Beginners Start Here!

[erick]

Well, there is a good question. If the rear of your scope is quite open (you can see the mirror), then for cooling there is no great need to open the top of the tube.

However, if the rear is closed (and some people cover it purposely) and the air driven in by the fan has to come out somewhere else, I suggest you open the focusser - just take out the 1.25" plug. You'll feel enough airflow coming out.

Some argue that leaving the fan running through the night discourages dew formation on the primary - I haven't down the tests. Obviously do this only if vibration of the image isn't evident.

While, in theory, taking the dust cover off entirely should allow more exchange of air inside with air outside, the danger of opening the top of the tube is things falling onto the primary- ranging from dew formation to empty chip wrappers from a visitor looking for a bin! to other things that fall from the sky (Watch the pelicans and fruit bats!) :scared: Therefore, if uncovered, keep the tube unit horizontal while cooling (don't point at the sun!) Then only the cat can get in and sleep there! :doh:

[jungle11]

Hi everyone, was looking at the calender and noticed the upcoming conjunctions of Neptune and Uranus with the moon in the next couple of days. AdrianF (who lives nearby) told me I could observe Uranus as a blue dot (haven't tried yet - still new to the sky and a bit hard to find, plus I haven't tried:P)
Was wondering if neptune would be visible through a 12"? I figure by it's magnitude that I'll see it - will it appear blue? Not much to see, but i just think its cool to see it and know what it is..

[erick]

Yes, they are both visible as small discs with colour. I've seen Uranus easily in my previous 8" (after a search to find it!). Haven't tried Neptune yet. Get a detailed plot of position relative to the star field. Better wait until the Moon goes well out of the way - it may wash out the colour?

[Kane2000]

Hi guys. I'm 100% new to astronomy. So I need some help starting out. Where do I begin? Do I join some kind of group or do I buy equipment. How did you guys start out? Did you like randomly buy equipment and then it got you interested?

[jjjnettie]

Hi Kane,
Welcome to IIS.
The very best way to start off is with a pair of 10x50 binoculars and a star chart. Australian Sky and Telescope magazine has a good basic all sky chart that has marked on it, enough DSO's (deep sky objects) to search for to keep you busy for a while.
Then, if you are still interested, it might be time to start thinking about upgrading to a telescope.

[Ric]

Hi Kane and welcome to IIS.

I started out as a kid with my mums birdwatching binoculars looking for Apollo 11 on the Moon, didn't see them but was fascinated by the craters then cluster and nebulas. Been hooked on astronomy ever since (40 years).

I'd be looking to join the local astronomical society, I'm sure there would be few down Melbourne way. If you go along to their viewing nights you will find a wide array of different scopes and a lot of helpful info to guide you in the right direction.

In the meanwhile it's just like jeanette said, a pair of 10 x 50's and a star chart will help to get the enthusiasm started.

Cheers

[Kevnool]

Hi Kane and welcome :welcome: .
My interest has always been there probably the same as 99% of the population but i decided to do something about it.
Ive owned binoculars for a very long time, then came the scopes.
First i jumped in and got a 4" tasco which now collects dust in the corner,then i went out and got a 10" meade lightbridge which sits in the other corner of the house, now i have a 16" GSO which i allways use and by the way i only observe and not into the astrophotography side of it.
Can you see a problem there Kane its called aperture fever and i had it and it costs thousands but i,m excited and love it with a passion.

Thats my story yours will be if you want to observe visually or be the great astro photographer i,m sure you will decide which road to take.
Prices are well placed but dont go buying off ebay please there cheap and nasty and you will be so dissapointed.
Find some books and read the forums and participate in the forums, find an observation site of the star parties which are all here on iis and you will be rewarded with knowledge that one day you will be able to share with others.

Cheers Kev.

[Kane2000]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome.

With the 10x50 binoculars, is there a particular brand you recommend? I want something that's good quality. Could you perhaps point me to an exact model? I looked at some online prices and they seem to be around $100-120. The price is fine with me, but is this a fair enough price? I just need to be ensured that I'm not being ripped off.

[garyp]

Hi Kane :welcome: to IceInSpace:).

I agree with Kev. You need to decide first what direction you want to go. Astrophotography or visual.
of course that can change in time as your hobby develops.

I started with using binoculars I already had and using star charts to learn about the sky first. I spent alot of time researching about all the different types of telescopes and talking to a few people to try and figure out the best type for me. They can cost a lot of money and it might be the only one I buy so I wanted something I would use and be happy with. I wanted to be as educated as possible about them before I made a purchase.


Use these forums to ask as many questions as you like and read up on the articles etc...
Hope it helps you:)

Cheers

Gary

[erick]

Kane, in my experience you cannot go wrong with these folks:-

www.aoe.com.au

Read their site, look at their advice, check their specials etc. Email them for more advice.

Get a tripod mount as well ($19 something at the most) and use a basic camera tripod for binoculars up to 10x or maybe 12x

Mail order, but I haven't had any problems nor heard of anyone else having problems (except no phone number for AOE.)

Cheers
Eric

[Mike Mc]

i,m just a newbie staying up late waiting for saturn to come up to try out my new 127 mak . maybe take some images if the sky clears

[Mike Mc]

I know it,s late but the sky is starting to clear here in bris. maybe someone is also staying up late to try and catch some acton

[Mike Mc]

The moon is full and the dogs are howling must be someone up and prowling

[Kevnool]

Keep at it Mike the clouds may disappear your way one day....cheers Kev.

[casper]

just got my first telescope.....first object...jupiter and it's 4 moons....finally got a clear night and a dark location and stayed up to do a bit of moon watching.....soooooo much better than looking at pics in books :thumbsup:

[iceman]

Hi Penny

:welcome: to IceInSpace!

Great start! Don't forget Saturn in the early mornings at the moment, too.

[kupos]

hey guys,

this is my very first post.
i have to admit i feel rather frustrated that its taken me so many years to finally decide to invest some proper time, money and effort into taking the first step to pursue my passion for the greater skies.

to think of all the sights that my eyes have missed out on over the years!! watching endless hours of documentaries (ty youtube ^^,) and viewing our universe through the WTT leaves me with a big itch that needs to be scratched. :scared2:

then again, its better late - now than never right =?
so hello to all the star gazers out here and there :hi:

i will be reading through alot of posts over the next few weeks on how to get started and most important of all - my first telescope!!

IM SO EXCITED!! :rundog:

[Ric]

Hi kupos and welcome to IIS, you'll find a lot of great info here on buying your first scope.

[Kevnool]

Better late than never kupos get out there and get right in amongst it ......theres alot out there....cheers Kev.

[erick]

Hi K

Search out Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society and go down when they have a meet. You'll see lots of scopes and plenty of sky! Google them and search the threads here, maybe for MPAS.

Cheers
Eric

[pepperstone]

Hey all,

My first post. Thought I might learn a few things from this website. Basically, I started off about a year ago with a pair of old binoculars, moved to a cheap 60mm refractor, and recently bought a 6" Newtonian. It's doing me well so far, however I have the most unfortunatley backyard. Largest trees in the neigbourhood infact. Having to wait several hours for patches of sky to clear the trees in becoming frustrating, especially when clear nights only come round every third or fourth night at the momment.

My current project is finding birght asteroids, hopefully this will help me get a little better at star hopping and working out this telescope.

Later

[iceman]

Hi Dan
:welcome: to IceInSpace! Sounds like you're progressing well. Trees in the backyard are one of the most frustrating things.. I have them too, except in the south and west.

I can see things as they rise but once they're overhead, they're gone.

[spaceblue]

Hi Troops,
Thought I stick my head & introduce myself, I am a complete novice & I have just bought my first Telescope, is there a reliable website where I can get co-ordinates right down to a particular street for different areas, as my viewing in my back yard is limited & I need to be able to put Lat & long into my Nexstar telescope :help:.

Thanks

Jim

[erick]

Hi Jim, have you installed Google Earth. It's big, but it gives you the lat/long at your curser position.

[iceman]

Hi Jim, :welcome: to IceInSpace!

I doubt you'd need to be super accurate for it. But it any case, you can do it right here on IceInSpace by editing your profile (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/profile.php?do=editprofile) and choose your co-ordinates using the google map marker.

Then it'll give you your lat/long.

[spaceblue]

Thanks guys:thumbsup:

[stephen]

Hallo all, I'm another new kid on the block. I have a 10" dob & an 8" LX90. I'm looking forward to keeping up with the very interesting topics. I'm having fun trying to match laptop to scope with my el cheapo USB serial adapter.

Stephen

[iceman]

HI Stephen, :welcome: to IIS!

Enjoy your time here and we look forward to your contributions!

[Ric]

Hi Stephen, welcome to IIS as well. Hope you have a great Christmas break along with some great viewing.

Cheers.

[Kevnool]

Hi Steven and welcome to IIS,Have a merry xmas and after that start your observations then post them on here and tell us how your going with it.....cheers Kev.

[xcrew]

Hi All,

Havn't looked up for a long time.

Had first light of my new C8 on Xmas night, Farm life, Cool air, Clear Skies
, No light pollution and all made possible with a vast amount of research on IIS.

Awesome :thumbsup:

Thanks to the many people who have contributed to IIS and look forward to being part of the community.

[Kevnool]

Hi Shaun and welcome Its great to here that your looking up again ,and keep asking questions here if you need a little help, because help is close....cheers Kev.

[Ric]

Hi Shaun and welcome, hope you have a great time here.

[Cougs]

Hi all,

Just received my Skywatcher 8" dods and ready to go.

Assembled it this morning and waiting for night (so far half clear sky!!!!).

Must say this site was very useful in researching the scope, thanks very much!:thumbsup:

[Screwdriverone]

Hi Cougs,

:welcome: to Ice In Space

You have come to the right place.

Congratulations on the 8" Dob - thats a corker of a starter scope.

Don't forget to ask as many questions as you can if you get stuck, buy a planisphere and Astronomy 2009 magazine and enjoy yourself.

Welcome and clear skies!

Cheers

Chris

[Cougs]

Thank for the welcome,

As expected the clouds rolled in so zero visibility!!

Looks the same today :shrug:

Also been trying to focus the finderscope with the main scope but I have nothing to focus on further than 150 m due to the surrounding low level trees and building. I have read that finding a bright star or the moon is a good way, any other way?

Cheers

[erick]

The Moon is the best. Hard to miss getting it in the eyepiece and, even if well out of focus, you sure know that you are on it.

[Kindred Spirit]

Hello, I'm a newbie to and I have an el cheapo scope that I've assembled from a box with ridiculous planet pictures on it. I'm not expecting to discover new worlds, but I know I'll have fun. Hoping for clear skies this evening, and then there's the moon. I've yet to learn more techi stuff, but fun is a good start. It's quite cold for this time of year in Tassie, but I've got a warm coat..hat..gloves..scarf! The highlands had snow yesterday! I'm at 300 m above sea level and away from town lights. My Hubby took a lovely photo of the daylight comet some time ago and I've wanted to share it, so when I find my way around in IIS I'll post it up. I have many questions, but wouldn't you know it, just when I get to ask, I can't remember one! Never mind... I'll be around. This is a great site, I've already read some of the articles.
Happy New Year to All. from Luise

[iceman]

Hi Luise, welcome to IceInspace! Great to have you here.

There's no stupid questions so ask away!

[erick]

We're ready when you are Luise. Enjoy the Moon! :)

[Kindred Spirit]

The scope mount doesn't have it's own level, so I have appropriated a small one from Hubby's shed, it's about 15 cm and has 3 windows. But, where to put it to get the mount as level as possible. My guess is as close to the base of the scope or at the top of the tripod?

[erick]

Luise, only a guess but probably the top of the tripod is the place to get level. But I wouldn't worry too much about that. Just try and get the Moon into the eyepiece and focussed up for a start.

Can you tell us the make and model number or give a website reference? Once we can see what it is, we should be able to help with suggestions and answer questions.

[Kindred Spirit]

My scope is a Tasco Galaxsee 46-114375. The review for it was spot on and I'm happy to start with it. I'll probably have it forever even if/when I upgrade.

