is backwards and upside down !!!

Confuses the hell out of me.

I look at the star map and then see the star or constellation in the sky, use the finderscope which is the right view to target a star, then move to the eyepiece, move my dob one way and the FOV moves the other !!! look for stars that should be bottom right and they are top left !!!!

I'm sure i'll get used to it, i gotta turn my brain inside out !!

Stu

[garyp]

yes it sure is a bit strange to get used to. Actually I am still not used to it as it feels so un natural. I have to take a mental note which way to move first before i go to the eye piece. others reading this post will probably think i don't do enough observing as it dosen't feel natural. which is probably right.:D

cheers

Gary:)

[mark3d]

just turn the scope around 180 degrees... duh... !

.

[Liz]

Yes, I agree Stu ... sooooo confusing :lol: I have troubles finding objects still because of this. :shrug:

[bojan]

And imagine what happens when you have diagonal prism or mirror :eyepop:

[Liz]

What does a diagonal prism do to the image, Bojan?
Does an erecting prism (?) upright the image?

[bojan]

It actually mirror's the image (or flips sides)... so instead of just upside down problem, you have to cope with flipped sides in addition :-)

But if you are using those things consistently, it becomes a second nature to you.

[M54]

Hi Stu,

Regarding which way to push the scope, imagine you have to push the actual star back to the centre of the view, thats the way you push the scope.
I read this somewhere and found it works well.

[Stu Ward]

Yeah i have my head around that, its just comparing star charts to whats in your field of view, its all backwards

Stu

[M54]

Yes, it certainly gives the old brain a workout.:P

You know what would be good? A book of charts that has the correct view and also the back to front and upside down view for looking through the scope. I'd like one of those.:D

[Liz]

Yes, I would love detailed proper Southern starcharts, with constellations up the 'right way'!! There must be some out there, but havent found them yet.
I have lots of great books, but none the right way up!!:screwy:

[bojan]

Why not use Cartes du Ciel, turn and print the charts as you need them?
This is what I am doing...

[M54]

Regarding the northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere thing, I just turn the book upside down, orient the map so to speak.

[Liz]

I know Molly, thats what I do .... but all the NGC numbers are wrong then, and trying to recognize the right star designations. all upside down :shrug: ... tricky, but i know, doable. :rolleyes:

Bojan - all your NGC/star numbers etc, are still upside down :shrug:

[bojan]

Liz,
I just tried (again) , and the numbers and all labels are as they should be, and readable.
You can rotate the map on the screen (with rot arrows. on the right edge of the screen) as you like and they are always displayed and printed correctly.
Try it you will see..

[Liz]

cheers Bojan, will give it a go, thank you :thumbsup: