Complete beginner!!!

[sus (Susan)]

Hi

I recently got round to getting my first telescope...a celestron astromaster 130eq. I have set it all up and have found the moon(yay good for me)...which even though I thought would be quite easy to find...it took me a while! If anyone has any tips it would be great!

Thanks
Sus

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Suz , just take your time as astronomy is a life time hobby .. So take your time , learn , read every thing you can , IIS here is a great place and oh yes , and watch out for apateure fever ! .
Brian

[stardust steve (Steve)]

aboard the starship Ice In Space. You can check in anytime you like but you can never leave

My first telescope was a Celestron 76mm Reflector and i was blown away with what i could see. Moon craters, star clusters and bright Nebula like M42 in Orion
Your 130 eq will serve you well until you succumb to the inevitable apateure fever.
Don't hold back in asking any questions here as i have learnt so much just by surfing the posts from people only too willing to help

Edit- Ipone/Ipad apps like SkySafari and for the PC Stellarium help a lot as they tell you where certain object are in real time. And Skysafari has the compass option so you hold it up to the sky and it will show you on the screen what you are looking at

[sus (Susan)]

Thanks, I was so excited when I seen the moon and I'm getting better at finding it now! I'm hoping tonight its not to cloudy so I can get out and have another look.

[leon]

Fantastic Susan, you will have a great hobby to follow and enjoy, and like already said, ask away, there is no such thing as a silly question.

Enjoy the Moon.

Leon

[bazaud (Barry)]

Hi Susan,



Beginner here too. I'm finding IIS a great place for info.
Have fun
Barry

[leon]

Welcome Barry, same sentiments to you as well.

Leon

[sus (Susan)]

Thank you! I'm sure I will have lots of silly questions for you all!
Barry what type of telescope do you have?
I got a manual one...mainly so I did not have to worry about batteries but I am finding it hard to work out how to find things!
Anyways for now I'm still amazed at the moon and have seen a few stars...which I never knew would look like how they actually do!
All very exciting anyways and I'm hoping to talk a friend around to go to the Observatory as they are meant to be very helpful in telling you more about how to use your telescope.
Have fun!!

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Hi Sus , did you manage to get out last night ? the moon was great up here in Darwin in my lil 60mm TAK , really sharp with lots of detail seen .
One Q , is your scope on an " Equitorial " type mount ? and I suppose you know to point the "Right Assention " axis towards the south ? , I have to ask , because I know a lot of newbies that were not told this by the people that sold them their new scopes . .
Difficult to use properly if not .
This is sad but true .
Brian.

Originally Posted by sus

Thank you! I'm sure I will have lots of silly questions for you all!
Barry what type of telescope do you have?
I got a manual one...mainly so I did not have to worry about batteries but I am finding it hard to work out how to find things!
Anyways for now I'm still amazed at the moon and have seen a few stars...which I never knew would look like how they actually do!
All very exciting anyways and I'm hoping to talk a friend around to go to the Observatory as they are meant to be very helpful in telling you more about how to use your telescope.
Have fun!!

[sus (Susan)]

Hi Brian

Yes it is on an Equitorial mount...and the lady in the shop never said anything about how to use it apart from it was pretty straight forward....but she said she could not get her head around how to use the manual ones.
I never ended up going out last night...its very cloudy today so tonight may not be a good one either. I did however read a few things on here and seen some of the amazing photos that people have taken!!!
Pleased you had a good night looking at the moon...have fun tonight it you are heading out.

Sus

[andyc (Andy)]

Hi Susan,
I have the Astromaster 130EQ, it's a nice little scope! Set it to your latitude, point the polar axis about due south and you're pretty good to go. My biggest gripe with the Astromaster is the little red dot finder, which I found never worked well at all for me. I could hardly find anything, yet I know the sky very well! My solution was to buy a little 30mm finderscope from Bintel and mount it on the tube next to where the red dot finder is. It saves me vast amounts of time and means I can actually find/star hop my way to planets and deep sky objects, using my star atlas. Then there is quite a lot in range!

Another thing would be to invest in a couple of slightly better eyepieces - the ones that came with my scope were shockingly bad. I have a bunch of Meade Series 4000 eyepieces, but you could probably do very well (given the scope) with eyepieces as simple as the Bintel brand ones ($39 each), and get something like a 20mm and a 10mm eyepiece for starters. On a decent night, my 20mm or 32mm eyepiece twinned with a nebula filter performs really well on a lot of objects (LMC, Lagoon/Trifid, Omega, Eta Carinae, Orion Nebulae and others) Obviously you could spend loads on eyepieces and other kit, but it depends how far you want to go into the hobby!