[Kindred Spirit]

I've just found the Polar Alignment article...it describes some levelling method. This is a bit advanced but "start out as you mean to go on" is my motto!...and practice etc... I say! these articles are great. My download speed is set at "turtle". So it takes a while to get all the info!

[Kindred Spirit]

OK I got it level, not to tricky, it will be a challenge out in the paddock though. My next stop will be the SCP! but the article is well written/good directions! Thanks! The moon filter is at the ready! and hot soup on the stove! Cheers,I'll let you know how I get on! Luise

[Kindred Spirit]

patchy cloud,warm night at 14ºC wind dropped,moon playing peek a boo. What I did see of the moon was great (between clouds). Glad I didn't waste time on the 4 mm eyepiece, the 10mm+20mm were a juggle to interchange!
I did leave the scope outside for about 1/2 hour before having a look. Its a balmy 21º inside,where I store it. Have started to write it all down as well.

[erick]

:thumbsup: Sounds like you are well underway!

[Ric]

Welcome to IIS Luise, it sounds like your having a great time with your new scope.

Cheers

[Cougs]

Got some great view of the moon on Friday night and was able to align the finder scope with the main scope easy enough!

Also picked up a planetsphere from Aust. Geographic (20 % off sale), unfortunately everyone is out of the 09 Astronomy Australia book so will have to wait a week or so to pick one up!

[Maxim]

Hi all. I've just bought a new 12" collapsable skywatcher dob and thought I'd finally say hello.

I've had a two nights of dark clear skies so far and it's been amazing. The scope so far has been pretty well collimated (even after about a total of 300km of driving) so i haven't bothered to try collimating it myself yet. I live in Perth but i'm pretty fortunate in that my parents and my in-laws both live in nearby country towns.

My first object was Jupiter, then the Orion Nebula, the Tarantula Nebula, some nebula near orion's belt, and 47 Tuc. I've printed out some sky maps and am looking forward to checking out some more stuff.

I'm very happy with my scope, but i wouldn't recommend a 12" if you're not into the heavy lifting :)

[Cougs]

Hi Max,

Just trying to work out how to find planets with the planisphere.

If im reading it correctly Jupiter will be visible approx 7pm West?

[Maxim]

I'm not sure at the moment. I saw jupiter at my parent's place two weeks ago and it was fairly low in the sky at dark. I had to go away on holiday (holidays can be terribly inconvenient sometimes) so last night was my second time to use it, but the place I am at has trees all around so I can't see the horizon. Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org/) has Jupiter just above the horizon at 8:30pm, but i don't know how easy it is to see that far down.

I want to see Saturn but i've been too tired to get up in the morning. Maybe in a couple of weeks when I'm back out this way again....

[erick]

Don't leave it too long, Drew. Unique view at the moment of Saturn's rings edge-on. They open up from now for several months, then close up again, then open up again and stay that way until 2016.

Some info:-

http://celestialdelights.info/saturn/sweetspot.html

http://www.visualastronomy.com/2008/11/saturns-rings-nearly-edge-on.html

[Cougs]

Excellent program, exactly what I needed! Thanks Drew:thumbsup:

[Maxim]

In that case I'd better suggest another trip back to Beverley on the weekend. The car was too full of kids and dog to bring the scope back with me today. I suggested leaving the kids behind but the wife has different priorities.

[Kindred Spirit]

Thankyou ALL for the welcome! and I am having fun, no cloud cover this evening and I've been watching the moon since about 9pm. The insects have driven me inside temporarily but otherwise a mild night and 15º. Have tried the Barlow x3 with the 10mm eyepiece and taken a snap (with an ordinary camera so its blurry) of a nest of 4 craters, 3 look like a bird on a perch side on and the 4th is in front of the bird's head! That probably doesn't make sense! Anyway the area about middle, near where the rim of sunlight fades. Happy watching all.

[erick]

A little warning, Luise. Don't spray insect repellent near the scope and eyepieces - spots on the mirror etc. can be very disappointing and can eat coatings. I only have roll-on near my scope.

[Kindred Spirit]

Thanks for the tip. I don't have aerosols of any kind in the house anyway. Some time ago I bought a little gadget that emits a high frequency noise that annoys the insects. it does help some. And a citronella candle some metres away. Noooo, don't like spays!

[Maxim]

I finally got a chance to see Saturn this morning. 'Twas impressive.

[erick]

Great! It's usually the best WOW object when you show others the view through the scope. :)

[Maxim]

Yeah, I dragged my wife and sister in law out to teh scope at 3:30ish in the morning and they were both impressed. I find it pleasing that they are ineterested enough to get up to look through the scope, even if they did go back inside to go to sleep straight after.

[jjjnettie]

That's incredible Drew.
My other half has only looked through my scope a couple of dozen times at the most in the past 5 years.

[casper]

Am still getting the hang of this but have finally worked out how to use the telescope. Am now looking to find viewing spots around Sydney, hopefully not too much of a drive (all the ones i've found so far that don't have too much light pollution are well and truly out of the greater sydney area). help???

[figgylion]

Had my first serious night out with my scope last night for quite a while, got home from work and went out about 12.30am(I work stupid hours) went straight to M42 as I always do to make sure everything's working fine.
All is good so started to have a look around, now I get pretty bad LP from the Steelworks especially in the South East part of the sky and the West from streetlights, but tonight, because the everything had moved across the sky I got a simply stunning view (to this newb anyway) of the milky way which is now almost directly above me and not suffering as badly from the damn steelworks.
Any way to cut a long story short I spent a good hour just slowly moving my scope through the MW and all the fantastic clusters, I couldn't believe how many they were. also stopping for ages on Eta Carinae, the first time I'd got a really good look at it, before heading over to Omega Centauri which I'd only barely seen before due to LP,totally spectacular !
Next was Saturn, using my 5x Powermate I got incredible views, though obviously with a small FOV so continually adjusting my scope and although I've seen Saturn several times before it still has that WOW factor and I'm sure it always will.
Now just got to get to some real dark skies for some even better viewing. Any ideas for around the Wollongong region? I was thinking the southern tablelands but have no real idea where to look for a good site.

Didn't mean to ramble on this much but last night was just so good and so much fun,I had to let every one know what a blast I had, probably going to do it all over again tonight:D.
Cheers
Steve

[NickontheCoast]

Hey Steve... after months of poor skies the warm weather drove me outside last night armed only with an old pair of binocs, a star chart and not much else.. we'd had showers so I didn't lug the dob into the back yard. My family were keen but stressed that talking all about Sirius, Orion and m42 etc was taking up too much time over breakfast this morning (lunches to be made for school Dad!) It was a great window with only a few clouds to marr the night. Tonight it looks like lotsa cloud... but last night was great!

[NGC2264]

Hey all. Say hi to another newcomer.

I had my interest in astronomy go through the roof when I visited the Dubbo Observatory and the Griffith Observatory in LA over the past year.

I have joined (or am about to join) the Northern Sydney Astronomical Society and took part in their viewing night a couple of weeks ago which was a blast and met some great young guys who really helped me.

I have a limited budget - probably $1,500 tops and after alot of reading I think I have settled my mind on getting a 10" Dobsonian. One of the lads at the viewing had one of the skywatcher collapsible dobsonians which would suit me better than a solid tube one for portability and storgae reasons.

I had a couple of questions. The first I suppose is: is Skywatcher a reputable brand? Also my kids are interested and I wanted to get a laser pointer so that I can point stuff out in the sky for them. York Optical sell the 10mW for $200 and the 20mW for $135...to me that doesn't make sense - why is the 20mW cheaper? Will I have problems with a 20mW if I went with it being cheaper? I live in the city but will also be going out to the country for viewing.

In terms of eye pieces, I was advised to get like a 25mm, a 15mm and a 10mm. I was thinking of getting some decent eye pieces but not the $400/piece brands. What are worhtwhile brands at the $100-$200 mark?

Any other worthwhile tidbits of info someone feels I should know please feel free to advise - I am all ears.

[Cougs]

Finally found Saturn - words cannot describe how I felt!

Beautiful...

I am using a 8" dods Skywatcher and was surprised with the quality with a 10mm lens, very nice. I would actually like to be able to magnify a lot more and see even more details, is a barlow lens the way to go?

[Kevnool]

Hi and :welcome: to IIS Gordon, Its good to hear you joined an Astronomical society you will get plenty of great help and good instruction with insight to push your hobby further.
10' Dob is a great starter scope as for the skywatcher i would say there got to be O.K.
My 10' is a Meade lightbridge and i am very happy with it until i got aperture fever and had to go bigger 16'.

Not sure about the laser prices so i cant help you with that question.

The eyepieces my three choices are 7mm , 14 mm , 30mm but thats me others will differ, But change your 25 to a 30.

The really good EPs come later on after you get a handle on using your scope and exploring the night sky then you can revisit them again with decent EP,s.

Its good to hear the family wants to get involved with astronomy.
Get a set of star maps and a planisphere to help you around the sky.
Do you live in the Dubbo area ?

Cheers For now Kev.

[fat200sx]

Hi I am new to astonomy I've been pretty interested since high school were we were taken to a local observatory a few times. I was looking at buying an 8" dobsonian but have been offered a 12" skywatcher for 860 delivered.

All you guys seam to be very happy about what you see through your scopes, i just dont want to be disapointed and only see a dot in the scope. So is it worth the extra to get the 12" over the 8". I will mostly be using it in my backyard.

Cheers for your help.

John

[erick]

Yes John. it is worthwhile getting the 12" over the 8", and that is a good price. :)

[astroron]

He Doesn't know what he is missing JJJ;)

[jjjnettie]

Thank goodness for that.
I like my new moon weekend escapes.:lol:

[Kevnool]

As Eric said get the 12" and you,ll never look back then learn the art of mirror collimation.......:thumbsup:.....ch eers Kev.

[MacBiggles]

Where am I...lost in space...!?

Well, hello all other Astronomiacs and Stargazers...
I am planning to photograph star trails Mk III in Northern Victoria this month (February, at West Summit, Melville Caves, Kooyoora State Park), and would like to know if there is a knowledgeable person out there who can tell me the date when the phase of the moon will have the least (read: NO) illumination, so that a 2-hour time exposure isn't made into daylight as per my last effort (though I got the stars around the SCP, just that the sky was bright 'n blue at midnight...!). Speaking of which, the image may not have come out, but I loved my effort leading up to the night shoot: from campsite, lay out 1km of sticks along a sloping granite plateau leading up to erratics forming the foreground anchor. At the stroke of midnight, I began, but a crescent moon was brighter than anticipated, creating shadows and I knew I was in trouble before I'd started (only had one night to get this done) but went ahead. Set camera, trudge back down to camp following the sticks ... in the pitch of black sticks aren't supposed to move down a slope, so they were undoubtedly snakes, not sticks. Never follow a snake down a granite face: they have much better traction.

I photograph predominantly in film (Provia 100F, Velvia 100F) with EOS 1N, EOS 1N RS, EOS 5 mostly a TS-E perspective control lens for night skies; I do have a digi "instamatic" for recording proceedings on the fly and creating postcard pritns for mailing home and to current/former girlfriend of my travels. I have a few years' experience in landscape and rainforest photographer but startrails and working in the quiet of night is a new 'angle' (a profoundly deaf person like me gets a bit spooked in the dead of night in remote locations, but I persevere).

A subsequent star trails shoot on a friend's property at Yandoit in Central Victoria on 2nd January came out spectacularly well, the only trouble up there being roaming kangaroos.

So... pleased to meet you. MacBiggles is the screen name, but Gary is my real name :-).
Any chance one day I'd get to photograph the Aurora Australis?? That would look extra specky from Federation Peak in SW Tasmania... <sigh>...

May your stars be good stars,
MacB

[Kevnool]

25th of February gary is the new moon ,yes a whole night of no moon so i hope its cloudless on that night for ya .......ya gotta show us the pics.....cheers Kev.

[Kevnool]

P.S Gary look over to the left of the page and click on the moon and it will tell you the moon phases.....cheers Kev.

