Newbie

[Stinger346]

G'day all, I am relativley new to astronomy though years ago I did have a telescope which I used religuosly. I got a new one for xmas a startracker 127mm 1000mm focal length on a german equatorial mount. Much more "fandangle" than my old Tasco lol. Anyways I sorta know what I'm looking for and at. I came across a program that I'm sure many of you have seen or heard of.....Stellarium. I love this software. It makes things just a little easier.
Anyway I no doubt will have questions from time to time, and this seems like to right place to ask.
Happy viewing!!
Cheers,
Ray

[astroron]

:welcome::hi:Ray and :welcome:, you have started of well in your choice of
Stellarium.:)
Ask away with the questions, I am sure you will find the answers here :thumbsup:
Cheers

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi Ray

You should enjoy your new scope. It will be an improvement on the old Tasco. Getting a good polar alignment is the key to good performance with a GEM.

Glad you like Stellarium. Have your got the latest version 0.10.6.1. You can always get info on Stellarium in this forum. use the software section. I put regular updates on my web site.

Barry

[Stinger346]

Hi Barry, yes I have version 0.10.6.1. My equipment came with TheSkyX first light software but I think Stellarium is way better. Isn't polar alignment a little harder without a point for reference? My viewfinder has a silly red dot (light) for locating. I'll get a finder with Xhairs and try to do a drift alignment. Thanks,
Ray

[Stinger346]

Thanks Ron, I'm sure I'll be asking a lot. I'd really like to get into photography, but I'll first need to get the gear for that. In your opinion would my 5 inch scope with a reasonable dig camera be sufficient, or is an array of equipment needed?
Thanks,
Ray

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi Ray

Yes a drift alignment is the way to get the scope polar aligned but it is first necessary to get somewhere near the mark.

The elevation scale on the GEM is rather inaccurate but if you set it to your latitude and then use a compass to point the RA shaft in the direction of the south pole you should get a good start point.

The declination scale should get you close enough for basic finding but the RA scale needs to be set to the correct hour angle first before you can read RA and as it does not track hour angle you will need to keep compensating. However when you acquire an object it should be kept in view by winding the RA control.

Photography is not really an option. You could however mount a digital camera piggy back and take wide angle shots at about 20 or 30 seconds exposure while you track a star in the eyepiece and then try stacking 40 or 50 frames in free software like PHD, Registrax, DSS etc.

Your best views will be with the 20mm eyepiece using the other eyepiece on Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon only.

Barry