Beginner needs some advice

[lunartic (Greg)]

Hello All.

I have just dove into the wonderful world of astronomy.... I have bought myself a Skywatcher 90/900 on an AZ3 mount and wondering if anyone has any opinions on this particular scope. Been able to locate all the major planetaries but am really hanging to catch my first glimpses of nebulae or major galaxies which is proving to be quite difficult for me. Obviously it takes a while to get into the swing of things but is my search for these objects futile with this particular scope. Would colored filters help at all? I am completely hooked and am quite amazed at how excited I get when the sun goes down!

[Kal (Andrew)]

Hi Greg,

With 90mm of aperture you will definitely be able to see the brighter deep sky objects. My first scope was 90mm aperture too (Meade ETX90EC).

Some helpful advice would be to make sure that you try to locate deep sky objects when there is no moon out, and if possible, try to get away from the city lights. With a small aperture you need to make sure that you eliminate as much skyglow due to the moon or city lights as possible! Also, make sure you let your eyesight adapt to the dark, and learn how to use averted vision

Colour filters won't make any difference when looking at deep sky objects, although some can certainly increase contrast on planetary features.

[lunartic (Greg)]

Cheers Andrew.

Thats great to know. I have my sights set on M42 tonight. Orion comes into good view around here around 4 am and the moon is pretty low at that stage. Will work on the averted vision. Cheers.

[renormalised (Carl)]

A visual UHC filter for the fuzzies like nebs wouldn't go astray, as they increase the contrast of the nebs against the sky background and help with skyglow from city lights etc. Also, a neutral density (Moon) filter will come in handy for viewing the Moon. Nothing worse than staring into an eyepiece and having your retina burnt off the back of your eye by glare from the Moon!!!.

But as Andrew has mentioned, get a good set of sky charts , a redlight torch to use (so it doesn't ruin your night vision), get away from the city lights if you can and learn how to use averted vision through your eyepieces. Very important, if you can, get outside in the dark as soon as you can and get dark adapted...usually takes 20-45 minutes, so that's why you should get out early and get dark adapted before you start your planned observations.

[Robh (Rob)]

Try the eta Carina Nebula and Lagoon Nebula.
And don't forget Centaurus A and the Sombrero.
There's also a whole heap of globular clusters in the sky now.
Better when the Moon dips.

Regards, Rob

[seanliddelow (Sean)]

The skywatcher scopes are a lot better then the celestron powerseekers of the same size. The powerseekers are built on shabby EQ mounts and the optics and finderscope are cheap. Good choice with the skywatcher.