[MacBiggles]

Thanks Kev,
You're at Broken Hill, fab. How I'd love to be on tht knoll at Silverton under a dark and starry sky!!
Ah, so! Most educational. I thought that "Current Moon" thingy was an advertisement, so steered clear of it (!). :doh:
I've marked the calendar for 25th Feb for a spot at Melville Caves under a dark and stormy (sorry, starry) night...

[Kevnool]

Hey Gary that (knoll )Mundi Mundi lookout that you mention is one of our deep sky observing sites.
I hope its clear for you on the 25th......Cheers Kev.

[MacBiggles]

Yes, thanks Kev. Got the name right. I was there (Mundi Mundi lookout) in 2003 watching a thunderstorm dance and swirl on the far horizon in the everning. It then amazingly doubled speed and headed straight for our group on that lonely hill. We jumped on our bikes and headed like blazes to the pub. Thunderstorm first, followed by a voracious duststorm, then long ride back to BH. Memorable! On my upcoming return to BH, I have plans to do a double exposure of star trails on UHSP (ultra-high saturation palette film) in two different locations and see what happens...

[mulo]

Hello All,I,m looking for a motor to drive my EQ4 A mout and trace stars with 8' feflector,any idea haw these Chinese frflectors mach with the others,loking forward for your coments and advice \,cheers to allad thankyou,mulohttp://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Deathstarr]

Hey all,
I'm Deathstarr aka Loz, Nice to meet you all !
I'm just starting out basically, havent really had anybody to guide me through the world of astronomy since my uncle died 10 years ago.
Just wondering if anyone can recommend some basic starting out gear for a n00b like myself at a reasonable price etc.
Hopefully someone can help =) if they can it would be MUCH appreciated for many reasons.
Looking forward to my future space adventures !

Loz

[Kevnool]

Hey Loz look up at the skies with binoculars b4 you decide which scope to buy.
Get a planisphere and a set of star charts to have a real decent look around up there.

Get out of the city i looked up at elizabeth one night and couldnt see much through the sky glow.

Cheers Kev.

[desler]

Couldn't agree with kev more.


Get a set of Bino's, cheap as, if you shop around. Whatever you decide to do, take a look at some of the beginner posts on this site, especially about buying you first scope and remember, if it's not fun or a pain to setup, you probably won't do it that often.

Once you get hooked though, well that's another story.


Darren:D

[Deathstarr]

Thanks guys =D I really appreciate the help.
Yeah there is a few spots ive got in mind
although surprisingly where I live the light pollution inst TOO bad, but does impact depending on which way you look.

[blackbetty50]

Hi all, name is Mike and have recently decided to start looking up a bit more than I used to. I have had a small 114mm f/5 newtonian for a number of years now and finally decided to get something bigger settling on a 200mm f/6 dob. Have bought a few upgraded ep's to go with it and lashed out and bought a 2 inch uw 30mm eyepiece. I must say i am more than happy with the new scope. As a newbie to this i have always seated the ep's all the way into the focuser without a problem, but on placing the 2 inch ep into the focuser i found I could not get anything into focus without raising it about 10mm in the focuser. Are there spacers I can get to place on this lens? Is there a problem with the focuser or lens? Hope someone can advise as the lens when it is focusable is brilliant.

[Kevnool]

Hi Mike and Welcome i wouldnt worry about that to much Lots of scopes do it , Mine also does it , There is another thread here to fix the problem by moveing the mirror up the scope a fraction but i,m happy just to let sit out of the focuser as i dont use low power often, I,m more of a 14mm person.
Cheers Kev.

[Kevnool]

Heres that thread Mike have a read......cheers Kev.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=39024

[erick]

Yes, Mike, we usually just sit them out a bit. If you don't like that, you can buy an extension tube. A 2" 35mm extension tube sells for around $39.

[Chillie]

Thanks for the great advice Kev. But I'll add another question to John's question.

What will I see with a 12" truss Dobsonian that I can't see with an 8" solid barrel Dobsonian?

I'm just starting out and new to this forum. I can buy an 8" solid barrel Dobsonian for $519.00. I have been quoted around $1,700.00 for a 12" truss style Dobsonian. Both are from a local shop and both brand are Sky-Watcher.

Cheers,
Henry.

[iceman]

Hi Henry, :welcome: to IceInSpace!

Whether it's truss or solid doesn't change what you can see - the 12" versus the 8" is the difference. That's a whole lot more light collecting ability in the 12" which puts more faint stuff within reach. More resolution for planetary/lunar viewing, too.

The difference between the truss style and solid tube is:
1) weight
2) portability
3) setup time
4) Cost

The truss can fold up smaller and is great for portability, as the 12" solid tube is a BIG tube - think HOT WATER HEATER.

The truss will require a little longer to setup and start viewing, but not significantly.

$1700 seems a lot for a 12" truss - you can get a 12" solid tube for under $1000.

Check my equipment (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/equipment) page for what a 12" solid tube looks like - I have mine on a EQ6 mount but I still have the dobsonian mount for it that I still use occassionally.

I hope that helps!

[Chillie]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the welcome and the info.

I checked out your equipment page earlier this afternoon on another computer (not logged in), and yeah, it does look big. There is another member on here (can't think of his name but his username does have 3 letters) who has a 12" truss Sky-Watcher Dobsonian in his Avatar with him standing next to it.

I have a mate who has a 12" truss Sky-Watcher Dobsonian. I'll have a look through his before buying one myself. A 12" solid tube is a bit too big for my ute without making a special container to go in the back.

Cheers,
Henry.

[evad2009]

Are any of you guys in the Glasshouse/Beerwah or Sunshine Coast area and know how to set up a Go-To upgrade kit? I've installed the kit and followed the instructions in the handbook. The hand-set is working fine exept that I can't get the scope (150x1200mm Skywatcher refractor on EQ5 mount) to skew to the chosen star/planet..

I have a feeling that I may not have properly aligned the scope to South Polar. I did this using a compass (don't have a polar-scope), adjusting the angle to 11.25 East. This was the true South position I got from the local airfield.
Any advice will be very welcome.
Thanks guys.

[rodroger]

Hi,
I suggest you align the scope by the drift method to get anaccurate result possible. Method is described under the "Project Articles" link on this site. This is the method I use to get anaccurate alignment for Astrophotography. You will need an illuminated retculated eyepiece to get a quick grasp on the direction the star travels. I made an unilluminted one from a 12mm eyepiece, glued fine hair (human) as cross hairs on the inside stop of the eyepiece. I do need to use a 2x Barlows to get the shadow of the hair without any illumination, but it works.

[evad2009]

Thanks Rod, I don't have an illuminated reticule eyepiece but your home made one eems like a good idea. I have aspare 10mm eyepiece, so I might try that. Happy viewing....:)

[Dimmy]

Hi guys, this is my first post here and I really have to say this site is a gem for information! Just a newbie getting into astronomy and looking at getting my first scope. Have decided on getting a 10" DOB. At the stage where Kevin Rudds little bonus is burning a hole in my pocket so I am fretting over getting the new collapsable one for $799 or the older style for $690.. The older style has a "paraboloidal mirror" not sure about the new one.. If anyone can give me some pros/cons would me greatly appreciated. Cheers!

[iceman]

Hi Damon
:welcome: to IceInSpace!

The two types of dob's will have the same mirror. The difference between the collapsible and tube style really comes down to portability. Depends where you'll observe from, how you'll transport your scope, how you'll store it, etc.

Do a search or have a look through some other beginners/equipment discussion threads as there's been quite a bit of discussion about the new collapsible ones.

Cheers

[evad2009]

Hi Damon
Welcome to stargazing! I'm a newbie too and recently purchased a 10" Skywatcher collapsible Dob. I'm very happy with all aspects of it and would recommend it to anyone. Hope this helps.

David.

[Dimmy]

Yeah the 10" Dob seem like a goer, cant wait to get my hands on it.

Would anyone mind explaining what effect the moon has on star gazing.
Is it better with a full/new moon or without?

Thanks!

[erick]

In general Damon, the absence of the Moon in the sky is best. Unless, of course, you want to cruise the Moon's surface or go looking for lunar occultations! :P

The effect of the Moon is to wash out the sky with moonlight, generally all over, thanks to our atmosphere, but particularly bad close to it. Fainter objects just won't have contrast against the brighter sky.

However, visitors trip over things less and it is easier to find what you have dropped. ;)

But, for observing some things, the Moon is not a great problem. Venus, Jupiter, Saturn - the presence of the Moon is no hassle. Looking at bright stars, open star clusters and splitting popular double stars - also no great problem. But the moment you are talking about nebulae, galaxies, globular clusters - you want to say "Bye bye Moon". :D

When you are showing people the sky, it is often useful to pick a night with some Moon around - a few days after new Moon is usually good. They can have a good look at the waxing crescent Moon, then as it drops low in the sky, fainter objects can be seen. :thumbsup:

[AussieAaron]

Hello To Everyone, My name is Aaron, I am 22 and have been interested in Astronomy eversince i can remember, I had a telescope when i was really young, a long white thing with a wooden tripod and all i can remember seeing was a blurry dot with a small ring around it, Which turned out to be saturn, Thats when i was hooked, Tomorrow night i will attend the Wollongong Amateur Astronomy meeting for the first time and will start getting into it seriously, The thing i love about Astronomy is hard to say, Everyone will know what i mean, But you know the feeling you get when you in a pitch black field and all you can hear is the cool breeze flowing through the trees and just millions of stars, Its the most amazing feeling, just thinking about whats out there and how awesome the sky looks, Well anyway ill stop day dreaming..lol..well as i said my name is Aaron and i want to learn everything i can about Astronomy, Telescopes, Observatories and even Radio Astronomy, So i would like to say Hello to everyone and get to know you all as ill be a regular here on this forum for now on, Thanks for your time, Aaron

[Kevnool]

Hi Aaron and welcome to IIS thanks for saying hello theres lots of information here for you to revel in, Enjoy your stay.

Cheers Kev.

[AussieAaron]

Thanks Heaps Kev, Looking forward to chatting with you all and good too see so much information on here for me to read, Ill be busy for hours..lol..Thanks again buddy

[Ric]

Hi Aaron and welcome to IIS, going to an Astro club meeting is a great way to get started. you'll be able to see and discuss the pro's and con's of lots of different scopes and get a feel of what is best for you.

Hope you have a great time with us.

Cheers

[AussieAaron]

Thanks Ric,
I also thought the same thing, Plus it will possibly give me the opportunity to make new mates that share the same hobby, My mates are all into Motor Cross, Cars, Pubs and so on, So hoping this wold give another range of friends with a different range if thinking, I have been looking into some Great Telescope last night and they have come along way since the last time i had one and the prices are great, So im looking forward to purchasing a good Scope and not to mention bits and pieces as i go along.

[Hachi]

Hello, I'm new here. I was recently inspired by an anime "Planetes" to start looking up into the sky. Of course, being the computer geek I am I haven't actually gone further than looking up a few images on the internet and signing up for this forum. I might risk letting in some natural (moon) light later and actually look up at the sky. :P

Kidding! Well, about the "not bothering to actually look at the sky" bit anyway... The sky is actually quite nice tonight so I'm going to kick start this new hobby (?) of mine by going outside a little later once a lot of the lights are out and take a good look up at something I've never really bothered to take too much notice of before (figuritively speaking).

I don't own either binoculars or a telescope and after some research have decided that for a beginning ameteur binoculars are probably the way to go. I'm poor so I can only spend like $60 max for now.

Anyways, Hello! My names Richard but you can just call me by my screen name (Hachi) since it's probably easier to remember. Cheers :)

Oh, and get ready for many extremely nooby posts from me on a regular basis. :)

[lacad01]

Hi Richard, :welcome:
Plenty of good info here and plenty of good people to help out :)
cheers
Adam

[Kimbo]

Hi Richard, Welcome to IIS :welcome:

Binoculars are definitely a great way to start :thumbsup:. 7X50 or 10X50 are a good size, anything larger & you generally need a tripod to use them (more $$$). Check out the 'Binoculars' thread directly below the 'Beginners start here' thread, it will give you more info. Enjoy your new hobby!!

