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Old 14-11-2013, 11:32 AM
Chippy3476 (Danial)
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saxon 60mm telescope

Hi all,
I am have just joined this site in the hopes of getting some real advice.
I am completely new to astronomy and have just purchased a Saxon 60mm appeture, 700mm focal length telescope, I am very happy with my purchase and was just trying to get some hints on what I should be able to see in the night sky with this telescope, what eyepieces I should use and so on.
I am well aware that this is an entry level scope and that it has a small appeture and all that, that is the main reason I have joined this site in the hope that somebody could tell me what its good for instead of what its not good for as I am positive that I can get good views of something.
Thank you all in advance.
Dan
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Old 14-11-2013, 12:08 PM
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barx1963 (Malcolm)
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Small aperture means that fainter objects are harder to see. Most bright objects are easy to see with 60mm. Planets, the moon, double stars, the brighter nebulae (eg M42, Eta Carina, NGC2070), many open clusters and the brightest galaxies are all possible. Just remember they will be faint, nothing like the images you see from Hubble and the imagers on this site!
A good start is to have a go at the Messiers, almost all of which will be possible with this scope.

With the eyepieces, what ones came with the scope? Usually my advice is not to go out buying more eyepieces until you have used the ones that came with the scope for a while and understand more of the strengths and weaknesses of EPs.

Cheers

Malcolm
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Old 14-11-2013, 04:43 PM
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cometcatcher (Kevin)
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I remember my first telescope was a 60mm refractor.

Firstly, you will get great views of the Moon. The next challenge is to view all the visible planets. Mercury when viewed at the right time will show phases as will Venus. Check out Venus and notice how it gets bigger as the phase decreases.

Mars won't look like much more than a bright red dot, but at close approach try and see if you can see any surface detail.

Jupiter and 2 cloud belts are easily seen as are the 4 bright Galilean moons. Watch them as they move around, behind and in front of Jupiter just as Galileo did 400 years ago.

Saturn will be small but should show the rings and it's brightest moon Titan.

Uranus will be a challenge and will just be a dot, if you can find it!

Check out the brightest double stars and clusters. Alpha Centauri should easily show 2 stars. I was always amazed at this through my 60mm Tasco some 40 years ago.

Personally, I would leave galaxies and nebula until you get a bigger scope. They are hard enough in big scopes!

Bright open clusters can be nice. There are many up there!

Did your scope come with a full aperture solar filter? If not these can be purchased for a 60mm refractor fairly cheaply to view sunspots etc.
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Old 14-11-2013, 04:51 PM
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Hi Dan , and welcome to IIS .
I to started out many years ago with a no brand 60mm x 700mm refractor on an alt/az mount and it showed me plenty of neat stuff for a couple of years until I built my first scope , a 10 inch Newtonian .

As Malcolm and Kevin say there are plenty of things a small scope will show.

One memorable view for me was the impact marks on Jupiter from comet Shoemaker/Levy when it hit in July 1994 , these were easily seen in my 60mm .
One thing what sized eyepieces does your scope use ? are they 1 1/4 inch ( 32mm) that's the diameter of the chrome tube that goes into the diagonal and whats printed on it ( them ) as this size makes the scope much more up-gradable .

Enjoy this site as there are plenty of great people who are only to happy to help .

Brian.
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Old 14-11-2013, 07:36 PM
Chippy3476 (Danial)
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wow!!! Thanks so much for all these great replies. I am so excited bout this new adventure in astronomy now! this is just the sort of information i was after, as i have been searching online for days on end trying to find out this info but all i found on other sites was that my scope is worthless and i have wasted my money. im pretty sure saxon is a reasonable brand too.
so thanks heaps for your help.
to answer your questions, the eyepieces are 1.25" and the ones that were supplied with the scope are SR4mm, H12.5mm, HM25mm and H6mm. I get great clear views of the moon with all of them. would i be able to see Andromeda galaxy m31 with any of these?
thanks so much to all of you.
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Old 14-11-2013, 08:59 PM
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cometcatcher (Kevin)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chippy3476 View Post
the eyepieces are 1.25" and the ones that were supplied with the scope are SR4mm, H12.5mm, HM25mm and H6mm. I get great clear views of the moon with all of them. would i be able to see Andromeda galaxy m31 with any of these?
The telescope you have was designed more for high power in mind. The Andromeda galaxy needs very low power, wide field and light gathering ability. While you may see the Andromeda galaxy (best with the 25mm) it will just look like a faint oval smudge, no better than the eye. Binoculars would be better.

There are a couple of ways to supplement your venture into astronomy. I highly recommend binoculars. As mentioned they are great for big objects like the Andromeda galaxy, milky way and clusters.

The eyepieces you have are okay for the moon, but they are pretty marginal for anything else. Use them for now but keep in mind there are much better ones out there. It's good that they are 1.25 inch. That's a popular size with a good upgrade path when you are ready.

Oh and be sure to get a good star map or planetary program for the computer. Stellarium is free to download and is very good. I use it all the time.

Last edited by cometcatcher; 14-11-2013 at 09:11 PM.
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Old 14-11-2013, 11:12 PM
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No worries Dan , glad to help and if you 'Google' ,
'Yahoo groups 60mm scope club' ,
you will find all the information you need on all 60mm scopes , thousands of members world wide that use and love 60mm telescopes and like us here at IIS ,, only to happy to help , go ahead and join the you wont be disappointed .
I am a member as I still own and use a 1972 60mm f15 Meade refractor on an EQ2 mount , my 2nd scope .

