Never. I think I have asked questions on here that have been asked 1000's of times before and knowledgeable people on this forum will answer the same questions 1000's of times more.
and that is to get a camera like a GStar and connect it up to your scope.
And, as I understand it, they can be set to integrate the signal for different periods of time, so you will see, on the screen, fainter objects that you can see through the eyepiece. Even things that are hard to see in light-polluted areas can be pulled out of the light pollution. Is that the experience, guys?
And, as I understand it, they can be set to integrate the signal for different periods of time, so you will see, on the screen, fainter objects that you can see through the eyepiece. Even things that are hard to see in light-polluted areas can be pulled out of the light pollution. Is that the experience, guys?
Yep, you can routinely see objects you'd never hope to see yourself by eye alone in the ep'. Some you may get with averted vision but many will be beyond that. A Gstar will pull a lot of stuff out of the light pollution, but with the right combo of filters and such, the results are even better.
Well....after all the advice and reading and looking I finally bought one today! I got the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ for $599. I looked at 10" Dobs because everyone here seems to like them so much but I so wouldnt be able to manage one of those haha they almost look bigger than me and I really wanted something I would be able to lift and set up without having to hassle anyone for help with. Thankyou so much to everyone here with your encouraging words and support, I was almost convinced it would be a no go with my neck but so far this feels quite comfortable. Anyway just thought I'd let you all know i'm ready and armed and look forward to joining in in the forum now that i'm started!
The first accessory you should consider buying for that new scope is a comfortable observing chair.
If you are not comfortable, your observing suffers! You really do see more if you're sitting!
The chair doesn't have to be expensive, it just has to be the right height to cover most of your viewing positions.
There are all sorts of observing chairs around, from the really expensive ones down to home made ones.
Mine? a second hand Ikea stool, bought on eBay for $30, exactly the right height, light but solid. Saves me a lot of pain later on in the night.
If it's still a problem for your neck, observing with your scope, after awhile, you can get around that by grabbing yourself a GStar EX camera and a laptop (if you have one). That way, you can use the lappy to observe the objects onscreen. Plus you can take piccies at the same time
Just noticed I'd posted this exact same response about a fortnight ago
Well, if you go here....MyAstroShop, you can see what you get. You can also get the wireless transmitter for an extra $110, which is better than having heaps of cables lying about.
Also, here's a couple of charts for around 9pm tonight, from Cairns. They're looking towards Cygnus, Sagittarius/Capricorn and towards the SMC (Small Magellanic Cloud).
Last edited by renormalised; 09-09-2009 at 07:12 PM.
Ok...i'm having a little trouble trying to get my scope working well, ive spotted a few stars but i think the moon will be a good start when it rises....does anyone know what time that should be tonight? It was up this time a couple of nights ago because I watched it rise and it was a beautiful huge harvest moon. Thanks so much for those charts too
I saw the moon .....WOW!!!!!!! I could see the craters, i could see little flashing green and red bits near alot of the craters too, does anyone know what they are?
Never seen anything like that near craters...not in all the time I've looked at the Moon. Might just be some optical effect caused by humidity, air currents in the tube of the scope, or rarely, LTP's (Lunar Transient Phenomena), which is outgassing from fractures in the Moon's surface of radioactive gases.
That called chromatic aberration, or CA for short.
The eyepiece that came with your scope isn't made of the highest quality glass. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_aberration
There is also Atmospheric Aberration. That's what causes bright stars, when they are close to the horizon, to twinkle madly, changing colour from red to blue to green to white to red. Very pretty really. AA happens because you are looking at that star through a lot of atmosphere and smog. Stars are always sharpest when they are straight above your head.
Was anyone else watching the moon tonight? Didnt anyone else see them? Now I feel like a crazy person lol I had someone else with me, they couldnt see it at first but I insisted and then they saw it too. It stayed in the same spots on the moon no matter our focus or if we changed the scope, it was pretty cool though, I dont know the actual part of the moon but looking through my view (with it upside down or back to front or whatever it is) there were 3 large craters at the bottom edge of the moon and just above those craters and to the right a bit in all the smaller dints, thats where the sparkles were. The moon is like a harvest moon here tonight so maybe its just where I am? Sorry i'm all new to this and dont want to sound too much like a numptie lol
Sarah, were you looking at the Moon soon after it rose, close to the horizon? If so, I think you were just seeing effects of all the air that the Moonlight was passing through. Have another look when it is higher in the sky and see if the colours are no longer seen.
Try to point your telescope at the brightest thing in the sky apart from the Moon. It should be almost directly above you, That is Jupiter. You should see its four moons in a line with it - three on one side and the fourth on the other side. Maybe you will see a couple of dark cloud bands across Jupiter's surface?