Cheers, :)

Kim

[hmv629]

Hi All im a 22 year aspiring astronomy student and a female...as far as to apply for university doing a bachelor of science in astronomy and astrophysics- I will find out in july.

I will be joining an astronomy club this week, and am keen to get a orion 4.5inch sky quest dobsonian or similar to start as this is what I have been recommended.

What do you think??

I could use all the info I can get !!!

Hope your all finding for what you are looking for

Peace


call me t-rod

[erick]

Hi t-rod and :welcome: to IIS

Do you think you could stretch to a 6" or an 8"? I think you would be happier with what you see.

Check out what Andrews has to offer:-

http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

6" - $299 8" - $549

But before you put any dollars down, have a night with your astroclub. Look at and through scopes and ask questions. They may well have scopes on loan to members so you can try one out.

[jjjnettie]

Hi T-Rod,
Welcome to IIS:hi:
I feel you would do better to buy a more substantial scope. 4.5" just isn't going to keep your interest for very long at all. You'll be limited to to viewing only the brighter objects in the night sky.

You can pick up a 6" dob for $299, or an 8" dob for $549 from here http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm
If you're quick they have one only 10" for just $599.
(I'm not affiliated with Andrews btw, just love their bargain prices:D)

[erick]

Great minds........... so they say! :D Hi Jeanette :hi:

[jjjnettie]

You beat me to it Eric.:lol:
Don't forget that they also throw in a handful of eyepieces with their scopes as well. Great value.:thumbsup:

PS. Look in the Guan Sheng Telescopes section.

[shelltree]

Hi, my name is Shell and I've just signed up here. I'm really interested in learning as much as I can about astronomy as I really don't know much at all so far. I've been thinking about investing in a telescope to jump start my interest but decided to slow down and take my time before I buy something I might regret. Seriously considering just a pair of binoculars for now and the star charts I recently bought.

So far this site has been very helpful and I hope to learn a lot more as I keep reading!

[erick]

Indeed you will learn more, Shell. And ask away, any question, but perhaps move your specific questions into separate threads - start a new one if you need to.

[Sab]

Hi All...

So, I've finally joined an astronomy forum. I don't have a telescope, my eyesight is terrible and my knowledge of the cosmos goes as far as what I have learned over the last 29 years of being on this planet.

I've always enjoyed looking at things without having to really learn about them. The funny thing is, over the years of marvelling at the beauty of the universe I've managed to pick up quite a bit...

I aim to rectify the problem of not having a telescope, as soon as I figure out what I want. It seems that until recently, people didn't believe that Dobsonians were any good at astrophotography... and why would they be if they didn't have the ability to track objects?

Which is why i'm very interested in the Skywatcher 10'' Dob WITH tracking and direct DSLR connection... I still haven't worked out if this is a new or old release but it seems to be my exact cup of tea.

Now, I know that some of you might say WAIT! Don't go jumping in the deep end too quickly... But I must warn you, i'm a stubborn person and I won't listen.

So anyway... if anyone has any suggestions as far as decent scope dealers and hardware recommendations, i'd love to hear from you.

Cheers!

Sebastian.

[Sab]

Also... If anyone can direct me to a link with a review of any Dobsonians WITH tracking, that would be greatly appreciated.

[jjjnettie]

Hi Sab!
My eyesight is up the creek as well. I use a Gstar-ex camera hooked up to a little goto telescope for my observing. The camera is hooked up to my laptop (or a tv if you want, it's an analog camera) and just sit back in a comfy camping chair and watch the cosmos on the screen. It's all in real time too.
What I can see through this little 80mm scope is better than what I could see through the eyepiece of my 10" dob.

[Sab]

Hi Jeanette...

I guess my ultimate aim is to attach my camera to the scope and combine my love of photography with my love of astronomy. So the ability to track is a definite requirement.

Since posting my post, I have noticed some very nice images produced with the use of refractor scopes with motorised mounts. I am now down to 60% sure of what I want and this is likely to drop dramatically the longer I learn what is available.

:)

[shelltree]

Thanks Eric, I appreciate it! And I'll be mindful to use the right forum etiquette :)

[Nightskystargaz]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this site, so I don't how to send a P.M. to one of the members.
Where do I go to view any Mail sent to me ?

Thanks,

Tom

[stephenb]

Tom, Shell and Sebastian (and all the previous new members),

Welcome Tom, to send a PM to another member, click their name in the top left corner of their post. That will display a drop down box with all the options to contact that member. To view your private messages, click "Private Messages" in the top right of the screen under your name.

Hi Shell, welcome! Not jumping in too deep at the start is a wise thought. Binoculars are a perfect way of starting out. And if you can, hook up with a local astro club. Take a look at the club listing: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/clublistings.html or there might be some members who will suggest a good club for you to pop along and pick up some advice and look through a few telescopes!

[Quantum629]

Hi all.

Just joined up. I live in Sydney in a spot not too bad for observing. I've got a Celestron Nexstar 8se which I got from York Optical. Who knows Michael from there? My prime interest is in deep sky objects and astrophotography. I was fortunate enough to meet Mike when he did a talk on this field at the Sydney City Sky Watcher's April meeting.

I'm thinking about coming to the IISAC in October.

Looking foward to talking with others here.

Will

[stephenb]

Welcome Will, you have picked up a fine first telescope (I assume it's your first 'scope?). I've read a lot of good reports about the 8SE particularly from many threads on the Cloudy Nights Forum. A very well respected 'scope, the 8SE. Don't expect too much in the wasy of good astrophotography, but the best part of this 'scope is that it the tube (OTA) separates from the single fork mount so you have some great future flexibility.

hoo roo,

Stephen

[iceman]

Hi Will! :welcome: to IceInSpace!

I hope you can make it to IISAC2009, look forward to seeing you there!

[tonybarry]

Hello Will,

I was at that mtg with Mike Salway etc. ... small world. There's a lot that can be done without too great an expenditure. I hope to see some your efforts posted!

Regards,
Tony Barry

[tonybarry]

Hello Sebastian,

I think that Goto is an absolute must (unless you are very conversant with the night sky). Whatever else you do, a goto mount will get you started.

And one really good eyepiece with about a 30 arc minute field of view will get you seeing things that will keep you wanting to look. I have a Meade UWA 18mm on my 8" LX90 and it is just magical.

The other really good thing is a video camera with frame accumulation (e.g. GSTAR, Watec, StellaCam, Mallincam). These things will revolutionise your imaging. I can't say that too much. If you don't have a serious observatory (I don't) and you don't have seriously good cameras then video gets you around the hassles. They won't do everything, but they sure do a lot more than I ever expected.

Disclaimer:- I am still learning myself.

Regards,
Tony Barry

[BajaBahia]

Hi Folks,

We saw some very nice images in your forum here, taken with the gear that we are trying to use, and we're hoping we might be able to get some help in our attempts.

We are new to using this telescope, and new to Astrophotography-
and are in the process of setting it all up right now in remote Baja, Mexico.

We were assured help from the telescope store that recommended this setup and sold it to us, Oceanside Telescope in California, but that assistance has simply has not been provided to us.
(The Mitty Wedge did not even have the necessary bolts for installation, so it is not in the setup at this time.)

Our two main issues right now are:
1) The camera images are showing up in the computer as only distortion.
2) The telescope is not connecting to the computer at all.

We are also using an 8" Meade LX200RGPS, with a Meade DSI III. Also, a NextGEN Widefield 0.5x Telecompressor, and a NextGEN MAXfield mounting plate #17392 - 2.05 (both by Optec). The DSI III is connected to an XP partition on a MacBook Pro via USB 2, and we're using the AutoStar software that came with the camera. (All except the scope were bought new two weeks ago.)

The camera and photographic image are appearing in the AutoStar software, but we're not getting much more than an amorphic pixilated blob. Regardless of focus adjustments I've tried so far.

By night or day testing.
Terrestrially by day- aiming at a wall down the bay, or aiming at Jupiter by night.

Any tips or info that you could refer us to on the specifics of the setup of one of these systems would be a great help to us.

Also, we have been unsuccessful in connecting the telescope to the computer.
(We tested each of these separately: a MacBook Pro running Windows XP running AutoStar, and a Mac Powerbook G4 running Starry Night.)

There is no sign of actual connection to the telescope via the Serial to USB convertor.
Both Starry Night and AutoStar software do not sense it.

We were supplied with a cable that is RS232 to RJ11 (Standard phone type connection)
(I think it is perhaps not the correct cable for this use ?)

The only RJ11 port on our Meade LX200GSP is the HBX port, for the AutoStar II handset.

I also tried the Serial to USB convertor > the HBX port.
That didn't work either.

Since all information we have found indicate using the telescope's RS232 ports for computer connection to the software, I've connected the RS232 end of the adapter, to the telescope via a cable which is RS232 on both ends.
This attempt was also unsuccessful.

At this point, we have no way of knowing if the Convertor is bad,
or the Adapter is bad.
Or the Cabling is bad (though I have tried all available cables).
Or if the RS232 ports on the telescope are bad.
(The scope was thoroughly vetted by the techs before we brought it here.)

Or some special Drivers are required, of which we have no information.
(All the software has been carefully installed as per their instructions.)

Any and all help sincerely welcome.
Thanks to all for your time.

Howard

[shane]

Hi All,
I have just registered so a bit about myself may be called for.
I have a 10" G.S. Dob and have had it for about 1(maybe 2) years and have not used it seriously at all.... :( I really enjoy looking at it though?? does that count?
Hopefully, speaking to everyone here might help me actually use my scope..
Um..thats it for now.
Regards, Shane

[erick]

Hi Shane

Welcome!

Well we can talk a lot, but it's easier if someone shows you how to use your scope. :)

[stephenb]

Welcome Shane :welcome:

[nickatnite]

Hi Guys,

I singed up to the site a few days ago and I just wanted to congratulate you all on the fantastic community feeling that you all generate.

I came here after spending a little time looking through my binoculars at the skies and getting a need to hunt down some info for my next purchase (still undecided).

I'm looking forward to asking some silly questions, and possibly meeting some of you at some gazing events (Snake Valley is looking tempting).

Nick

[erick]

Hi Nick! Yep, Snake Valley in October is the place to be - just come down for an afternoon and evening if you want. Eric

[debbym]

Hello, My name is Debby andI have just joined. I'm looking forward to learning more

[erick]

Hi Debby, welcome. :hi: What do you want to know?

[jjjnettie]

:welcome:
Hi Debbie!

[stephenb]

Hi Nick, Welcome!

Welcome to the forum Debbie, Ask away! Do you have any telescope yet? or are you still looking at purchasing?

[Gab]

Hi just joined up. Looks like a great site. My brothers and I are keen to build our first observatory, roll off roof type. He has a farm so space/location is not an issue. Is there a "best alignment" for the footprint of a rectangle building in our hemisphere? I was reading John Hicks book"Building a roll off roof obeservatory" and he states that you should position the building to take advantage of South, South/West and West viewing opportunities. This is for Northern hemisphere being a Canadian publication?

[erick]

Just a guess, Gab, but I think you would set up so your roof rolled off to the East or to the West.

[Gab]

Cheers Eric, We are just newbs, have considerable construction and engineering skills but definitely need to ramp up on our amatuer astronomy:)

[GTB_an_Owl]

i would think whatever is your highest horizon should be the direction it rolls

geoff

[erick]

Gab, have a more detailed search back through the threads for Observatories. There are threads showing various constructions in recent years.

[Gab]

Thanks Eric and Geoff, will do some more research on old posts. :D

[erick]

Try a search for "Observatory" (in the title) in the ATM/DIY forum.

[tommycc78]

G'day everyone,

I'm having a spot of bother with my brand new Celestron Advanced GT C8-S, and in particular getting my alignment to work.

I've noted an excellent article by Trevor Hand on setting up an equitorial mount here on Ice-in-Space, but to not avail... what am I doing wrong?

