New astronomer, having issues

[Ben Kenobi]

So I bought a new telescope a month ago, it was my first leap into astronomy. It came all set up except for the star finder and I handled that and got that part really dialed in so its accurate. I also bought a Celestron Barlow lens kit that came with a 2x Barlow lens, 15mm Kellner and a 6mm Plossl eyepieces, a moon and planetary filters. So its finally close to new moon and the sky was pretty clear so I went out last night and....

Ouestions:

1.) The star finder and the scope itself have the images inverted. What gives? 

2.) 6mm Plossl is fuzzy and I can't seem to focus it at all. Why?

3.) The barlow lens makes everything even more fuzzy. Why?

4.) One large city north of me and a large city south of me, my area is rural and dark at night but at direct north and direct south the cities cast a total orange glow at the horizons. Will this truly effect my seeing? I was able to see lots of stars last night but everything was fuzzy, was sky glow the culprit?

5.) I know of a desert area I go dirtbiking and its 50 miles in every direction from any life or lights. Would that be the best place to stargaze? 

6.) The focuser only goes out like a quarter of an inch to focus yet it almost has 3 inches of travel. Am I doing something wrong or is there no reason for the focuser to go all the way out? 

7.) Last question. My scope is the Celestron first scope. Its 3 inches diameter and about a foot long. Is it just too small to see anything neat? I want to see is the Andromeda galaxy in its full brilliance.   

Pic is my scope on a tripod table I made from scratch for it. 

[Ben Kenobi]

forgot pic 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Inverted images are normal, we just get used to it (turning the image upright cost money, image quality and light). The 6 mm EP will have more difficulty in achieving good focus if conditions are sub-optimal or the scope is not perfectly collimated. A Barlow increases those problems.

Light pollution is an issue, but will not affect planetary views. A darker area is always better.

[D4N]

1 - that's normal, you can get a RACI finder if you want a corrected image on the finderscope but some people find that more confusing.

2 - this is also normal, as you increase magnification you increase the effects of poor seeing, it also becomes harder to focus.

3 - same as 2.

4 - yes light pollution is your second worst enemy, clouds being the first

5 - yes the darker the site the more you will see, although it can be very confusing if your not used to it as you will see so many stars you will find it hard to star hop.

6 - different optical configurations will require a different amount of focuser travel, using a Barlow normally means racking out the focuser further.

7 - 3 inch will easily see Andromeda from a reasonably dark sire, it will be a fuzzy blob though I'm afraid. Don't over do it on the magnification on this target, it's bigger than the moon so use a low power eyepiece.

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[EnglishNightHawk]

I have a very similar telescope, I think inverted images are normal on reflectors. Your Telescope may need to be aligned/collimated, the higher the magnification the more apparent this problem will be when not aligned correctly. Having said that I have a 4mm Plossl which works well on my little 76mm reflector. 

Take my advice with a pinch of salt, I'm a newbie!

[RuneK]

As the above poster wrote, collimation must be right. That goes for any newtonian telescope. You should investigate and see if you can find a nearby astro group. They should be able to help. If not possible, I would invest in a collimation tool.

[Ben Kenobi]

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Talked to my astronomy professor about this and he is going to align my telescope and show me how this Tuesday. Also, I have done all the weather research and found the perfect place in the desert to go for Thanksgiving and from my calculations, the seeing will be pretty incredible there, just hope no mountain lions sneak up on me 

[Ben Kenobi]

One more question. I just read that there are "fine focusers" like in a microscope. Would that help with the fuzziness of my smaller eyepieces? I tried the moon a month ago but it was so blurry and could not get it in to focus. 

[RuneK]

The "fine focuser" only helps to focus in lesser steps. It does not work in helping the optics. Your normal focuser is fine, don't worry about that. I bet there is a collimaion issue, and as I understand, you will get that sorted out.

[RuneK]

*collimation

[happy-kat]

Going back to 3 sometimes the affect of a barlow moves the point of focus outwards, you may not have enough focus travel for the barlow to work. You may find if it is outward travel you run out of a simple extension tube will work.

Good luck with the collimation hopefully it is simple and maybe the secondary mirror is out of alignment there should I think be 3 small screws used for adjustment here. I think the primary mirror is not adjustable.

You can test for collimation just by doing a simple star test.

Work with a cooled telescope.

