Best way to start?

[ThunderChild]

Hi all,

After some fantastic help from all of you in this forum, I am about to receive my first telescope:
GS-580-LTD
=========
Guan Sheng 150mm x 1200mm Dobsonian refelector.
2 Plossl eyepieces (25mm and 9mm)
6x30 finder scope
binoculars
moon filter

Two questions :
(1) What (if any) accessories, books (or anything else) would you
*highly* recommend I go and get? Things which you would
consider almost manditory... (or will I be fine with that to start with?)

(2) Any recommendations for how to go about learning to use the
new scope and finding my way around the universe?
Are there any planets/stars which are around at the moment that would
be good first experiences for a complete newb?

Much thanks everyone!
Looking forward to starting my exploration....

Cheers,
Chris

[ving]

congrats chris :)
1. cheshire collimator, planisphere, comfy hight adjustable chair.

2. use the planisphere to find your way around the sky. mars is the bright red star northish at dusk. orion is in the east

enjoy! :D

any more questions just ask :D

[janoskiss]

Chris, cut-n-paste from unfinished PM I haven't sent you yet:

The essentials:
- colliimation tool: the Bintel one costs more than the short Andrews one but it is much better, especially for your "slow" f8 scope. But you can make up a basic collimating tool from a 35mm film canister which will do the job.
- planisphere
- some charts; the "Southern Sky Guide" is pretty good, but you can get free ones off the web too. Here is probably the best one: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zs3t-tk/atlas/atlas.htm (but maybe you got this already; never mind about Taki's mag 8.5 atlas yet, but wow this guy does great work)
- red (preferably LED) torch to save your night vision when observing under dark skies (on a headband is best, but bit dear, $30 kmart)
- low magnification binoculars for scouting, around 7x50, 8x40 size (use the freebies for now but they are too high mag)
- chair + table

More accessories:
- 2x barlow lens
- another Plossl eyepiece with focal length = 15mm
- these you can probably get very cheap 2nd hand (compared to new ~< $100) by posting a "wanted" ad on the Buy & Sell forum

And when you are hooked in a year or so from now, you can start buying eyepieces that each cost more than your telescope! :eyepop:

On good targets: Mars is fading quickly, and Saturn is just coming around. Mars is visible soon after sunset, the red "star" in the North (don't confuse with Betelgeuse in Orion). If you stay up past midnight, you can see Saturn in the East (or you can get up early and catch it before sunrise, Jupiter too). Then there is the easiest target of all, the Moon, of course.

You are fairly limited on deep sky objects where you are because of light pollution. But the Orion nebula (middle star in the sword) should look pretty good through your scope, as should eta Carina & friends.

[jjjnettie]

Recomended reading

The Night Sky by Steve Massey ( Australian author )

Astronomy 2006 Australia
by Glenn Dawes, Peter Northfield and Ken Wallace.
This is the essential day to day guide for everything that is happening up in the sky. Just about everyone in IceInSpace has a copy of this book. IceMan may still have some copies for sale.

Don't forget to check out what your local library has. If you find a particular book useful, then you can go and buy it. :)

[Starkler]

Accessories:

Number one has to be a stool/chair to sit on while observing. You'll get tired and uncomfortable pretty quickly without one . I use a wooden bar stool cut down to a suitable height.
If observing from your backyard, an eyepatch is invaluable for helping to preserve your night vision in your observing eye should you need to go into the house etc.

Observing targets:
Take a look at the milky way between the southern cross and orion. Theres a multitude of great viewing targets in there. The Jewel box cluster is a nice one to start on.

[Robert_T]

Congrats Chris on your new scope acquisition... a whole new world awaits. What you need is covered fairly well below, but you really don't need much. Some sort of chart, be it an atlas or planisphere as suggested below, or even the centre spread of one of the Australian Astronomy mags. As first targets you can't go past Saturn which will be a bright creamy star about 2/3rd of the way from horizon to straight up above your northern horizon around midnight at the moment.

I wish u well:)

cheers,

[mickoking]

G,day Chris,

Congratulations on your purchase the universe awaits :) It sounds like you have the basics to get you started. The next piece of hard ware you should get as others have mentioned is a collomation/ cheshire eyepiece. But as the focal length of your 'scope is 1200mm (f8 focal ratio) collomation isn't too traumatic or stressfull ;) Another very importanrt piece of kit is the Guide book and/or Star atlas. These will help you find your way around the sky and after a bit of practice finding deep sky objects and planets wont be a problem. Don't forget the Astronomy mags they always have articles about what is visable in the night sky complete with maps and diagrams. the best mags are the two Aussie one's Sky and Space and Australian Sky and Telescope as they concentrate on our great southern hemisphere.

Enjoy our great hobby :thumbsup:

[Twokids]

Hi Chris,

Congratultions on your new scope :) .
I saw that you were a Victorian and wondered if you had considered coming to the camp at Snake Valley at the start of March? There will be plenty of people there to ask questions and help you out (I'm hoping to learn a lot too).
Enjoy your new baby,

Jodie

[Starcrazzy]

Hey Criss..

