New Scope

[crikko (Chris)]

Hello all.

I've just got my first scope after much researching on the net (nearly full time for the last week!), and went with a Skywatcher 8" Dob with autotracking, which was the best I could afford, leaving money for a few accessories (the first of which will be a lunar filter so I can enjoy watching the moon without having a great big white spot in my vision after I'm done).

Now I feel a bit overwhelmed, I knew it was not going to be as easy as point and shoot, but I had no idea how involved it would actually be.

I've been searching the forum and google trying to find the information I need to get started, but I'm having no luck. Either the information is too basic (i.e. I've already done it), or it's way over my head (i.e. I feel like a moron). Can anyone give me some direction in where to find the information?

Essentially what I'm looking for is how to locate certain objects in the sky (i.e. Mars, Jupiter), the moon I managed to find on my own

Also, I'm getting confused with all the talk about eyepieces. As far as I can gather, the smaller the eye piece (in mm), the larger the image will be on the scope. Am I correct?

If anyone can point me in the right direction, or link me to other posts that answer these that I haven't been able to find during my searches for the last hour and a half would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Chris

[Liz]

Chris, and wow, what a scope to start with!!
Dont worry, it takes awhile to get up and going, and trying to find your way around the sky. Try and work out a couple of the main constellations first, and a few of the main stars.

Download Stellarium www.stellarium.org it is an invaluable resource, and is free. Download and pop in your location, and it will show you whats in the sky at the time. You can alter times and dates.

www.skymaps.com where you can print out a southern hemisphere chart.

Grab a copy of Australian Sky and Telescope from the newsagent - has a chart in the centre, and some good general info.

Buy a copy of Astronomy 2011 - from Bintel, Andrews and many other places. It gives a month by month look at whats up in our skies.

Heres a view from Perth tomorrow am, with a few of the main constellations and stars. Have fun!!

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Hi Chris and welcome! A very good choice of scope. I note that your scope is tracking not go to. Does it have a magnified finderscope or a red dot finder. Both are very useful, but if you have a magnified finderscope you may have trouble pointing the scope in the right direction. A Telrad is a very useful accessory and one that I would recommend getting early.

Re eyepieces, yes the smaller the focal length of the eyepiece the higher the magnification. Mag=fl of scope/fl of eyepiece.

Do you know a few constellations? If you know a couple, you have a basis for learning more. So Orion, Sirius and the Southern Cross are a good start for the moment. Also if you can find the Magellanic Clouds, you have a wealth of things to look at straight away.

If you don't know any constellations, it might be worth seeing if there are local astronomy groups or local IIS members to help get you started. Worth doing anyway. You can learn heaps.

I agree with Liz about stellarium. Cartes du ciel is another good free program.

Have patience and you will have great fun.

BTW Jupiter is the brightest thing in the western sky in early evening at the moment. Should be easy to find.

[crikko (Chris)]

Thanks Liz and Paddy.

The first thing I think I'm going to buy today is a decent compass, all I had last night was the compass from my iPhone, which didn't seem to want to point in the same place twice.

I actually got stellarium last night, and got caught in a trance with it and spent about two hours looking!

Thanks for the links and books, I'll go have a look today.

Whats the best size eyepiece to see the planets with nice and close? I have the 10mm and 25mm that came with the scope. Would I be better off getting a barlow to start with as a cheaper alternative until I can afford some decent ones?

I have a magnified finderscope on mine, which I didn't have too many problems with last night, but I'll have a look at the telrads next pay day.

Thanks for your reply!

-Chris

[Paddy (Patrick)]

You will be limited in how much magnification you can use by turbulence in the atmosphere. You will rarely be able to use more than about 250X which would be about a 5mm ep if your scope is f6. A 2x barlow is a very useful tool and I would suggest not thinking about any further eyepiece investment than that until you're quite familiar with your scope and know what focal lengths you'd like and what to look for in an eyepiece. You may well find that often your best views of planets are not at high power, as poor seeing blurs detail. I often find Jupiter best at 135-175x in my scope - smaller, but with crystal clear details that are lost at 250X. So don't get too keen on seeing them big, go for clear is my suggestion. And they are never going to fill the eyepiece.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Hi Chris
Well done on the scope. All the advice so far given is excellent. I would also add consider getting a planisphere. It will take a little getting used to but is an easy way to learn which constellations are up at any time of the night or year. A good book o assist with learning the contellations is "A Walk Through the Southern Sky" by Heifetz and Tirion. You can take it ouside with you and use it to learn the main constellations and brighter stars that becomes an invaluable skill as you progress.
Computer programs are great but not much use when outside at the eyepiece, so consider a set of charts. Best bet is to get along to a star party or club night and see what charts others are using. Goods one include Sky Atlas 2000 and I have found the Cambridge double star atlas to have excellent general charts. Nortons is also popular if you can find a copy. If you want to go to the next level Uranometria 2000 is excellent but takes a bit of practice to use well.

Jupiter is easy to find ATM as it is the brightest object in the west after sunset, but it is starting to get low and the views are not as good as a couple of months ago. Saturn will start to come into its own soon. It ios rising about 12-30am I think so you would have to wait till 2-3 am to get a good view.
At the moment Orion is the happy hunting ground for observers. Once the moon moves on, you will get stunning views of M42 and M43 which will be really clear in your scope.

Malcolm

[Brian W (Brian)]

Hi Chris, my primary scope is an 8" LightBridge. If you follow the advice that has been offered and put in the needed time to learn how to use your equipment your scope will give you a lot of 'oh wow'.

My only other suggestion is to hold off for a while before you start buying all the extras. What you have is going to show you lots.

Once you find your niche then you will know what extras to buy.
Brian

[crikko (Chris)]

Thanks everyone, I've been enjoying watching jupiter the last few nights before he disappears.

My next mission is to try and get the auto tracking working (not the go-to mount unfortunately). I've been trying tonight with no success, and the only post I've been able to find doesn't really have any answers.

I've set up the latitude and had it pointing north, it's all level and everything, but it just won't follow jupiter (I haven't tried it with any other stars, as I wouldn't know if it was the same star or a different one at this stage).

Can anyone guide me on setting it up in a bit more basic terms than the manual?

Regards, Chris

[ZeroID (Brent)]

If you are talking about the polar axis of your scope I think you should have that pointing South, not North. The instructions are probably biased towards Northern Hemisphere people which we downunder ain't.

[crikko (Chris)]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

If you are talking about the polar axis of your scope I think you should have that pointing South, not North. The instructions are probably biased towards Northern Hemisphere people which we downunder ain't.

Thanks, I'll give it a go when the weather clears up again.