Intro and a quick first question.

[sharptrack2 (Kevin)]

Hello stargazers,

The situation is simple, have been an "amateur" astronomer for most of my life, living vicariously through*NASA.com,*Space.com and Google+ science circles. Have had numerous "starter" telescopes*over the years, and just never got around to learning anymore than the basics of how to focus. 3 years ago, maybe 4, I bought a Celestron 130EQ that was on sale at Australian Geographic for nearly 50% off (had some extra cash to spend on "man" toys and the*scope*was reduced due to damage to the packaging). I have set it up 3 or 4 times since then, mostly to watch eclipses or whales. Every time I attempt to achieve the one and only thing I'm really after, I get frustrated and give up after a week or so. What is that 1 thing you ask? To simply see the one of the*Mars rovers (just Mars would be good enough), the rings of*Saturn*and Jupiter's moons with my own eyes. After that I'm afraid I may lose interest due to the cost of improving the equipment to the point of accomplishing anything as dramatic as viewing*Andromeda galaxy or even some of the closer nebulae.*

Most of my hobbies go this way, my other significant interest is sailing. Bought a 7 meter yacht 5 years ago, learned to sail her competently, and then decided to refurbish her. Been in the driveway for 3 years now. So please do not judge me too harshly, I'm happy with my varied interests and their short life spans. Perhaps I will find a certain amount of solace in staying up until 2 am, in near freezing weather, out in the bush of New South Wales, hoping to catch a glimpse of a passing comet or asteroid. I am getting closer to retirement than I would care to acknowledge and will soon have a lot of time on my hands.

So that's me in a nut shell, time for the question. The recent prime viewing opportunity for Jupiter and Venus, side by side, prompted me to get out the telescope and attempt some early evening observing. With a bit of struggle, I did manage to get Jupiter in the view and see what I think were its 4 visible moons. Not too detailed mind you, as my highest magnification eyepiece is a 10mm. That prompted me to start researching and try to learn more. I refurbished the mount and fixed some nagging instability, but I fear that I have possibly done some damage, while learning to collimate, in the form of actually cleaning the primary mirror. The issue I now have is that I was out this morning at just after 5 am to once again catch Venus, and possibly Jupiter (Mars would have been a bonus but I have accepted that is a bit of a folly right now). What I ended up with is a less than stellar (oops! no pun intended) view. Venus appeared like a cartoon star burst, a pretty one but I could not clear up the focus enough to have a crisp outline of the planet. I re-trained the scope to the moon and was some what confused as the image was quite clear and crisp. Plenty of crater and mountain detail. So the long winded question is... could the primary still be hazed and provide a good view of the moon but not anything at a distance, or was the early morning possibly to humid and I was possibly getting refraction through the atmosphere which blurred out the distant details I was after?

Apologies for writing a novel, I know I said "quick" question, but I'm an engineer at heart and believe you can never be detailed enough.

Looking forward to your comments,

[raymo]

If you got sharp views of the moon your mirror is fine. If Venus was very
low in the sky, poor seeing, atmospheric turbulence, and/or humidity,
could turn Venus into a boiling multi coloured mess.
raymo

[sharptrack2 (Kevin)]

Thanks Raymo,

The more I research this, and play with the scope, the more I believe it was atmospheric. Venus would have only been up to 15-20 degrees, just before sunrise. I am now suspecting that played a significant role. I'll be checking this tonight after the day cools down to see what kind of contrast I can get on some other stars. Unfortunate time of the year for a newbie to be trying to validate his set-up, no close targets at a reasonable altitude and time of day.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

also, you probably don't need to clean your mirror unless it is in a really bad way. a bit of dust will not make your image blurry. once you collimate properly and get some good seeing, maybe chuck a barlow in there, you should be able to see what you are after. maybe best to check out Saturn while you can.

[sharptrack2 (Kevin)]

Thank you Somnium,

The mirror was a little more than dusty, moisture had somehow gotten inside and condensed, leaving what I thought would be some unwanted water marks. Using a moistened eyeglass cleaning cloth, I gently wiped away the marks, using only the weight of the cloth. It seemed to work a charm, but my first thought when I couldn't focus was that I had left some residue or even scratched the surface of the mirror.

I suspect I am destined to open my wallet and upgrade to a more capable, and therefore, for the longer term, more suitable telescope. :-) (I do want to take pictures eventually)

[deanm (Dean)]

"What is that 1 thing you ask? To simply see the one of the*Mars rovers"

I hate to disappoint you, Kevin - but seeing a rover on the surface of Mars from Earth is 100% impossible: even from Mars orbit, the rovers are only a few pixels across.

But there are still (literally) billions of other things to see!

Dean

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by deanm

"What is that 1 thing you ask? To simply see the one of the*Mars rovers"

I hate to disappoint you, Kevin - but seeing a rover on the surface of Mars from Earth is 100% impossible: even from Mars orbit, the rovers are only a few pixels across.

But there are still (literally) billions of other things to see!

Dean

I'm pretty sure Kevin's comment was tongue in cheek.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by deanm

"What is that 1 thing you ask? To simply see the one of the*Mars rovers"

I hate to disappoint you, Kevin - but seeing a rover on the surface of Mars from Earth is 100% impossible: even from Mars orbit, the rovers are only a few pixels across.

But there are still (literally) billions of other things to see!

Dean

I am pretty sure he was not being literal, but i have been asked 4 times in the last week if i can see the water on Mars with my telescope ...

