Quote:
Originally Posted by fishinglizard
Hello I have a couple of questions for you all so I can try to save my sanity, can anyone tell me how to read a star map, the bottom numbers like 00h 23h 22h ect if i new where the 00 starts from i could under stand it and then the -40 -30 ect up the side of the page, whats it all mean then some maps have the -40 ect down the side and along the bottom, also which direction do you look to find saturn, luckily Jupiter is easy to find and If i start feeling dizzy trying to nut out the other stuff I look at it and it makes me even keener to find other stuff to see, it took me 2 hours to work out the moon map, and I was pretty pleased with myself after I did. Dont even get me started on the eq mount  , but I am pretty happy with my slow progress given next time i get the scope out will be the 4th time I have ever looked into one. Also I have copied a question from another thread here too, I havent had a reply to it yet. Thanks in advance love this site. (I have an 8 inch newt with eq5)
Thx for the advice, another question for you, I set my scope up last night before dark, wife and I had tea cleaned up kiddy to bed ect, then went out to the scope and it was like it had been hosed down it was that wet with dew, The cover was on, should I be covering it (the hole scope) with something to stop this?? Also the EQ5 mount I have, the leg with N on it to face to North, but my father reckons that should point south in the southern hemisphere?
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G'Day
Last question first: The leg with the "N: should face south as should your scope when you first set up (aligned on the south celestial pole). Heres a good site on alignment. Just remember that all references to North must be changed to South as you are in the southern hemisphere. You need to align on octans not polaris.
http://www.themcdonalds.net/richard/...pEqPolar.shtml
It is normal for dew to settle on your scope (and you) when outside on a cold night. Dont worry about it unless it is interfearing with your viewing e.g. fogging up the primary and secondary mirrors. In that case a secondary dew heater and fan on the primary will help. The only other thing is when you bring it all inside at the end of the night leave it out to dry off before putting it into a case or similar or the dew will leave marks on your optics (do not touch either mirror as you will damage them, let the warm air do its job).
For your first question the following websites may help.
http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/astroin...ordinates.html
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/l...ordinates.html