Another Noob... in brissy.

[Tremayne]

Hey everyone,

Just signed up, first post. Just started getting into astronomy and just moved to brisbane. Look forward to meeting everyone and picking knowledge from the wise.

If anyone in Brissy see's this, and is happy to share some spots around here or even better share some knowledge as well. I'd appreciate it. Im wanting to meet up with some people and get shown the ropes/enjoy some views. Only so much you can get from reading, and I do poorly at that haha

I have my own telescope etc. with a basic knowledge of how to use it haha.

Tremayne.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Hi Tremayne, welcome to IIS

Got any questions, just fire away. There's plenty of peeps here willing to help out

[Tremayne]

Well i guess the biggest question i have at the moment. As I'm not quite sure what i should be able to see.
I have a Saxon 90mm Refractor scope. 900cm long. Came with 25mm, 10mm, and 4mm lenses. Just wondering how much I can expect to see with this. So fair I've only viewed the Moon, and Jupiter.

[Suzy]

Hi Tremayne &

Until someone else can help you out a bit more, I'll throw in a bit of help.

I don't know what the full capabilities of this scope can do, but nevertheless should at least show up some beautiful star clusters and bright nebulas.
Download Stellarium (it's free) for a start. It will tell you where all the goodies are.

Some quick goodies which come to mind at the moment are:

NGC 104 Globular cluster (47Tuc) in Tucanae (jawdropping!)
Omega Centauri Globular cluster in Centaurus (jawdropping!)
The Jewel Box in Crux
The Hyades cluster in Taurus
The Pleiades cluster in Taurus
The Carina nebula
The Southern Pleiades in Carina
The Orion Nebula

Move your scope around next to and around the Southern Cross and Carina and you will see loads of stars and good stuff as that's part of the milky way.. nice! If I can see everything which I've listed above in my 10x60 binos, you should have no trouble at all with your scope.
The above list is just quickly off the top of my head and it'll become very clear how to find them by downloading stellarium.

Go forth, conquer and have lots of fun, Tremayne.

EDIT: The Pleiades cluster was changed from Carina to where it should be: in blinking Taurus- naturally. *roll eyes* and hahaha.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Some quick goodies which come to mind at the moment are:

NGC 104 Globular cluster (47Tuc) in Tucanae (jawdropping!)
Omega Centauri Globular cluster in Centaurus (jawdropping!)
The Jewel Box in Crux
The Hyades cluster in Taurus
The Pleiades cluster in Carina
The Carina nebula
The Southern Pleiades in Carina
The Orion Nebula

Thought you were pro Suzy
Yep this newbie will definitely need Stellarium with those directions

[Tremayne]

Thanks suzy. Will have to get it. Starry Night came with the telescope but since I moved down here i don't have a computer and I'm on my mates Mac Book. Since apple couldn't get along with Microsoft it won't run the .exe file. But i will definitely get Stellarium.

I see your from Brisbane. Is it worth me checking out BAS?

[Tremayne]

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

Thought you were pro Suzy
Yep this newbie will definitely need Stellarium with those directions

I guess this is how newbies get treated haha. All those times leading new apprentices astray at work must of built up my Karma hahaha. And now its coming back around.....

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

Thought you were pro Suzy
Yep this newbie will definitely need Stellarium with those directions

She forgot the "Southern"

[Tremayne]

Went for a drive last night. I was determined to see the Orion Nebula. Unfortunately it didn't happen. To make sure i was looking in the right spot i even took the laptop to use Stellarium. I am confident in saying I was looking at the right spot. But could not see the Nebula. Using either 90x mag or 225x mag.
What am I doing wrong? I drove up north to get away from the city lights. I was about 2k out of a small town which was on my back. Would of its lights affected me?
And it was cloudy last night and didn't get a real clear view. Would that of been the problem?
Do I need to use some sort of filter?

I will see you one day nebula..... one day....

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Hi Tremayne,

Last night was not a great evening to look at the sky or chase comets due to the cloud cover in our area. If the skies are clear and I have the time I will go to McGavin's View which overlooks North Pine Dam. There is still plenty of light pollution but it is a lot darker than the dense surburban locations and it is not too far away from us. The gates are locked every night but the carpark can still be accessed.

The Orion Nebula is a spectacular sight and the darker the skies the better it gets. That said, it is easy to see with a scope from Mt Coot-tha. You will not need to use special filters to see it but as time goes on you might want to look at picking up a UHC or OIII filter. Do your research before purchasing filters though. The OIII filter needs to be used in larger aperature telescopes to be effective.

I am fairly new to using telescopes and a member of BAS. They are a friendly group and always willing to share their knowledge and let others look through their scopes. This a link to the BAS website www.bas.asn.au

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hi Tremayne, I have been viewing The Orion Nebula in a small 80mm refractor and getting some views of the dust clouds around the group. You are not going to see the brilliant colours and definition you seen in photos, just some soft fuzziness around the area. Those photos are the accumulated photons of several hours exposure in many cases.
Nonetheless in good conditions you should see some shape and possibly faint colour in a bigger scope. My 10" shows hints of pink and green on a good night. Sounds like your seeing conditions were not that great. Hang in there and as you gain experience and the right time place you will be amazed.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

Thought you were pro Suzy
Yep this newbie will definitely need Stellarium with those directions

Even I had a chuckle over my phurfy. That was good.

Put it down to little sleep, too much Xmas celebrating, too much alchohol, too much comet chasing the last week, producing a video the last few days with even less sleep, and the fact that I was on a phone conversation while making that post.
I can "nearly multi task".

The Pleiades cluster is in Taurus (naturally) and will edit my post accordingly.

Tremayne, regarding the Orion Nebula, Brent is spot on- viewing conditions can indeed have a huge impact on how we view deep sky objects in particular. Star clusters less so. Keep trying, you'll find different nights can give different views. For a better view, try for a night when it's fairly high up and the stars aren't twinkling. Personally, I don't bother with it if it's sitting under 40 degrees in the sky- too much atmospheric disturbance.

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

PM sent. If it didn't arrive let me know.

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Hey Tremayne,

3rd Jan 2012

Finally....some clear skies. I will be heading out to MacGavin's View this evening. I you have the time you are welcome to check out some of the night sky objects. Lots of moonlight but some of the brighter deep sky objects can be seen. The Orion Nebula is easy to view. I will be there around 7pm. Details in PM sent earlier.

[Grimmeister (Anthony)]

Hi Tremayne,

In case you hadn't seen it on the web site the next general meeting for the BAS is on Friday 3rd Feb, visitors are welcome to come along and see what it's all about. All the details you need can be found on the web site http://www.bas.asn.au/index.html. Hope to see you there.

Also you may have read we do a monthly public viewing night up on Mt cootha, I would strongly suggest going to have a look as we will be targeting the very type of things you will want to and can see in Suburbia and will give you a good indicator of what is where in the night sky.

Cheers

Anthony