I am relative newby to the game myself(about 11/2 years..I must sy when i started i ws overwhealmed by the amount of gear and gadgets out there,,and how much of it do you actually need..You have the most important thing..A decent scope and the desire..don't worry too much about all the other stuff..as you gain experiance you will find out what you need..But as the other members have said atlasses are a must..while books are great what really worked for me was computer planetarium programms.I would print up a few pages with the objects i was interested in seeing clearly marked out, bu the beuty of a good planetarium program is you can see the stars from a realistic point of view with the horizon on the screen..so you can look at the screen and compare it to the actual sky, some atlasses become confusing as to what angle to hold them to match it with the ever changing sky...here's a link to a good free programm...I'd start out with the planets..If ya can stay up a little later look for saturn...it is probably responsable for many a budding astronomer becoming addicted..the first time i saw saturn through a scope smaller then yours my knees buckled..No S#$T..enjoy..Heres the link.http://www.download.com/Stellarium/3000-2054_4-8557942.html

[mickoking]

Chris,


There is a temptation in this hobby to aquire more stuff than you realisticly need ( I'm guilty of that ;) ) be it your 20th shiny eyepiece of latest piece of techno-wizardry. Just enjoy the sky and don't worry about what other people have or don't have. As starcrazzy said you will develop your own direction in Astronomy and that will dictate what you need and want.

[norm]

Hey Starcrazzy,

Thanks for the Stellarium download, its pretty cool. Its definitely one of the more user friendly ones available. Nice and easy to use and configure and better still - free!:)

[Starcrazzy]

:) Hi,

No probs...It is one of the better ones..I think its mainly for entry level astronomers but i still get quite a bit of use out of it..A more advanced one is the frnch cartes dui iel.It is available in english..It has more options for planning and the maps are exellent..good dtabase of objects too..Get the old stable version( i havnt tried the new alpha test version)Also, down the bottom of the page is a link to a site called astrotips.com..If you havnt checked it out i suggest you do..chockkers full of good stuff..you will need to register(wich is free and takes 2 minutes)to access the fre downloads...there are over 400 free downloads there for astronomy ..evrything from atlasses to rocketry to screensavers...it is a goldmine..check it out...some interesting reading there aswell...cheers..clear skies

http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/index.php

[ThunderChild]

OMG!!!!

Starcrazzy, that software looks amazing!
Thanks a bunch for that!

:party:

I'm a very happy boy now.

Now, I just need a laptop with a special red filter over the
LCD screen? :P

[ThunderChild]

Correction : Slightly less happy than I was 10 minutes ago...

My scope was being shipped from NSW (to VIC) and should have arrived
yesterday. After calling around, it's current location was found -
- in Brisbane. What the ... ?
Now will not get it until Monday. :sad:
Is this type of thing common?

Guess collimation is going to be even more important now...

PS. Twokids : Snake Valley in March - sounds like fun. Might feel
a bit sheepish at first, but I guess hanging around you guys would
be a good leg-up in my knowledge (besides getting to make some new
friends!).
You going?

[ving]

from reading numerous threads here i'd say delays are not too uncommon... but hey the waits not that bad is it? :)

having prefect collimation will be less important in kyour scope than a faster one (eg F5)....
cant wait for your first light report :)

[Twokids]

Yeah, I'm going. None of my friends are into telescopes so I never get to observe with anyone else.
Don't feel sheepish. I'm still a newbie too, so I'm sure I'll ask some stupid questions and embarrass myself :ashamed: .
Hope you can make it :)

BTW, you can find the thread for it here
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=5700&page=7&pp=20

[janoskiss]

Feel sheepish all you want! I'm sure Ken will let you set up in the sheep paddock, if that makes you feel more at home. :lol:
Seriously though, all us first timers were a little reserved the first night last time at SV, but the ice broke pretty quickly as the toys started coming out. :)

[Starcrazzy]

Hey criss,

You don't need laptop, you can print the maps out and take them with you..try and keep the horizon in the frame when printing and take note that the sky will rotate thrioughout the night...if you do get a laptop i have a progrmme for making the screen red if you want it...actually, i should leave the link for that one too...ITS FREE...justa little proggy, configable to suit your needs...works quite well...
here's the link..
cheers
http://www.adpartnership.net/darkadapted/

[barees63]

I'll add my vote for this program, I have downloaded and installed most of the free star chart programs plus purchased the two major PalmOS programs, Astromist and Planetarium, plus I bought a Planisphere and have various almanacs etc.. but as a newbie the thing which really helped (and is still helping) me understand the constellations, celestial coordinate systems and to actually locate stars and other objects is Stellarium, I don't know if I'm unique in this but I found 2D star charts hard to relate to the actual sky, Stellarium is such an accurate representation of the 3D sky that it makes it easy to see what you're looking at and this in turn makes it easier to understand 2D star charts.. highly recommended!

[ving]

also if you have a palm pilot try planetarium: http://www.aho.ch/pilotplanets/

very good and easy to use :)

[Noidea]

I have a pocket PC, I found a programme called Pocket Stars. Has anyone heard of or using this? Or know if there are any others available for Pocket PC?

[janoskiss]

I find a laptop distracting and cumbersome to use under the stars. I like a planisphere and good ole fashioned charts. They are much easier to handle, and you can always rotate and orient them whichever way you need to.

BTW, even with a nightvision colour scheme most laptop screens will emit too much light for dark skies.