Here's the issue:
1. I'm pointing the mount south-centric per Trevor's instructions, and have assumed a correction angle of 11 degrees east of south for my location (Blackwater, Central Queensland near tropic of Capricorn).

2. The minimum latitude I seem to be able to dial up on the scope is approx 26 degrees, despite my location being 23 degrees South, which is making the slew slightly out of kilter with the true track of the night sky.

3. Using a 2-star align, I still note that a tour of the night sky - particularly double stars which should be easy to identify - does not align at all (nothing in the finder scope or in the vicinity after doing a scan of the reason around there).

4. I had a little more success with a solar-system align using Jupiter, but still didn't align with other objects in the sky. Granted at this time of day a lot of the stars in the region are unfamiliar to me (Alpha Centuri and a few of the more recognisable night sky objects have now disappeared behind my neighbours roof some hours ago)




Any suggestions? Any assistance you could afford would be most sincerely appreciated, as this scope is my pride-and-joy, but would be even better if I can get it to work properly (most probably operator error methinks)!

Cheers and thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
Tom

[mithrandir]

Tom,

I've had my C8 almost a year. I'm still getting the hang of getting it aligned within half an hour. Longer if I want to practice imaging. With patience I can get the errors down to under a second.

Make sure the peg for the mount is over a tripod leg. Mine wasn't. The builtin level is almost certainly wrong. Use a known good spirit level.

You can set the tripod so the top plate is not quite level by making the south-pointing leg shorter. That should give you 3 degrees without too much trouble. As the mount doesn't rotate on the tripod it shouldn't matter. It might complicate polar aligning a bit (see later) because the software expects it to be level but should not make it impossible.

Two part answer.

First the finder. It is simplest to get the finder and the main scope aligned during the day. With the mount turned off, centre the image on the C8 at something fairly distant - a distinctive object on the horizon is good. Use the finder thumbscrews to point at the same object. Make the screws firm. They don't have to be tight - that comes later. That will get you in the ballpark. After dark point the scope so that any easy to see object is on the cross in the finder. Move the scope a little with the motor. Rotate the finder tube so the object is back on one of the crosshairs (not the central cross - just one of the lines). Check the object is centred in the C8. Repeat a couple of times until you are happy.

Second the mount. Have you got the latest firmware? The one that has "Polar Alignment" under the "Align" button menu. That lets you adjust the polar alignment on any object. (The older firmware only works in the Northern Hemisphere.) If not you need a suitable serial cable for the hand controller to upgrade both the mount and hand control firmware. You can get the Celestron one, but there is a diagram you can use to make your own. I used a telephone handset cable with a correctly pinned RJ12 to DB9 plug, plus a DB9 to USB cable.

Get yourself a copy of Stellarium. Configure your location. You can ask it to find objects (F3) and it will rotate the sky to show them to you.

If you have the cable mentioned above, also get the ASCOM driver software and StellariumScope. Then you can see where the scope is pointed, and point the scope at objects in Stellarium. They won't be perfectly aligned until you get the polar align right, but it will get you reasonably close.

You might get some answers from nearer Blackwater. There are a few IIS members in the deep north.

Good hunting.
Andrew

[Ed Croft]

Hi,
I was just lucky to receive a 10inch (?) (254mm) collapsible Dobsonian telescope after expressing a desire, as an off the cuff remark when asked "what do you want for your birthday?" I wasn't quite expecting what I was given, though I am rather impressed and delighted. I have started reading some books and been given some advice from a mate of my Fathers, who is a keen astronomer. I have only been able to take my instrument out once in the two weeks I've had it due to inclement weather. My finder scope was not aligned correctly and I had very little idea as to what I was doing. I managed to somehow view a planet, but not well and couldn't keep it in view very long. Unsure which one it was even! I have two eye pieces. A 10mm and a 25mm. Which one gives the highest magnification? I couldn't see anything with the 10mm, though by that stage I was really cold (it was about 1 degree celcius). Thanks Ed

[[1ponders]]

:welcome: Ed. Have a good look through the site you'll find all sorts of information you never thought you needed to use. :)

If you have a 12 inch dob then its focal length would be around 1500mm. To find the magnification you are using divide the focal length of the scope by the focal length of the eyepiece. eg 1500/10= 150X

Use the largers mm eyepiece to start with (especially when trying to line up your finderscope on a distant tree or telegraph pole) and then once you have found your planet of interest slip in the 10mm eyepiece. You will see Jupiter quite well at that magnification though a 2X barlow would be useful. A barlow multiplies the focal length of your scope. eg 2X barlow give you a 3000mm scope and you 10mm eyepiece gives you 300X (which in most conditions will be a bit much mag.)

Hope that helps you get on your way. :thumbsup:

[Pogers]

Hi guys, This will probably sound very stupid to a lot of you, however I am learning as I go along.
I have a celestron 130 and I just recently purchased additional lense and a Barlow. I’m currently looking through a 6mm lens and a 2x Barlow, I’m happy with the viewing however the scope shakes a little and what I’m viewing darts around a fair bit. Any advise how I can limit the shaking? I also find it difficult to adjust the focus as when I do, the scope shakes and the object again darts around and I struggle to focus. Can anyone suggest anything?

Thanks.

[iceman]

Hi Rick. A 6mm lens with a 2x barlow is just far too much power with a 130mm scope.

You would really only use the 2x barlow with the other eyepieces in your set, like a 15mm or 25mm etc.

All the symptoms you're describing is due to the magnification you're using on a small scope.

[erick]

Hi Rick. 6mm eyepiece x2 sounds like quite high magnification. Could you identify the scope a bit better for us - there are a few "130"s in the Celestron range. Is it a basic EQ mount?

And what are you seeing that you are happy with, using that combination?

[Doc63]

Hi everyone,

I'm very new to astronomy, and don't own a telescope yet. I have a pair of 7 X 50 binoculars and I'm planning on buying a pair of 10 x 50s soon. I didn't realise how much you could actually see through a pair of binoculars until a couple of weeks ago. Now I'm hooked! I bought a copy of "Heavens Above" by Robert Bee and a Star Wheel and as soon as there is a clear sky, I'm out there.

I've joined the Astronomical Society of Victoria and was planning to do their New Astronomers Group course next year. I was wondering if anyone here had done the course, and if so, is it worth doing, keeping in mind that my knowledge of the subject is very limited. I thought that at the very least, I'd be able to look through a few different types of telescopes before taking the plunge.

Regards

Neil

[erick]

Neil, you are on the right path. I haven't done the course. By the time one became available, I was a six month "expert"! Sounds like you are catching it at the right time.

10x50s plus Robert's book plus a Planisphere - You're laughin'! :thumbsup:

Tell us what you see.

[Doc63]

Hi Eric,

Well, so far with the 7 x 50s, I've been able to identify the Southern Cross (of course), a fair bit of Centaurus and Triangulum Australe. I also think I've identified Aquila. The fun part is pointing them at a part of the sky where, to the naked eye, there doesn't appear to be any stars, then all of these little points of light appear from nowhere.

How much more should I expect to see through 10 x 50s?

Neil

[erick]

Look for Jupiter, the brightest object (apart from the Moon) high above in the early evening. Find NGC 4755 (the Jewel Box Cluster), near the Southern Cross. Try to find the Globular cluster NGC 104 (47 Tucanae) later in the evening. Get up early in the morning and look at the Seven Sisters (The Pleiades, M45). Then look at the great nebula in Orion (M42, the middle "star" of the Sword of Orion).

[Esseth]

Yeah, i can vouch for that... i just saw my first nebula last night (M42) and i was just scanning the sky with my 8x60's when i saw this faint bright patch, so i pointed the scope at it... oooh :D

Binos are so much easier to scan the sky with, now i know why everyone swears by them lol

[Doc63]

Thanks for the advice Eric. I was looking for The Jewel Box last night, but couldn't make it out. I'll look for 47 Tucane next time as well. I forgot to mention that I had also seen Jupiter.

Unfortunately, it looks like the next few nights are going to be pretty ordinary. Hopefully next week we'll get some clear skies.

Neil

[jjjnettie]

They're great aren't they. Next time you see a really bright meteor, use the binos to check to see if it left a trail behind it. That is awesome. Real star dust.

[erick]

Yes Neil, 7x are right on the limit to resolve the stars - I struggled with my old 7x. But with 10x, I think you'll just resolve the main stars, particularly the red/orange star in the middle.

[Pogers]

Thanks iceman and erick,

I have a Celestron NexStar 130 SLT

It was a gift from my family as they know of my interst in space, i am slwoly learning but any help is really apprciated.

I've been realy interested in Jupiter and i wanted a closer look. What can i do?

thanks for your help.

[erick]

Sorry Rick, don't know that model. I would think it shouldn't wobble too much, so should be OK at reasonable magnifications. Was there much breeze blowing when you were trying that higher magnification? Breeze against a big tube is a problem. Do you have it assembled properly? Everything done up tight that should be?

Won't it GOTO Jupiter for you? Anyway, at present, Jupiter is the brightest spot above us (apart from the Moon) in the mid to late evening. You should be able to point it there.

As suggested, don't try the barlow with the 6mm eyepiece except on those one or two nights a year when the view through the eyepiece is superb.

[Pogers]

Thnaks - no issue finding Jupiter, i just want a closer look - i will check my scope to ensure its all tight. It was a very breezey night, will try without the barlow.

[Scorpius51]

Rick, you may like to check out this site that reviews the 130 SLT: http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/public/im/cel130SLT.html. He does talk about tube vibrations. He also adds some extra weight to the mount to help stabilize it.

Cheers & good viewing :)

[romeriolopez]

Hi,

My father is recently retired and has been a space / astronomy nut for years. I'm thinking of getting him a telescope of some description. He's interested in viewing the planets (and personally I think it would be cool to be able to see Jupiter or the rings on Saturn - even if they are a little fuzzy).

I had settled on a Celestron NexStar 130SLT (reflector) with a 2x Barlow, however someone has suggested a Celestron 102SLT (refractor), which has thrown a spanner in my decision making processes.

There's only a $100 difference in cost at my local shop (Bintelshop).

In short i'm after something that:
- simple enough for a first timer to use (he's a computer geek, so shouldn't have too many problems operating the skyaligh system)
- provides good visibility of objects in the sky (stars / nebulae as well as nearby planets)
- can be packed up and thrown (placed delicately) into the boot of a car and driven to the hills around Adelaide.

The motorized goto system on both these models seem handy, as it will give Dad plenty of things to look at while he discovers how to use it.

I guess i'm after any tips / advice from people who have purchased one or both of these scopes, and their experiences with the scopes.

Is a 2x Barlow a useful addition to each scope?

Is there any other scopes I should consider for the same budget ~$1000?

Sorry for the long first post - i'm still getting my head around the astronomy and telescope vernacular.

Cheers,

Matt

[erick]

Hi Matt

The 102 SLT sounds like it might suit your father. No tweaking needed, as you would need to do with a reflector (collimation). Nice and compact. Easy to view through. Computerised GOTO. Should make using it a breeze. I have no direct experience of it, however. Go into Bintel and have a good talk to the guys, explain the situation and see what they recommend. Don't worry about a barlow lens now, in fact it may not be used very much even if you had one. Instead, perhaps one or two better quality 1.25" eyepieces later on?

Let us know how it goes
Eric

[Orbit]

HI

My name is Guy and I'm checking out your forum from Preston Lancashire England.

I wanted to see some of the Southern images your taking and see how its all done down under :)

Cheers
Guy

[Kevnool]

Welcome Guy to IIS.

Its a grand place here, we are a friendly bunch of people here.
Enjoy your stay with us,lay back and see how its all done southern style.
Cheers Kev.

[Dielectric]

Firstly, I really do envy you guys for being in the southern hemisphere and being in the least light polluted country in the world (well almost).

I was fascinated by IIS- really great stuff and great articles. Many thanks for squeezing in a pomme.

Cheers Arif:D

[kingkong01]

hello i am fairly new to astronomy and don't quite know to much about it but i find it really intriguing and fun so i hope i can learn a lot from this site. cheers

[iceman]

Hi guys, and :welcome: to IceInSpace!

