Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

What Can I Expect to see

scottphillips

Recommended Posts

scottphillips

scottphillips

Posted
Posted

Hey Guys, got my hands on my first telescope: the Celestron Travel Scope 70 with 3x Barlow Lens and am getting awesome really close up views of the moon especially with the 10mm with 3x barlow on clear night, also had some awesome views of Saturn but cant seem to focus greatly with the 10mm and 3x barlow but still great without the barlow, also got a view of mars and recently had a glimpse of the Andromeda Galaxy which just looked like a faint mist. I would just like to know what objects I'm limited to with this scope or could you recommend things to look out for on a clear night.

Thanks

P.S the photos attached were taken on a decent night with my iPhone through 10mm lens.

post-37871-0-96530000-1405709799_thumb.j

post-37871-0-42107000-1405709833_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

Hi Scott and welcome.

The Travel Scope is a nice little scope, which is primarily designed as a "wide field" scope. This means that it works best using low magnifications (say 20mm eyepiece etc), which give you the widest field of view. It certainly will struggle to show you most DSO's, but will work well showing you constellations,clusters and even some of the bigger nebulae. The Moon looks amazing (as you know). 

The only real issue with this scope is the tripod that is supplied with it. Its almost useless as it is just too flimsy. If you can improve on the tripod, the scope starts to work much better with high magnification (say 8mm eyepiece). Even then you are limited by the design of the scope. Its a very well made scope. Its got a nice bit of weight to it and is pretty solid in its construction.

I'm impressed with your images. There is some nice detail around the edge of the moon there and to be honest, ive seen worse images of Saturn taken by bigger scopes.

Until (if possible) you can upgrade the silly tripod supplied with the scope, i'd stay away from the 3x barlow while observing. The tripod just really wont allow you to enjoy the observing experience too much. If you set the tripod to the lowest height, and observe from a seated position, this also will help.

Hope this helps, but i'm not sure it does.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
scottphillips

scottphillips

Posted
  • Author
Posted

So no chance of any decent views of nebulae or bright galaxies ??

thanks for that man yeah was a struggle to get focus on saturn because of the flimsy tripod and shaky hands but managed to get it :) awesome which nebulae would you suggest to start out on ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

So no chance of any decent views of nebulae or bright galaxies ??

Realistically, probably not using this scope. You can improve your chances of doing so by observing from dark skies and maybe even add a UHC filter as well as a sturdier tripod. For the most part thought, this scope does exactly what it says it does and not much more. Buy a sheet of solar film and make a solar filter and it will give a nice view of the Sun and its sun spots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

thanks for that man yeah was a struggle to get focus on saturn because of the flimsy tripod and shaky hands but managed to get it :) awesome which nebulae would you suggest to start out on ?

Well the obvious nebula to start on is M42 (Orion Nebula), but that is not visible at the moment. It should be back around mid-Sept. 

Do you have Stellarium on your computer?

http://www.winportal.com/stellarium

Its a free program and should help you find the kind of objects to look at this time of year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NGC 1502

NGC 1502

Posted
Posted

Hi Scott.  As already mentioned, the Travelscope 70 works best as a low power widefield scope.  

 

So what I'd do, is to use a binocular guide, online or a book. Binos are low power wide field, so same as the Travelscope in that respect. Loads of great binocular objects that will be good in your scope.

 

But the Travelscope has some advantages over standard binoculars - it has an angled prism, this really helps to view at a high elevation, you can up the magnification (don't go overboard with that) for a bit of a closer look.

 

Agreed that the tripod is wobbly (a clubmate has a Travelscope) but if you are careful, still a better view than hand held binos.   If I had one, I'd be using it mainly at the lowest power and widest field I could get, and up to around 50 - 60x for a closer look.  That opens up loads of good astronomy for you  :smiley:

 

And binos won't show Saturns rings like in your pic !

Regards, Ed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kainushi

Kainushi

Posted
Posted

Scott,

The photographs are great - imagine doing that with a cellphone.  I am glad that I found this thread becauseI have been debating purchasing this same model scope for some time, and I would be interested in an update on your impressions of its performance.

As I said, I have been thinking about this item for a while, and every review has mentioned that the tripod is unsatisfactory.  Will it work with any tripod?  I have a tripod from Slik, with which I am very satisfied.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
scottphillips

scottphillips

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for your comments on the pictures :)) really hard to focus with my iPhone on Saturn but took a burst of 30 then picked the best one and just sharpened it a little !! The tripod is absolutely terrible by the way I'm definitely upgrading scope by Christmas to maybe an 8inch dobsonian or something even bigger, managed to see andromeda tonight but not a great view and a half decent view of mars !! Probably got my money's worth already out of this scope and ready to move on to a better one already so am saving up haa

Link to comment
Share on other sites
faulksy

faulksy

Posted
Posted

go somewere dark that will improve the contrast no end you will think you are looking through a lot bigger scope, were abouts in wales are you. not exact locations north south mid

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Blazar

Blazar

Posted
Posted

Hi Scott, others above have pretty much answered your questions, however not sure if you saw this link...which is pretty much what you were asking, and also might help with your decisions about scope size (though don't just rush out and buy one, think what you want to do and look at and then search on SGL for reviews etc). In terms of DSO don't expect 'hubble-esqe' views, they usually are pretty much just blue/grey smudges, but it is still great IMO. 

Your Afocal shots are very good. That is the route I used to take (and still do on lunar). I did have a gallery with what you could do with a 4" scope and a handheld camera...have a look if you get a minute.

Not sure if you have Turn Left at Orion yet either. a very good book on how to star hop and find stuff.

Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.