[deanm (Dean)]

If the moon is viewable, I often get asked if the Apollo landers and the astronauts' footprints can be seen, thereby demonstrating to the deniers that the landings really did occur.

Quite surprising how many folk have this 'great idea' to 'prove it one way or the other...!

Dean

[BeanerSA (Paul)]

Originally Posted by RB

I'm pretty sure Kevin's comment was tongue in cheek.

I don't think so.

[deanm (Dean)]

Originally Posted by BeanerSA

I don't think so.

Nor do I....

But that's ok - let's make the chap welcome!

Dean

[sil (Steve)]

The Astromaster 130EQ is let down by its mount and eyepieces. I bought one long ago and was disappointed and frustrated with finding things too.

First its red dot finder is almost impossible to use, I replaced mine with a telrad and could get any bright planet in view of 20mm eyepiece.

Secondly, I replaced my eyepieces with 8mm and 24mm Baader Hyperion eyepieces, the 130EQ responded well to these EPs, but 8mm is about as far as I'd push this scope, atmospheric conditions are very apparent in my 4& 6mm planetary EPs. Orion nebula is spectacular. setting the scope up outside for a while so it can "cool down" helps too.

If you think you've messed up collimation, I thought the same with mine but its more the problems when pushing the optic train. I cleaned my mirror and used a metal spacer when reattaching to keep the mirror parallel to the base and wound in the secondary flat against its mount (which is parallel to the primary), then carefully wound the adjustment screws in the same amount. Looking through the focus tube you can see when its centered. From there use the collimation screws to fine tune with out of focus stars. Then stop fiddling

Sad to say the Astromaster 130EQ is not much good for anything. The tube is great and capable so you could use it on a GOTO mount. I don't think its focus tube achieves focus for webcam imaging, but you could photograph through an eyepiece if you want to try but its not a good platform to expand upon.

[sharptrack2 (Kevin)]

Thanks everyone!

First, 2 years of physics and another 40 years in technology, touching just about every discipline there is, has taught me many things. One of which is that unless you are with in 50 miles of something smaller than an ocean liner, you aren't going to see much. I was being facetious.

I am rapidly coming to grips with the fact that the AM 130 will not get me the phenomenal views I am hoping to one day see, but since I have it, it will be my training wheels. If I can see some of the more basic astronomical objects and get comfortable with setting it up and understanding how to find an object of interest, when I get the penultimate telescope (many $$$$ later), I can actually enjoy it with out getting frustrated. $200 for an eye piece isn't too much to spend as long as I am lucky enough to get something that will travel with me to my next telescope.

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by sharptrack2

Thanks everyone!

First, 2 years of physics and another 40 years in technology, touching just about every discipline there is, has taught me many things. One of which is that unless you are with in 50 miles of something smaller than an ocean liner, you aren't going to see much. I was being facetious.

I had every faith in you Kevin.

RB

[RB (Andrew)]

BTW you must join us at Mangrove Mountain Pony Club on new moon each month, weather permitting, where we gather for our Saturday night viewing session.
See here:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=26142

and it will be announced in this section before hand:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/f...splay.php?f=16

RB

[deanm (Dean)]

Ok - mea culpa!

Apologies, Kevin - it's just that "can you see..." type questions are often absurd (not that this is the fault of the asker!).

Cheers!

Dean

[sharptrack2 (Kevin)]

[QUOTE=deanm;1207339]Ok - mea culpa!

Apologies, Kevin - it's just that "can you see..." type questions are often absurd (not that this is the fault of the asker!).



No worries deanm, I have a pretty tough hide and can sometimes be as onery as a Colorado Mustang (pony for those who don't know) but its always with a smile.



RB,

Would enjoy that immensely, will bring my training wheels along to check the air pressure and balance. Since we are rather close to that time of the month already, I can expect to see a posting soon?

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by sharptrack2

RB,

Would enjoy that immensely, will bring my training wheels along to check the air pressure and balance. Since we are rather close to that time of the month already, I can expect to see a posting soon?

Maybe.
The Pony Club meetings are not happening as regularly as they used to at the moment because of certain issues with the Pony Club owners/admins.
Just keep an eye on the thread section and hopefully we'll have a gathering soon.

RB

[sharptrack2 (Kevin)]

Thank you RB

[sil (Steve)]

Originally Posted by sharptrack2

$200 for an eye piece isn't too much to spend as long as I am lucky enough to get something that will travel with me to my next telescope.

Eyepieces are meant to travel with you to your future telescopes. Eyepieces included with scopes are where cost savings are made so they are worth replacing. The Hyperions give you crisp high contrast views and are made modular so you can use them in any 1.25" or 2" focuser. Baader recently released their Morpheus range so you may find great deals on hyperions as people upgrade. The 130EQ though can't wind in its focus tube enough to be able to use an imaging cam so I doubt they would work with a zoom eyepiece which does need the focuser to wind in a little bit more than with a prime eyepiece. This is what I've found with mine, I stopped using my Hyperions and prefer my Baader Zoom Eyepiece but my 130EQ is packed away so I've never tried it with that eyepiece, but the cheapest scope I do use doesn't like the zoom but does work with the hyperions.

Anyhow, speaking from experience the hyperions won't disappoint in view or viewing comfort and will follow you to your next scope. a 24mm and 8mm eyepiece should give you good viewing in all atmospheric conditions and give you a bit of leeway to add a 2x Barlow later on to make them 12mm & 4mm (4 might be too much magnification for the 130EQ unless superb seeing conditions).