I hope you enjoy your time here, and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

[sushant]

hello everybody... i am a newbie here.... i know very lil abt astronomy n very eager 2 know.... always had many question... first thing first.... d coolest thing is to watch the existence of nothing n everything..... what shows dat ? pictures yes cool wallpapers which brings back d mood even when i just had most frustrating day.... where on this site i can get some cool pictures to fulfill this addiction i have....?

[notoriousnick]

Good'ay from Adelaide,

I'm an ultra-newbie since I don't yet have the 'scope I ordered... just another couple of weeks or so!

However, I have been busy reading all the good stuff on here, playing with Stellarium, subscribing to Aust. Sky and Telescope, and reading a bunch of books, including the two Steves' Atlas of the Southern Night Sky.

Now, if I could just find a protein pill to enhance my memory for all these constellations ... :rofl:

Cheers,
Nicholas

[erick]

Too good Nicholas - you are way ahead of me when I got my first scope. And I still know too few constellations and stars by name! Welcome, by the way. Post your adventures into this crazy hobby as you go! Eric :)

[kingkong01]

hello every one last night as i was observing i seen a star that was changing color from red to white and back again but when i looked at it through my scope it was white but when looked at it with my bios it was changing color again can any one explain this? (oh and it was not a satellite)

[erick]

How low down near the horizon, James?

[jjjnettie]

My bet is that it's Canopus.
All bright stars look like that when they're low in the sky as the light is being refracted through a lot of atmosphere, dust, smoke and pollution.

[Menthu Rae]

Hi everyone,

Astronomy newbie here. Just got a Celestron 90mm Refractor with EQ mount. This one here:

http://yorkoptical.com.au/Home/tabid/36/ProductID/5124/Default.aspx

This is my first proper scope as I was previously using an 80s era (or earlier?) hand-me-down 60mm Bushmaster Spacemaster II (which is pretty much a spotting scope for bird watching/shooting!).

Looked like this:

http://www.actionoptics.co.uk/Spacemaster60ED25x.jpg (note, was not ED)

http://www.wildrossendale.co.uk/resources/_wsb_923x363_2019-02-03+05-32-20+cam4500.JPG

Cut my teeth by looking at Mars, Jupiter and Saturn back around 2001-2003.

Nowadays I use Stellarium to help me out and I've done a small amount of astrophotography with a mate and his Canon EOS 450D/Nikon D90/D300 SLR cameras.

Some samples attached (taken from Avalon/Mona Vale, Sydney):

[Zzapped]

Hi all.

Total noob here and looking for some straightforward advice on two things. Firstly, what is this (http://web.aanet.com.au/~snyper/OCAU/isteffort.jpg) , I live in Mandurah, Western Australia and thought id try my hand at this astral photography stuff and this was my very first effort just using my Pentax DSLR with a 50mm lens on a tripod, its a stacked set of 8 x 30 sec exposures.
Second question is, im now keen to start taking some better quality shots but im completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of info out there regarding what equipment I should look at so im asking for some advice here, I have a small budget of about $800.00 to stat with and I understand that I will not get very much for that but its all I can afford at the moment, so can you recommend me a starter kit if you like

Thanks in advance

Z

[Menthu Rae]

Hi Zzapped, that would be the milky way (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_way) - our home.

Compare your shot with this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Milky_way_2_md.jpg

:eyepop: :thumbsup:

Very nice effort for a first go. As for equipment and what not - I'm not really the person to ask - but I thought I'd answer what I could at least :rofl:

Hope to see more of your shots in the future :D

[DiamondDust]

Notoriousnick, just get a Celestron SkyScout, no pills required. Well worth the money, and hey, it's nearly Xmas.

[june]

Hey guys, anyone here use skyglobe dos, I know really old but a goodie, we've been using it the pass 2 years as a guide to see what we can see with our naked eye. Just curious to know if anyone else uses it...LOL

[Aerosky]

Hi everyone.
I'm a new to the forum and to the world of telescopes. I want to buy a dob 8 in but they were out of stock and ended up getting a skywatcher 130, 1000 focal lenght. Did I make a big error by getting the Skywatcher or should I have waited and got the dob.
Also not shore if I got a good deal I payed $430 for the telescope, eq2 tripod and two lenses a 20 and 10mm

[erick]

Hi Nov, it's certainly better than no telescope at all. There is much you can see with that scope with dedication and patience.

But after what we say, you might need to decide - will they will allow you to return this one and can you be patient - you will do better with a 8" dobsonian.

130mm versus 200mm diameter mirror translates into less that half the light gathered by the 130 compared with the 200. When you are looking for fainter objects, this is important.

The mount may prove to be annoying. If you can align it to the south celestial pole, good - some people find that difficult. But it may not be really stable so the view at the eyepiece may wobble around a little as you adjust the controls. Especially if there is a little breeze. The dobsonian mount is a lot more robust and wobble proof.

Don't worry about eyepieces - the ones they supply will get you started, You can buy better ones later - second hand from this forum is a good way.

[june]

Hi matey...I'm new to telescope's too but if it were a dob 8' you were after, Andrews communication have a great deal.

I purchased a Guan Sheng and very happy the one I purchased cost us $499 and even the Deluxe would have cost $399 with I think it was 4 or 5 eye pieces cant remember...but next time check them out if you are after a bit of a bargin and it cos me $50 for shipping from NSW to MELB...cheers darl and I hope you have better seeing weather than the crap I've been getting in Melb.

Here's the web addy for Andrews http://www.andrewscom.com.au, check it out, they are so friendly and helpful...:cheers:

[Vartigy]

Hi Nov,
Skywatcher have a wide range of good gear.
Got a 8" truss dob myself, and it's a fantastic bit of kit for a beginner.
There's plenty of information on dobs on these forums, just run a search and you can't go wrong :thumbsup:

[sauron]

Hi everyone,

I started reading this wonderful forum a few weeks ago and have really enjoyed myself browsing through the wealth of information available - can't believe how friendly and helpful people are here. So I finally joined up today :)

I've dabbled with astronomy on and off all my life but have recently renewed my interest. My previous telescope was a homemade 5 inch refractor on equatorial mount. It suffered from a lot of coma.

I'm now looking to buy a 'proper' telescope and am very interested in the 12'' collapsable dobs from Skywatcher. Most comments I have read about them report that these telescopes are very good value. I think 12'' appeture will be right for me but wanted to get the opinions of others with more experience.

I'm interested mainly in 'deep sky' viewing but also some planet observation. I was wondering what people think about the appeture - will it satisfy me in the forseeable future or should I consider going up to say a 16'' light-bridge. The 16'' is really out of my budget and I am worried about transportability: 95% of my observations will be done in my fairly light-polluted backyard but hope to occasionally get to a dark site. Even in my yard though I will have to manuver it around to access different parts of the sky. Would the 16'' appaeture be wasted in my yard?

many thanks,
bye for now,
Paul.

[Vartigy]

Welcome to the forums Paul.

As many have said on here over time. The best scope is the one you'll use most.
And if you're already worried about transporting/carrying and the general ergonomics of working with a large scope then it may not be the best thing.

Working with an 8" in my backyard I can get pretty decent views of dsos and planets. Thats with a street light shining directly into my backyard. *curse those power wasters*.

Sounds like you're no stranger to the skies, so you probably know fairly well what you want out of a scope.

The rest goes to gut feel.

Good luck! :D

[sauron]

thanks Aaron.

Yes those streetlights are a real killer. We have one on the pole right outside our house which washes out the whole front yard.

I have some experience with the sky but it was mainly confined to the planets and bright-clusters and the odd nebula as my old telescope did'nt work very well - it was built by my Dad and I from a salvaged giant telephoto lens. Mostly it had to be stopped down to an effective apperture of 2-3'' for give a half decent view. So I don't have alot of experience with what can be expected from 'proper optics' of resonable size.

My main question is whether people think it would be worth the extra expense and inconvence of the 16'' for home viewing or would that type of scope be reserved for darksite viewing only.

My inclination at this stqage is to stick to 12'' which I think will be much much better than what I had before.

[that_guy]

Hello! I am new to the forum and a total noob when it comes to astronomy. I know a few things about physics but other than that, I never actually looked through a real telescope (I know... Real sad right?). I've been looking around for a telescope in the star optic website... I got my eye on a cheap dobsonian:
http://118.127.11.230/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=34
Please comment on whether this is a good deal or a load of horse poop.

Thanks,
Tony

[sebastien]

OMG!! This is exactly the same one that I have ordered!! I as you also has never looked through a telescope but will very soon indeed!! ahhaha we are like related somehow. (I also know abit about physics, as you would know from my new thread: General relativity, Quantum Mechanics and the New String Theory). The guy that recommended me this scope said that it is the perfect scope for beginner, and i am pretty sure that the guy wasn't a random person who just recommends a random scope. I am sure that it is VERY good indeed, and for that price you are getting it much cheaper than I did. A great scope for sure that one.

Clear Skies
Sebastien.

[that_guy]

AHA!! Great! I live on Gold Coast so I can just pop over to the shop in Mermaid Beach! And great thread about string theory I already posted there and that gave me an idea for a thread as well. The Big crunch thread. hoping for a good read and a good discussion.

[sebastien]

For sure, i live in Sydney...:S but doesn't matter :) Can't wait to discuss some more on some topics!!!

[sebastien]

Hey, I am a total newbie and got my first telescope (6" Dob) yesterday, and with it came a 2" eyepiece adapter, I have absolutely no idea what it is for, could somebody please inform me??:)

Thankyou,
Sebastien.

[barx1963]

Sebastian
Eyepieces come usually with either a 1.25" barrel or a 2" barrel. Many of the longer focal length EPs will have the 2". The focuaser is designed to take a 2" EP but the adapter enable the 1.25" EP's to fit.
If you have got the Skywatcher 150mm Dob, it usually comes with a 25mm and a 10mm focal length epepice, both should be 1.25" barrels, so just leave the adaptor in place.

[sebastien]

Thanks a lot, but I am still not quite sure what I use it for/basically why I need it, is it for :S

Thankyou,
Sebastien

[barx1963]

Maybe some photos will help. The first photo show the focuser without the adaptor, then 2 photos with the adaptor in place. Then there is a pic of a 32mm EP with a 2" barell in the focuser without the adaptor then a couple of pics showing a 25mm EP with 1.25" barrel in place WITH the adaptor. I haven't fully inserted the EPs so you can see the barrell. Then a pic of the 32mm EP on the left next to the 25mm EP so you can see the size difference between the barrels. Unless the adaptor you have is completely different, or your EPs are not 1.25" barrels, this should help.
Remember the 25mm and 10mm on the EP is the Focal Length, not the barrel size, that is usually in inches!
If still confused, post a photo of the offending item.

[sebastien]

Thankyou very much, greatly appreciated, so it is kind of like a barrel? I know where to put it but how does it help us/what does it do. If it is a barrel, thanks if not then, sorry to test your patience :S But thanks a lot and greatly appreciated :thumbsup:

Kind regards,
Sebastien

[mswhin63]

It allows to fit different eyepieces into the scope. 2" eyepieces are not the standard on most new scopes and 2" eyepieces naturally give wider field of view. I finally go some 2" eyepieces last week but only after 9 months worth of research and testing with other observers. Very handy to join an Astro Club as they can help in a much better more practicle way.

[sebastien]

Thanks a lot:) :thumbsup: Greatly appreciated! Sorry for being so inquisitive :S Thanks again, and thanks for your time :)

Best
Sebastien

[that_guy]

Hey seb... WHen I read the word inquisitive, I had a sudden urge to eat potatoes... I don't know why I'm mentioning it but I am... :):):)

Cheers,
Tony

[sebastien]

Hahaha, that is so random, hahhaaha :lol: :lol::lol::lol:

Regards,
Sebastien.

[Dusk]

Hello, all!

Well I have been into astronomy since the end of 2005, and have had some great experiences with the Astronomical Society of Victoria.

