Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Newbie advice...


Recommended Posts

Hi all, 

After a lot of me mentioning telescopes and considering buying one, my wife got the SkyWatcher 607 for my birthday, which I am over the moon with!

It's all set up and waiting in my dining room for a clear night (hopefully tonight!) 

In the box it has 2 eyepieces 10mm and 20mm, x1.5 erecting eyepiece and a x2 Barlow lens 1.25".

As a complete newbie, this is all a bit confusing so thought I'd post on here to get advice of what the best uses are for the lens and any tips!

Thanks in advance for your help! I cant wait to get started!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hi and welcome to SGL

the 20mm is the lowest power lens use this to find targets the 10mm will give you more magnification
I wouldn't use the Barlow with the 20mm as it will effectively make it a 10mm

though you may want to use the barlow with the 10mm for a closer view of the moon of planets

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi 'cmaxx' and welcome to SGL.

:evil: 'Tis my 666th posting! :angel12:

The x1.5 erecting eyepiece will invert things the 'right way' round as you are looking at it. In other words, many astronomy telescopes (especially refractors and reflector telescopes) will show South at the top and North at the bottom if you just pop an eyepiece in the drawtube eyepiece holder.

If you have or access to a 90o star diagonal, (I see from the pictures from various resellers/outlets they show one attached to the dawtube), North and South are the right way 'up', but East and West are reversed. This is 'normal' with a refractor or a catadiopric telescope, (ie Maksutov or Schmitt-Cassegrain), but I see from your equipment it does not include one. You should not worry about one at this stage unless/or until you get something bigger.

The x2 Barlow lens will double the magnification of your existing eyepices. ie your 20mm becomes 10mm & the 10mm becomes 5mm. It will also narrow the field of view as well so bear that in mind when observing. Always start with the highest 'XX'mm eyepiece to the lowest 'X'mm eyepeice. (Don't ask why they supply a 10mm, but you knew that 20÷2=10 anyway).

What will you see...

1a. Moon. Take a 'trip' or tour along the terminator and check out the shadows. I love doing this a few days before or after a 'full moon'.

1b. Earthshine. See what lunar features you can see on the Moon from the light reflected by the Earth. 

2. Venus. Should be able to see its phases.

3. Mercury. Possible to see phases like Venus. But as it is close to the Sun take care and caution.

4. Jupiter. Main equatorial belts and the four 'Galilean' moons* that orbit the planet. They are not always visible at the same time.

5. Saturn. Possilble to see the 'ring system' not as 'Ring A', 'Ring B', 'Ring C', Cassini division, etc. and possbly the largest moon Titan.

7. Sun. Always project the Sun's disk on to a sheet of card or paper. DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT LOOK AND/OR MAKE SURE THAT ANYONE NEAR DOES NOT DIRECTLY LOOK AT THE SUN WITHOUT TAKING APPROPIATE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS UNLESS YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A FULL APERTURE SOLAR FILTER. IF YOUR SCOPE HAS A SCREW ON FILTER MARKED 'SUN' FOR THE EYEPIECE DO NOT EVEN USE THIS! - COVER or REMOVE THE FINDERSCOPE TOO!

* the Galilean' moons are: Io, Europa, Gannymede, Callisto - at times it is possble to observe none and Jupiter looks a 'little odd' without them. I have only witnessed this once.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stick a better location in, someone may be close to you to offer advice or say come along to XYZ club.

Another aspect is that knowing where you approximately are means someone can say what the weather is likely to be, as in "Not much chance, cloudy as hell out there at present."

Start wih the 20mm, I would suggest forget the erecting eyepiece and that makes the 2x barlow redundant. Barlowing the 20mm makes in effect a 10mm which you have, and I suspect barlowing the 10mm will not perform well enough to be worthwhile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Slowly getting used to all the equipment and been lucky to get clear skies for 3 nights in a row! (not tonight though!) Spent the nights experimenting with my new scope and exploring the sky. Got some good views of Aquila, Cepheus and Lyra from my back garden! Luckily my house is only around 10 mins from Bodmin Moor in Cornwall so hoping to get up there soon!

Thanks again guys for your advice!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

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

  • 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.