Noobie here , need help with wat to look for

Str8upnub (Jake) · #1 16-12-2011, 12:10 PM

Hey guys I bought my first telescope 7days ago it was a bushmaster reflecter 3inch I think,after my first night of trying to find stars and not succeeding I relized I had my cap on and had screwed out the wrong side,any who it was a piece of turd to use with an eq mount so I went out and bought a 6inch dob "love it" and managed to see Jupiter and it's 4 moons..... My question being tho is how can i tell wats in my night sky at this time of year "Melb" and how would I find it.

Str8upnub (Jake) · #2 16-12-2011, 12:12 PM

And also is it possible to see any good amount of color from dso with a 6 inch?

Str8upnub (Jake) · #3 16-12-2011, 12:18 PM

O! And it came with. 25mm and a 14mm eyepiece.can anyone tell me is there any other eye prices I might need for decent viewing.been thinking about getting a Binocular type extension/eyepiece just don't wanna spend to much considering my dob was only 300$.any advice on good spots to view around melb would be much apprciated to.gonna grab a few beers and pull an allnightr 2nite if it's not to cloudy I'm so pumped .Sorry for all the questions

niko · #4 16-12-2011, 02:30 PM

G'day Jake and welcomeBest to get yourself a stardisc ($15 from Austrlian Geo shops, Bintel, online etc) and some planetarium software. Stellarium is free - I haven't used it myself but many recommend it. There is also Australian Astronomy 2012 - available through IceInSpace that shows you highlights in each month.The dob is a great choice and you'll have plenty to look at to keep you busy for ages.I would wait to purchase anymore eyepieces as there are many to choose from and a huge range of prices. Get used to using what you have and improve your seeing skills before thinking of outlaying more cash. Also, try to get to an astro club night where others can show you the benefits (and pitfalls) of various eyepieces.Don't bother with binocular adaptor - they don't work with dobs I believe. Having said that the view through a specially built binocular dob (basically 2 dobs together) is an awesome experience.In terms of some things to start hunting for - here's a few of my favourite ones that are easy to locateThe Orion Nebula (M42) - second "star" in the sword of orionThe Jewel Box - nice little cluster just below the southern cross (the bottom most star of the cross arm)Pleiades or Seven Sisters (M45) - another cluster located in TaurusEta Carinae NebulaYpu won't see colour in the deep space objects because your eyes can't draw enough light in but you will see clouds of nebulosity which are pretty stunning. You will see colour in the stars (esp in the jewel box)have funniko

Jupiter2 (Pat) · #5 16-12-2011, 03:00 PM

I am also a new user,I received a Saxon Maksutov - Cassegrain 200mm scope for my birthday last Saturday. It was a pain to put together and use, but I also got to see Jupiter and its moons last night.

It came with some great software to download from NASA site that you can put in your location, and it maps the sky for you in relative time.
I found it excellent and easy to use.

Str8upnub (Jake) · #6 16-12-2011, 05:46 PM

thanks niko thats a big help, im gonna join the club in mornington peninsula hopefully soon i gave the a call 2day.

Jupiter2-hey mate yea jupiter was the first thing i zoned in on , i was so impressed i thought it only had 4-5moons turns out there is 9? also do u no the name of that software?

Vegeta (Ibrahim) · #7 16-12-2011, 07:50 PM

hi jake, i would recomend stellarium as its pretty easy to use and will help you find your way around the night sky. As for colour on DSO's, the far majority of them will only come up as a silvery grey colour. the orion nebula though, has been known to display a greenish colour as i've witnessed in my 12" dob, but i dont know if it'll do the same for your 6". if it does, i'd be interested to hear. some of the brighter planetary nebula will also show tinges of colour but this is all heavily dependant on our eyes and their sensitivity to colour. My uncle for example, will only see the orion nebula as grey, even on the best of nights, but my 7 year old cousin was able to see reds, greens and blues! the stars show colour quite well, the jewel box is a good example, I never get tired of the the red star surrounded by the blueish stars that give it an "A" shape. Hope this helps, Clear skies

Jupiter2 (Pat) · #8 16-12-2011, 08:24 PM

Software called starry night enthusiast 45

Str8upnub (Jake) · #9 16-12-2011, 09:33 PM

ah k thanks , yea i my old man has that hes going to give me a copy of starry night

Str8upnub (Jake) · #10 16-12-2011, 09:34 PM

quick question tho i was looking thru my eye peice just then 25mm, and noticed a black dot in the middle of my view"thought it was a bug" turns out its the eyepeice?is this normal or part of my focus?collimation ?

Vegeta (Ibrahim) · #11 17-12-2011, 02:42 PM

that black dot is basically the secondary mirror obstruction. it will normally appear when the telescope is way out of focus or if you look at the eyepiece from a long distance.

brian nordstrom (As avatar) · #12 17-12-2011, 08:32 PM

!st words of advise .
ready ,,

Welcome Mr Nub .
!st words are ,,, ready ?

OK , its ....
READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ,
The Chinese to english translations are the

funniest words I have ever read . yes they are educational ..
Dont bag your birthday present , I see at a glance ,

, there Nub , you have a Mak ? as well .

Brian.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Str8upnub

Hey guys I bought my first telescope 7days ago it was a bushmaster reflecter 3inch I think,after my first night of trying to find stars and not succeeding I relized I had my cap on and had screwed out the wrong side,any who it was a piece of turd to use with an eq mount so I went out and bought a 6inch dob "love it" and managed to see Jupiter and it's 4 moons..... My question being tho is how can i tell wats in my night sky at this time of year "Melb" and how would I find it.

Str8upnub (Jake) · #13 17-12-2011, 11:31 PM

my birthday present ?i bought that peice of crap from cash converters for a 100 bucks....

if only it came with instructions ...

brian nordstrom (As avatar) · #14 18-12-2011, 12:31 PM

Do you still have it? , and what type and model its it ? There are manuals for almost all telescopes on the web .
I hear you , my 1st scope was a piece of #$ap as well

, it almost made me give up on astronomy , but a kindly gentleman from the local club sold me a quality 60mm 1971 Meade refractor for a song , and the rest is history .
I still have that scope , really nice build and optics .
Brian.

stephenb (Stephen) · #15 18-12-2011, 02:32 PM

Welcome to the hobby Jake and Pat,

Stellarium is very popular, free to download and use, and is one of the easiest programs to navigate through. You'll pick it up in no time at all: http://stellarium.org/

Also, another free program is Jupiter 2.0: http://astrosurf.com/rondi/jupiter/

After setting up the date and time it will show and tell you which moons of Jupiter you are looking at. You will only see the 4 inner moons, namely Io, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa but you can watch them move over the course of a night or nights!

One of the best resources for Australia is the 2012 Yearbook: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/73-332-0-0-1-0.html

Good on you for seeing Jupiter. The bright planets are often the objects which 'gets people' into the hobby and captures their interest! Summer is a great time in Australia for observing as it's not too cold in the evenings and there are plenty of bright, easy objects for newcomers to look at.

Regards,
Stephen