My scope is a 200mm Dobsonian, and has served me well with just the 25mm and 10mm eyepieces, and a 2x Barlow.

For my 21st I got a Canon EOS 450D, which is a great DSLR camera, and I have been keen to branch out into more astrophotography.

So, this Christmas, I got a HEQ5 mount, on a pier, which I hope to use with my 8" Dob and/or Camera.

Just as soon as I work out how to polar align and set up the scales on the mount...Sigma Octans is very hard to find!

[Ric]

Hi Brayden, Merry Christmas and welcome to IIS.

I'll look forward to seeing the results of your adventures in astrophotography.

Cheers

[CarlJoseph]

Hi folks,

I'm finally here. :D I've been a long time fan of astronomy since a little kid, but I only just now finally got a telescope (from my wife for Christmas).

It's a basic Newtonian style telescope, 114mm aperture my wife picked up off eBay. Nothing terribly flash but I know it'll be good enough to get me started.

So ... looking forward to everything this forum has to offer.

Cheers,
Af.

[erick]

Welcome Carl. Yes, that is indeed a start. Bring your reports and questions here. Eric

[Kevnool]

Welcome Carl to IIS let us know how your observing goes and dont forget to ask any questions that you need to know.

Cheers Kev.

[CarlJoseph]

Thanks for the welcome Eric & Kev.

I had a look through my scope a couple night ago and was pretty amazed at the sight of the moon. Craters and all. Was quite a "wow" moment for me actually.

Will heading off to the Mornington Peninsula Astronomy Society shindig on the 1st of Jan so that should help ram in a new addiction for me! :-)

Cheers,
C.

[barx1963]

Carl
Welcome! Get yourself along to club meetings as these are a fantastic resource. If it is a viewing night, take your scope, gives plenty of opportunity to compare views.
Try and get the scope out once the moons is out of the way in a week or so and enjoy the views of the clusters in the Milky Way lots to look at!

[GHOST]

Hi guys,

Just got a few questions regarding how to become an astronomer.

Apart from reading materials off the net and from magazines, I'm looking to do some studing and getting some qualifications but I have no idea where to start or how to get there.

What are some things I can do to gain more knowledge or prepare myself before I really get into trying to do some courses?

Cheers

[erick]

Still at school, Jason? Have done or are doing lots of mathematics and physics? That will help.

[iceman]

Hi Jason

I found the Astronomy 161 and 162 podcast series extremely valuable as a learning tool. It starts at the basics, but goes into some detail and covers a fairly broad range of topics.

http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/

Astronomy Cast is also a good podcast for learning more:
http://www.astronomycast.com/

Heaps of info in the archives.

For other qualifications, there are courses at Swinburne and other online universities that may be what you're looking for? I think a few members here are currently doing astronomy courses.

Good luck and :welcome: to IceInSpace!

[GHOST]

Unfortunately Eric I've already completed my tertiary and astronomy wasn't the path I followed.

But I don't mind starting fresh and getting into the field, I just need something part time.


Thanks heaps for the assistance Mike appreciate all the help.

Cheers

Jason

[Roobi]

Hi there.
Well i got my very first telescope at christmas time, something ive wanted since i was a lil one, and i have to say im amazed at how much i can see. It's quite a smallish telescope 5.12" and 650mm focal length celestron astromaster 130eq but i was clearly able to see saturn and its rings. Though quite small, it was still magnificent. I even managed to see titan.
I quickly whipped out my digital camera and tried to shoot it through the eyepiece, and suprisingly enough i actually got an ok image. I can't wait to get a proper camera, already im hanging to get some stonger lenses as i only have the 10mm and 20mm. I'm just wondering what everyone thinks would be the best eyepieces for me to get.
On a side note, i can't believe how much i'm learning. I'm focusing on the saucepan at the moment and trying to learn as much as i can about that area. Great nebula in orion looked cool last night, though i was surprised to see no colour. Is colour only seen at higher mags or only with filters?
As im sure you can tell, i'm so wrapped up in this now, i can barely sit still for excitement.
lol thanx for listening to my rambling guys and happy exploring.

[barx1963]

Hey Roobi, glad you are enjoying it. Your scope is the same size as my first one. You could get a shorter eyepiece to get more magnification, but remember, magnifying also makes it dimmer and gives you a much smaller field of view, so much harder to find objects and keep them in the field. On my 130mm scope I found the 10mm was only just useable, mainly only used the 25mm. You could save up some money and go get some premium EPs, but you are probaly better of saving for a bigger scope!!
Try and get yourself to a local club or observing night. Most observers are happy to let you see what different eyepieces will do and givce you a look and some advice.
As for colour, even bright nebs like M42 (Great Orion Neb) show only very subtle colour in big scopes and only when seeing and transparency are exceptional. Even then, seasoned observers may not see it. Magnification also dims objects so making colour even harder to see. Filters act by only letting certain wavelengths of light through, so improving contrast, they won't actually brighten or improve colour.
Anyway, continue exploring and see what else you can find.

Malcolm

[GHOST]

Hi guys,

I'm now looking to get a telescope but I'm not too sure which one I should get or what I should be looking for as there are so many different brands.

But one of the more common brands I've come across is the Celestron.

I'm looking for something for a beginner but will also last a bit as I don't want to have to upgrade too soon and I'm not to sure how much I should be spending.

Any recommendation would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Jason

[that_guy]

Dob dob dob dob dob!!!!!! Dobsonian!!!!!!! It's cheap and incredibly reliable 6" starting from around $350...

[GHOST]

Thanks for that mate. Would you know any good places in Melbourne where I can go get some decent telescopes?

Cheers mate

[erick]

Search though "Equipment and Where to Buy" in here:-

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/links.html

I can recommend the Bintel shop in Camberwell, at 519 Burke Road.

York Optical are in the city at 114 Flinders Street.

There are a few others in Melbourne.

Several people are happy to mail order from elsewhere around Australia, eg. from Andrews Communications.

Carefully compare prices, options included and after-sales service.

[barx1963]

Yes, if intending for visual use, get a dobsonion, brand is probably not that important, Skywatcher, GSO, Saxon, Bintel all do the job. Look for aperture per dollar as your main criteria. Don't get sucked in by lots of eyepieces, you will see deals with 5 or 4 eyepieces, most of the time only the 2 longest ones will be the ones you use. Also, don't get sucked into the Computerised GoTo scope, unless thats really where you want to go, you end up payiong way more for less aperture, and in visual observing, aperturew always comes up trumps. It's no accident that at any star party, the visual guys almost always, and I mean almost always, have big scopes, and for most of them that means a dob.
As for dealers I have used Bintel and Andrews without any hassles, can only speak from personal experience though.
Best advice, before you buy, get along to a star party, club observing night or similar and try out a scope or two then make a decision. Snake Valley is on 12-15 of March I beleive and the Astro Soc. of Vic have a night at Heathcote on the 13th March also. Both are worth checking out!

[GHOST]

Thanks heaps Eric, Malcolm.

One thing I'm still a bit confused with is, what different images and sort of views with a telescope that has a large aperture say 300mm with the eye piece at the top to a more narrow telescope with a aperture of say 100mm and the eye piece at the bottom of the telescope?

Are they called a Parabolic reflector and a Refracting telescope?

Thanks again guys

[erick]

Here is some reading for you, Jason:-

http://www.davidreneke.com/recommended-telescopes-for-beginners
http://www.davidreneke.com/buying-using-telescopes

[berg meister]

Hi,

Been a member for a while but not really posted. As I live in Sydney, most of my Astronomy is on-line, naked eye, and in magazines. I do relish the times I get away from the city....particularly Braidwood (east of Canberra), where one chilly August night last year, the Milky Way was presented with unbelievable clarity - even more than later that night near Thredbo in the Snowies.

My first ever telescope was a cheap dept store type, but to view Saturn and see the rings, was unforgettable, from my rear door when I was living in Christchurch for a few years. Also viewed the Jewel Box cluster at the Arts Centre / Townsend Ob telescope in the city:

http://www.phys.canterbury.ac.nz/townsend.shtml


Really just wondering what I will get from the following set up:


Bintel BT-114EQ Deluxe Telescope https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Images/Stock/6327.jpg





This telescope has superior high quality optics with a 910mm focal length (f/8). Coupled with its sturdy German Equatorial mount any budding astronomer will delight in the views available. Resolve fine detail on the lunar surface, the Rings of Saturn, Equatorial belts on Jupiter, see stars in Omega Centauri Cluster, the dust lane in the Centaurus "A" galaxy, Eta Carina Nebula and many hundreds of other nebulae, clusters and some galaxies.
Quality fittings and accessories come standard:
- A 6 x 30 crosshair finderscope with quick release dovetail bracket and springloaded adjustment makes finding your target easy.
- Three 1.25" Plossl eyepieces (25mm, 15mm and 9mm) are included. They offer definite advantages over competing telescopes supplied with "cheap" eyepiece.
- A moon filter and a comprehensive instruction manual are also included. Optional Motodrive provides hand free tracking. Some simple astrophotography is possible with optional camera adapters. We include a one year warranty and in-store lesson if you require assistance assembling and using your new telescope.



As it is dicfficult to get decent views at present where I live, I am staying with this low end model until better living accomodation permits worth while observations. Thinking I might get some nice moon views if I stay at my son's place on the NSW Sth Coast maybe?

thanks for any advice

[CarlJoseph]

Just got home from my first visit to the Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society (MPAS). It was great!

I set up my scope outside then went inside for a presentation. By the time I got out ready to take a look at Jupiter rising, two kind folks had collimated my scope for me! :thanx: I can actually see things through it!

A basic 4" scope and I could quite clearly make out Jupiter and four of the moons. Got to see the Orion Nebula and just almost make out the trapezium part of it. Saw a few other bits and pieces in my own scope and plenty of amazing stuff in the monster scopes they had.

Had a great night so thanks to all involved. I would encourage any newbies like me to drop by either MPAS or your own local observatory for a good introduction to the skies.

Cheers,
Af.

[CarlJoseph]

My first night out in the backyard a couple of weeks ago was okay although I had no idea what I was looking at.

After a night at MPAS I had a few targets I wanted to find myself in my own scope. Last night, the clouds in Melbourne cleared up and I went for it. Had a great night.

I started with Jupiter just after sunset. I managed to easily find it and could clearly make out three of the moons (two below and one above). There looked to be a fourth further down below-left. The moons had obviously shifted from the previous week at MPAS. It was kinda cool to have seen the difference even a few nights makes. My wife was also impressed once I managed to drag her away from some Top Model show!

Then off to the Orion Nebula. Now that I had seen it through some big scopes I knew exactly what to look for. Managed to just make out the 4 stars of the trapezium which took a bit of patience but was worth it.

At MPAS, one of the great sights I saw was 47 Tuc. It took me forever to find it as I couldn't see it with my naked eye. Spotted a small blurry star just below-right of the small Magellan clouds and then with a little moving about I stumbled on it. It was a bit fuzzy through my scope but I was pretty wrapped I managed to find it.

Then I moved off to Pleiades. Wow, it was crazy bright! :eyepop:

I then took a right to Sirius. My collimation must have been out a bit because it looked like it had a little bulge to the top-right of it. I doubt I managed to see the second star in there (Sirius is a binary yeah?).

Then a bit of a random tour around before going back inside.

Cheers,
Af.

[alistairsam]

hi,
i've been reading a fair bit, and got myself an 8inch F6 Bintel Newtonian on a Dob mount.

but so far, i haven't been able to see any decent nebula or galaxy with the scope apart from M42.
am i expecting too much?

below is what i have and use
2inch crayford focusser, 2" 26mm GSO EP, 1.25" 9mm Plossl EP, 2X 2" Andrews ED Barlow.

Now that Mars is visible, i tried viewing at the lowest and highest mag, but haven't been able to discern details. Jupiter was better.
I have collimated my scope, I got help at MPAS with a laser collimator.

I have cleaned the primary with distilled water with no damage at all.
I fixed an A4 sized black felt piece opposite the focusser inside the OTA to reduce reflected light as i have a street lamp just next to where i view.