And yes you will see M31 as a 'faint smudge' if you know exactly where to look , use your 25mm eyepiece and don't worry because it looks like a slightly brighter 'Faint smudge' in even a large 8-12 inch scope , as Kevin says it looks better in large binoculars .

Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chippy3476 View Post
wow!!! Thanks so much for all these great replies. I am so excited bout this new adventure in astronomy now! this is just the sort of information i was after, as i have been searching online for days on end trying to find out this info but all i found on other sites was that my scope is worthless and i have wasted my money. im pretty sure saxon is a reasonable brand too.
so thanks heaps for your help.
to answer your questions, the eyepieces are 1.25" and the ones that were supplied with the scope are SR4mm, H12.5mm, HM25mm and H6mm. I get great clear views of the moon with all of them. would i be able to see Andromeda galaxy m31 with any of these?
thanks so much to all of you.
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Old 15-11-2013, 05:17 AM
Chippy3476 (Danial)
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Thanks again guys. If I was to purchase another eyepiece what size would you recommend for this? Or are the ones I have got enough?
Dan
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Old 15-11-2013, 08:35 AM
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cometcatcher (Kevin)
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The advantages of aftermarket eyepieces are many. Depending on type you will get wider field, or greater eye relief, better correction of false colour and aberrations. Keep in mind though some of these eyepieces will cost as much as your entire scope. See how you go with what you've got first.
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Old 15-11-2013, 09:47 AM
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Without hesitation , it would be the excellent GSO ( Guan Sheng ) 'Superviews' from Andrews communinations , the 15mm and 20mm are only $39 each and these with a good GSO 2x Barlow at $29 will give you a good spread of magnifications 95x with the barlowed 15mm , 70x with the barlowed 20mm , 46x with the 15mm on its own , 35x with the 20mm on its own and then 28x with your own 25mm .

All for $107 but if this is to much start with getting the 15mm and I guarantee it will become the most used eyepiece you own , these are that good then save up for the 20mm then Barlow , these are excellent eyepieces rivalling my $300+ TelVue Panoptics , awesome eyepieces that will make your scope perform as good as it can and that's very well on the moon , planets and double stars etc.

Brian.
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Old 15-11-2013, 10:12 AM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brian nordstrom View Post
Without hesitation , it would be the excellent GSO ( Guan Sheng ) 'Superviews' from Andrews communinations , the 15mm and 20mm are only $39 each and these with a good GSO 2x Barlow at $29 will give you a good spread of magnifications 95x with the barlowed 15mm , 70x with the barlowed 20mm , 46x with the 15mm on its own , 35x with the 20mm on its own and then 28x with your own 25mm .

All for $107 but if this is to much start with getting the 15mm and I guarantee it will become the most used eyepiece you own , these are that good then save up for the 20mm then Barlow , these are excellent eyepieces rivalling my $300+ TelVue Panoptics , awesome eyepieces that will make your scope perform as good as it can and that's very well on the moon , planets and double stars etc.

Brian.
+1 for this advice. I use these two almost exclusively. Haven't really found a need to upgrade although I do have a few other sizes for specific objects ( 10, 9, 6 eg )


And btw. I started with a 60mm, then a 114 mm Newt, still small but surprisingly good. So you're in good company.
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Old 19-11-2013, 10:07 AM
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Daniel , if you can stretch $60 that 28mm RKE that Flashdrive is selling herein the classifieds in 'Eyepieces' is a very nice eyepiece , it will give you a lovely 25x with perfect stars to the edge .
Just a thought as this will fit perfectly ( with your 25mm and the 15mm UWA that's on the way ) .
Brian.
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Old 19-11-2013, 11:20 AM
Chippy3476 (Danial)
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Thanks Brian, I will check it out.
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Old 19-11-2013, 02:07 PM
Chippy3476 (Danial)
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Is there anything inparticular that you could suggest would be good to view at the moment with the 15 and 25?
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Old 20-11-2013, 07:49 AM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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It's a bit quiet up there at present planetarily speaking other than Venus in the early evening. See if you can make out the crescent shape. Then of course there is the moon at about 95% but that is rising quite late.
But looking back towards the Southern Cross which has quite few asterisms and small clusters within it plus the wee Kru Cluster near Mimosa. Then try for 47 Tucanae, the big cluster. That is a view in any scope.
Have you got a PC running Stellarium. Free and big help if locating, naming and knowing what to look for. A very good way to start.
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Old 20-11-2013, 09:08 AM
SkyWatch (Dean)
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Firstly, congratulations Dan on your purchase of the 60mm refractor! It is a great little scope for lunar and planetary observation and brighter deep sky objects. You will be blown away when Saturn re-appears from behind the Sun. Double stars are something you might like to get into as well: it should be great for that, and it is a good way of learning how to navigate the sky.
I endorse the comments about the GSO eyepieces: they are very good for the price and well worth looking at down the track. They will give very sharp, wide-field views - a much bigger field than the equivalent "H" and "SR" eyepieces that came with it. The GSO Super Plossl eyepieces are also very good value ($29: at least as good as eyepieces that cost $150 only 10 years ago).
You might like to check out Brian Ventrudo's web-site ("The One-Minute Astronomer") for information and advice as well. He is currently offering a nice "introduction" booklet for free:
see http://oneminuteastronomer.com/stargazing-101/ (make sure you grab the Southern Hemisphere version.)
He has free registration and a free mail-out with lots of topics for people who are starting out.

All the best and enjoy the scope!

- Dean
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Old 20-11-2013, 12:34 PM
Chippy3476 (Danial)
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Thanks alot guys, I am just waiting for a clear night so I can get out and explore. Everybody on this site has been so helpfull and I am so greatfull for all the great advice.
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