Need Help!

[cjmarsh81]

Hello all.

I have just had my 10" Dobsonian out for the first time tonight (before the clouds came over). All I can see are large bright dots, no detail.

Am I doing anything wrong or do I need higher magnification eyepieces?

I have only a 10 and 25mm eyepiece at the moment

:help:

[janoskiss]

Read this:
http://www.oriontel.com/text/content/pdf/IN_179_SkyQuest_XT10.pdf
It's a comprehensive manual for your scope. Get back to us if you still can't get it working, or even if you do. :)

[Robert_T]

A few questions to help clarify your problem.

have you looked through a telescope before - guess what I'm asking here is do you know what you should be seeing? Sometimes people have expectations set by flashy long exposure colour photos of the skies in astro adverstising that have little resemblence to what can be seen by eye at the telescope.

what are you looking at when you see the bright dots, I assume stars. WHen focussed, stars should appear as pinpoints of light of differing brightness regardless of magnification. In fact the more the magnification, generally the poorer the views and the pinpoints become shimmery - so I sincerely doubt you need higher maginification eyepieces. I'm assuming you are focussing to get the stars as sharp as possible - it they don't appear sharp it is possible that your scope needs to be collimated (adjusting the alignment of the mirrors). This is not hard, but is fiddly and something you'll need to learn.

finally, try using your scope in the daytime on distant objects to confirm you can get focussed images. When the skies clear, turn it on the moon as your first target and hopefuly you'll see something worth your while.

hope this helps - no doubt others can add more.

cheers,

[cjmarsh81]

Yes, this is the first scope I have looked through.

The stars are coming into focus and I believe the scope is collimated correctly.

I have tried it during the day, and I can focus on very distant objects very clearly.

So yes, the problem is I do not know what I am meant to be seeing. The moon is not up tonight or I would try to look at it. Today is the first day I have had the scope and been able to see some stars.

The main thing is, when a planet is visible, am I going to be able to see detail or simply a dot like a star?

[janoskiss]

Depends on the planet. Saturn you will see the rings with your 25mm eyepiece (EP), and more detail with the 10mm. Jupiter, the same (except for the rings :P). Mars is getting small, so a larger-than-star dot is might be all you get. Star should focus to pinpoints, esp. in the 25mm EP.

Sorry, the manual I linked is for the GSO 10". But most of the info should still apply. Your Skywatcher might be more like the Celestron 10".

[RAJAH235]

cj. see link > http://www.astronomyforbeginners.com/
might give you an idea on what to look for etc etc :D L.

[cjmarsh81]

I had really great views of the moon last night around midnight. :nerd:

The 25mm eyepiece gives a good full FoV image, and the 10mm allows me to see a little more detail.

I will have to get a higher magnification eyepiece to get a better look at the craters.

What direction and what time can I see Saturn?

Thanks all!

[stinky]

G'day - another newb here. I'm considering a 10" DOB too but at the moment working out a few things with binocs. Downloaded this http://www.download.com/Stellarium/..._4-8557942.html (http://www.download.com/Stellarium/3000-2054_4-8557942.html) to help me get around - I love th simplicity compared to some charts wich look just, well cryptic! :)<!-- / message -->

[acropolite]

Saturn rises slightly north of east around 9:00PM. You really can't miss it, it will be the brightest in the sky. Mars is still visible high in the Western sky for a few hours after sunset (look for a bright reddish object and Jupiter rises around 1:30AM. If you haven't already got a copy, get hold of Astronomy 2006.

[rmcpb]

Steady on with the higher magnification. A 10mm eyepiece should let you see most of the details on the moon, it just takes practice. I am not against higher mag just don't jump in too quickly to the eyepiece market and end up with a drawer full of bits you don't use.

Enjoy your scope as it came to you and get really used to it and your viewing style before getting into the mods and extras is my advice.

Cheers.

[cjmarsh81]

Just saw my first views of Saturn. FANTASTIC!

Could see a reasonable level of detail, ie rings and moons.

Also saw Mars, just looks like a large round star

I definately need to get at least a barlow so I can get a closer look at the planets.

[Starcrazzy]

great...wait an hour or so and you'll see jupiter come up in the east..a little north...he's a fantastic looking planet through the 10" with the 10 mm you won't mistake it...gorgeaous bands and four bright moons..

[janoskiss]

Great going there with your first scope! Mars is pretty small now so I'm not surprised you can't see any detail. Saturn and Jupiter will be the showpiece solar system objects for the next few months. :thumbsup:

[JohnG]

Enjoy your new scope and enjoy your first views. As has already been said, go easy on the magnification, you don't need it yet. Remember the higher the magnification, the narrower the field of view, the quicker an object dissappears from the eyepiece, the more prone it is to atmospheric disturbance. Instead of thinking about a higher powered eyepiece I would say consider a lower power, better views in general. Read the information that came with the scope, you will have to learn to collimate, ask questions. If you need a reasonably good software program to find your way around the night sky, try Cartes Du Ceil http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/index.html it is free, just click on the English version.

Most of all, just enjoy and gain a little more experience.

Cheers
JohnG

[cjmarsh81]

Unfortunately, I packed up the scope before I read your post:doh:. I will try for Jupiter tonight.

I am still amazed at the quality of the image I could see of Saturn. I think I could also make out the three moons.

I tried to stick my digital camera into the eyepiece but it just came out blurry. Maybe in a couple of years I will upgrade to a tracking EQ mount or something. Until then I am hooked on using my Dob.:thumbsup:

[ving]

you can make an adapter that'll hold your camera to the EP. its quite easy.
the image you get wont be great but you should get some detail.... other than that you need tracking. :)
heres my adapter:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/ving68/60mm/th_Dsc03196.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/ving68/60mm/Dsc03196.jpg)

[ving]

oh and heres a link to my album. the pics are taken with a sony dsc-p31 2mp. simple point and shoot single images with not stacking or anything.... better can be done :)

http://photobucket.com/albums/v46/ving68/8inch_dob/

[mickoking]

Here is a pic I took of saturn last year thru an unguided 120mm refractor. The camera is a common kodak 'prosumer' digital camera, handheld. There was no stacking just some small contrast adjustments thru photoshop.

[cjmarsh81]

Mickoking, that is much better than what i got last night. All I could manage was an oblong blur