I can easily see the 4 trapezium stars in M42 with good nebulosity.
i use stellarium to try and star hop, but have'nt had any luck in locating objects.
was thinking of building setting circles, but not sure if its worth the effort.

any advice on what I can realistically view with my 8" F6 and with which eyepieces?

I read an equipment review of a 10" GSO reflector and was amazed at what all he could see. going by that, an 8" should'nt be too far off, at least thats what i hope.

[barx1963]

The 8" is an excellent instrument for viewing DSO's, there are hundreds within reach of your scope. Use the 26mm eyepiece first, and I would suggest you get a medium power eyepice say 15mm or their abouts, if you can offord it get a wide field one rather than a plossl.

Mars is not easy at the moment, very low, you have to wait for moments of good seeing to pick up much detail, but you should be able to see the polar cap.

Good objects in the Southern part of the sky are

Eta Carina Nebula
NGC 3532 which is close to Eta Car
47 Tucanae, NGC 104
NGC 362 close to 47 Tuc
Tarantula Nebula
The Jewell Box NGC4755
Omega Centauri (it rises late best after 1am)

All these will look great in an 8" and several (Omega Cent, Eta Car, NGC 3532) are naked eye and all are locatable in a finder

In the northern sky you can try for

M67 Open cluster in Cancer
M43 just near M42
Rigels companion star

Anyway thats just some starters of the top of my head, see how you go.

[alistairsam]

thanks Malcolm,
will try to find them and let you know.
might get a wide view EP from Andrews. does the FOV have to be over 60deg and focal length below 20mm?
Does a nebula filter or OIII filter help for nebulae and galaxies?

heading to the Dandenong ranges this week on a clear night.
anyone know of any good viewing spots?

[iceman]

Hi Berg Meister,

That's not really the first telescope I'd recommend. It's fairly small aperture and long focal length, not a great combination, and it's on a fairly small looking EQ mount which is likely to be fairly wobbly.

You really are best off looking at a 6" or 8" dob - much easier to use, more aperture, objects will be brighter and no hassle with the mount.


Anywhere away from city lights will be good. To view the moon though, dark skies don't really make any difference (through a telescope at least).

[CarlJoseph]

I used this list to guide my observing tonight. Thanks for the suggestions Malcolm. :thumbsup:

I had limited success but the ones I could find were quite spectacular.

I couldn't quite catch Eta Carina Nebula but did manage to get NGC 3532. 47 Tuc is one of my favourites at the moment so I'm pretty good at finding it.

Couldn't find NGC 362 but the sky in that area was pretty light polluted so will try again another night from elsewhere. Also couldn't find the Tarantula Nebula - there's quite a bit happening around there so it was hard to locate for me.

The Jewell Box (NGC 4755) was amazing. I thought I found it the other night and tonight confirmed it. The longer I spent on it, the more I managed to see. Caught a glimpse of a couple red stars (red giants?)

Omega Centauri is up too late for me!

So, mixed results tonight but worth finding a few new sights. If it wasn't for the nicotine addicted neighbour who had to to have a fag in full light every 30 minutes, I may have been a little more successful (and patient!)

Cheers,
Af.

[barx1963]

Well done Carl. NGC 362 is easy if you can find 47 Tuc. At the moment it is up and to the right a bit. They are basicly on the side of the Small Magellenic Cloud so if you can see that naked eye, it makes finding 362 easy.
Eta Car is "above" NGC3532, both are naked eye visible.
Congrats on the Jewell Box, still my favorite cluster, mainly 'cos it wa sthe first NGC object I found by myself! Still love looking at it and seeing all thopse faint jewells sparkle. The main red star in the centre I beleive is a red giant (Type M2Iab supergiant SAO 252073).

Malcolm

[Dave88]

Hi all,
Having been a silent member for a little while now, I figure it's appropriate for a quick introduction. Most of my observing experience thus far has been through a 70mm Skywatcher refractor. Although I immensly enjoy exploring the skies, I regret that alot of the time I don't know what I'm actually looking at. This year I'm aiming to invest more time into the study of the constellations and the like, and, to learn how to star hop.
I currently have a 12" GSO dob on order along with a bundle of books, guides and current charts. I've also been impressed with the capability of the Argo Navis and will consider one down the line to help with my learning.
Like many, astrophotography is something I wish to pursue further down the track. But that will happen in due course. Small steps - as they say

Thanks all for a great forum

Dave

[iceman]

Hi Dave
:welcome: to IIS and thanks for a great introduction!

[barx1963]

Dave
Good to see another 12" dob on the way. Look forward to hearing how you go with. What charts etc have you ordered?

[Bern]

Hello everyone, this is my first post, and I am impressed by the amount of information and knowledge available here. Do people still hand grind their own mirrors, or is this a dying art? My late father made several telescopes in the 1960s and '70s, mainly Newtonians and a casegrain. The primary mirrors varied in size from 4.5 inches to 8 inches. In the final stages of polishing he would assess the accuracy of the optics and focal length using various methods, such as straight-edge and grid tests, I think. He used different hand-polishing manoeuvres to correct optical deficiencies. I recall him referring to turned-down edges and turned-up edges among other things. He never had much time for commercially made or machine-ground mirrors because he felt they weren't up to standard or were just too expensive because of the enormous amount of labour required to make them. So how does the optical quality of current commercially made mirrors compare with hand-made ones? I would imagine mirror manufacturing technology has improved vastly since my father's time, but is a good hand-grind-polish job still regarded as superior to a commercial job? If not, how do you independently assess optical flaws in a commercial mirror before purchasing it? Also is there much optical variation within identical telescope models? Thanks for taking the time to read the post.

Bern

[Dave88]

Hi Malcolm,

I've ordered the Herald Bobroff Astro Atlas, Astronomy 2010 and picked up a copy of 'Astronomica' for $20 from a book sale - I'm really enjoying reading it and would recomend it to anyone
:)

Dave

[barx1963]

Dave
Haven't used the Bobroff atlas, but have heard good things about it. Astronomy 2010 has some good basic info.
Please post your impressions when the dob arrives!

Malcolm

[bgrif]

Is the HB Astro Atlas available again? If so, would you post the contact information? Many thanks from the cloudy midwest USA.

[mental4astro]

Hi Af,

If you are using charts to find stuff, and are having trouble doing so, you might like to make this little gizzmo to use with your charts and finder scope:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=53378

I use it from both my home site (inner city Sydney), and also from dark sites.

Binoculars are also a big, big help with observing done from a light polluted site as they show stars otherwise washed out by the light pollution, making star hoping much, much easier. These I always use at home. They donot need to be expensive, or overly big. Anything with an objective lens over 25mm will reveal most stars plotted in charts, with 7X50 binoculars being the "standard" astro size.

[CarlJoseph]

That's a great idea. I'm not using printed charts but may be at some time soon. Getting a bit tired of dragging out the laptop each clear night!



Another great idea. Never thought of using binos to help with star hopping. Will have to put that on my shopping list.

Thanks for the help/advice.

Cheers,
Af.

[mental4astro]

Here is a link to a sticky in the Beginners forum to two excellent charts you can print yourself, and a DIY planisphere:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=74873&postcount=1

The first one is great to start out with, with a limiting magnitude of 6.5. If you have access to an A3 printer, better still. Enough stuff on it to keep you happy for years. Also better suited to observing from light polluted areas.

The second is much more detailed, and a finer scale, going down to magnitude 8.5 for stars plotted.

I use both these charts.

This thread also has plans for making you own planisphere which you use to familiarize yourself with the sky, and plan your sessions too, for what ever time of year you want. I still use mine, 25 years on. I can't be bothered with lappies. Red cellofane over a head-mounted torch and the charts is all I use. Have left behind one or the other, or both, at different times, :rolleyes:.

[malmac]

This is my first post. I have started to grind my first mirror (8 inch F 7 to 8). This will be a prolonged project as I am about to relocate from Dongara W.A. to Geraldton W.A. and have packed everything away for the move.
I am keen to hear the opinions of others regarding "bought" vs "handmade" mirrors. My understanding is that few people in Australia grind mirrors now. It is still popular in America and Europe though.

I will look at any responses with interest.

Cheers for now...............Mal

[alistairsam]

Thanks to this, I was able to see most of the above and quite a few open clusters that showed up in stellarium.
I increased the light pollution to match what the sky from my site looks like.

any suggestions for galaxies that can be seen from an 8" reflector.

I came across a list in a thread here, but most were mag 10 and above.
any idea on what the limiting magnitude would be for an 8" reflector.

I bought a digital angle meter to measure alt.
just need to find an accurate compass as well.

almost finished with my fork mount. just waiting on the bearings and slr.

[barx1963]

Hey Alistairsam, glad you liked the list! And even gladder it was some help. There are plenty of galaxies to check with and 8" BUIT you will need reasonably dark skies.
Suggest you start on the messier galaxies, as all of these are within an 8" capability, although some (M74 being the obvious example) will need very dark skies.

Probably the one to try for at the moment is M104 (the Sombrero) in Virgo. It is well up by midnight at the moment and quite easy to locate. First find Corvus, then locate Eta Corvi and it is about 5.5deg northeast (a smidgen over on finder field away). Its bright enough that sweeping should pick it up.
The other Messiers in Leo and Virgo will very soon become very visible.

Malcolm

[smurf]

Hi all! Hope I'm posting in the right thread here.

Another beginner in Astronomy here. Looking forward to buying my first scope...

I am sure that I want a dobsonian scope, however what I'm not too sure about is brand - mainly I'm trying to decide between a (12") GSO and a SkyWatcher. Is anyone able to say that one brand would be much better over the other? I am hoping to get a collapsible one, just so that I have something relatively portable. I know that I have seen SkyWatcher collapsible dobsonians, but I'm not sure I've seen GSO ones (GSO has actually been reccommended to me before).

Any help appreciated!

smurf

[barx1963]

If concentrating on visual observing, dobsonions are usuaaly the way to go and the bigger the better. There is not much to pick betweeen the Skywatchers and the GSO's. The collapsible Skywatchers certainly save on storage and may be easier to transport in a car, but as I undestand it they are not able to have the OTA disconnected from the base, so you transport it as one unit.

[AG Hybrid]

Well, Both the GSO and Skywatcher dobs are pretty good. Optically, they are about the same. They have the same light grasp, assuming its a 12" skywatcher your looking at too. The GSO is solid tube, so it might require some man handling to mount the tube on the base. The skywatcher folds up like an accordian. So portability points goes to the skywatcher. If you get a skywatcher, you might want to buy a light baffle to cover the huge abses of where a solid tube would have covered.
However, they are both excellent value for money. :thumbsup: No one here can say that you will go wrong with either.
And btw a 12" is a monster first scope. Thats the size scope Ill be upgrading to let alone starting with haha :)

[smurf]

Thanks for the replies guys!

That is one thing I was not aware of, barx1963... Might have to remember that for carrying it in the car.

Yep, AG! That's what I was thinking. Everyone seems to recommend a dobsonian, so why not go for the biggest (whilst still having some portability) I can get! :D

I think I might keep looking around at pricing/where I can get them for a bit, but that has certainly helped, thanks again!

[barx1963]

Simon
Have just re read my post and don't think I was clear. The OTA stays assembled in the SW collapsibles, but you can seperate the OTA and base. The OTA is still relatively bulky compared to the more traditional truss tube designs.

[that_guy]

smurf, you could always go for the 12" Light Bridge. Very Portable and not much price differnce.

[smurf]

Oh, I see what you mean now barx1963. That should be fine though.

Looks like the LightBridge might be a good option too, thanks that_guy!

[Jaybee]

Hi all
I joined this great forum several weeks ago and inquired about some S/H scopes in the for sale section. I have just finished reading this thread from post 1 thru to post 999 and deviating to other threads at the same time. Have picked up a wealth of information, tips, tricks, etc. Thanks to all the members for such an informative and friendly site.
I'm hoping to pick up my 8" LX90 this weekend...and wouldn't you know it...the forecast is....rain... Mind you we have had so little of it here in SA, I'll believe it when I see it.

Thanks again!
John