[sus (Susan)]

Thanks Andy

I found the red dot thing was a pain...and the battery ran out with in a few days even though I had remembered to switch it off!
I will have a look at getting some better quality eye pieces...the only extra thing I bought was the moon filter!
So for Perth do I set it at...mmmm 34. I was just really fumbling round aiming in the general direction and then moving it slowly until I found the glow then, my goodness when I actually seen the moon...I think my whole street knew...I squealed(I'm a girl, I'm allowed) with delight...it was very exciting!
I don't know much about the sky, i just love looking at it but I do want to find out more. I was thinking that in Feb I would enrol in the Astronomy 101 at Curtain Uni as they do viewings on a Monday(I think) night if its a good night and you don't have to have a science degree to be able to do it either!!

Susan

[Larryp (Laurie)]

The astronomy course would be great to do, Susan. You will learn so much from it.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Sus , if I was you I would snap up that Plossel set in the "eyepieces for sale" section here at IIS classifieds , these are of good quality , and at $12 each for 5 = $60 + $12 postage they are a steal , grab them at this price and you wont have to buy anymore for a loooong time .
Just answer the Ad , or click on their name and send a PM ( private message ) . .
Go for it Sus , I am suprised they have not been taken yet !! .
Brian.

Originally Posted by sus

Thanks Andy

I found the red dot thing was a pain...and the battery ran out with in a few days even though I had remembered to switch it off!
I will have a look at getting some better quality eye pieces...the only extra thing I bought was the moon filter!
So for Perth do I set it at...mmmm 34. I was just really fumbling round aiming in the general direction and then moving it slowly until I found the glow then, my goodness when I actually seen the moon...I think my whole street knew...I squealed(I'm a girl, I'm allowed) with delight...it was very exciting!
I don't know much about the sky, i just love looking at it but I do want to find out more. I was thinking that in Feb I would enrol in the Astronomy 101 at Curtain Uni as they do viewings on a Monday(I think) night if its a good night and you don't have to have a science degree to be able to do it either!!

Susan

[sus (Susan)]

Are you on commission Brian!!! hahahah
I will have a look...if I get them and they are crap I will hold you responsible!
Thanks Sus

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Hahaha , big commision .25% ,, na , these will be lots better than what you have , and its a good spread of magnifications , I would not dawdle ,
I see you have contacted Andrew , ( cool my 65c commission is on its way ) , the easiest way is via a direct bank deposit , that way the transaction is tracable , and OZ post to deliver after the transaction has cleared , you and Andrew will communate a bit during this , thats why its so cool this Amateur astronomy , you get to meet people .
Brian .

Originally Posted by sus

Are you on commission Brian!!! hahahah
I will have a look...if I get them and they are crap I will hold you responsible!
Thanks Sus

[sus (Susan)]

Cheers...don't go spending it all at once!!!
I just can not get over some of the pictures on here, I also had a look on the FaceBook page for IceInSpace as its easier to look at the pictures.
When I was looking up Astronomy Perth on google I never came across this website...it was only when I was looking up Astronomy Courses...then it came up as a forum post, had a look and registered! Very pleased I did!!
Now I must hoover, enough putting it off!!!

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Sus , this IIS is the friendlest astro groups ever , bar none , .
I have met so many good people here over the years its amazing , I cant wait till Novemember and meet a whole bunch more at the total eclipse in Cairns , it will be fun .
Will you be there ? .
Some people here, Sus will send the item before payement is recieved , or send it anyway to see if it suits your needs , or loan you a scope of piece of equipement to try before you buy , you cant beat that .
Awsome.
Hmmm now what can I spend my 65c on ?? .
Brian.

[Kunama]

Hi Sus, Welcome, this seems to be a perfect place to learn. It certainly is a great place to spend money!!!!
When my kids were little and my wife was working shift work I would throw a foam mattress on the roof of our house and lie there with the kids looking up and counting meteors, satellites etc.
My wife would sometimes ask why the kids were tired in the morning.

[sus (Susan)]

Hoovering done!!
I have sent Andrew a message so that should be fine!
I don't think I will make it the the eclipse...but I'm sure I will be able to see lots of pictures from the event on here.
Matt that sounds great, bet the kids loved it!
Have fun
Sus