Put your lowest power eyepiece in find a star and centre it.

Now focus, then turn the focuser a bit more look at the star shape, now turn the focuser back the other way go past focus and look at the star shape.

Repeat with a higher magnification eyepiece.

Compare what you saw to a star focus chart this will give you a clue to your collimation state and what the issue might be.

Hopefully the sky is clear and the astronomy professor has a couple eyepieces of their own to quickly test your telescope with too.

[happy-kat]

Star test information sheet found on the internet

http://www.viewfromascope.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Capture.png

[todd8137]

This may seem harsh but it's not intend to be my daughter had this scopes years ago ,we sent it back for a refund with in days

Pat

[D4N]

One more question. I just read that there are "fine focusers" like in a microscope. Would that help with the fuzziness of my smaller eyepieces? I tried the moon a month ago but it was so blurry and could not get it in to focus.

Some people have successfully modified their focuser by adding a larger wheel over the top of the original or by glueing a stick to it. The larger circumference means that you can make smaller adjustments.

It can sometimes help to strip the focuser down and replace the grease with some finer silicone grease.

Remember that if seeing is poor you won't get good focus at high magnification, it will swim in and out of focus.

Also consider if anything local is effecting your seeing, using the scope out of a window or looking at a target just over roof tops will introduce thermals.

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[Ben Kenobi]

This may seem harsh but it's not intend to be my daughter had this scopes years ago ,we sent it back for a refund with in days

Pat

Well it was harsh and quite frankly very unnecessary to say that to me. That scope is all I can afford. 

If any moderators see this post can you please delete my whole profile. I did not come here with the intent to be belittled.  

[mallorcasaint]

Ben. Your response is a bit over the top. Todd was simply giving you his experience with this scope and many people have tried to help you. Please think again about deleting your profile.

Having said that, you need to be realistic. The scope you have is a good little starter scope but you will NOT see Andromeda in "all its glory". You will need a much bigger scope for that. At best you will see planets and the moons of Jupiter along with the Great Nebula in Orion ( which may be a fuzzy blob too ). You can always get reasonable views of the Moon and if you buy or make a Solar Filter you can see sunspots. So plenty to see with your scope but with limitations.

[happy-kat]

The key Ben is to make the most of what you are using and you will see lots more with your telescope then with the naked eye.

Look for targets perhaps like open clusters like the bee hive cluster m44.

Perhaps try to enjoy your telescope with lower powered views and enjoy that you found an object, then use the internet to see a colour image and read the history of what you found like how far way and how old.

Even my bigger telescope only shows grey smudges for many items so I just marvel in what I found and how old it is.

Often I only use my low powered eye pieces as they provide the best image, smaller and clear is better than bigger and blurry, sometimes this is due to the atmosphere or I pushed my telescope too far.

Look at the Moon see how many of the craters you see you can name.

Have you looked at the link I gave to help with star testing?

[happy-kat]

Meant to add many objects I can only see with averted vision, this is a trick to learn.

M45 plieades worth a look as well, sure there are others I am not good at recalling them yet

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben. Your response is a bit over the top. Todd was simply giving you his experience with this scope and many people have tried to help you. Please think again about deleting your profile.

Having said that, you need to be realistic. The scope you have is a good little starter scope but you will NOT see Andromeda in "all its glory". You will need a much bigger scope for that. At best you will see planets and the moons of Jupiter along with the Great Nebula in Orion ( which may be a fuzzy blob too ). You can always get reasonable views of the Moon and if you buy or make a Solar Filter you can see sunspots. So plenty to 

The key Ben is to make the most of what you are using and you will see lots more with your telescope then with the naked eye.

Look for targets perhaps like open clusters like the bee hive cluster m44.

Perhaps try to enjoy your telescope with lower powered views and enjoy that you found an object, then use the internet to see a colour image and read the history of what you found like how far way and how old.

Even my bigger telescope only shows grey smudges for many items so I just marvel in what I found and how old it is.

Often I only use my low powered eye pieces as they provide the best image, smaller and clear is better than bigger and blurry, sometimes this is due to the atmosphere or I pushed my telescope too far.

Look at the Moon see how many of the craters you see you can name.

Have you looked at the link I gave to help with star testing?

see with your scope but with limitations.

Thanks for being nice. I know its a junky little scope but after astronomy class last night, my professor (who worked for Nasa) and me went the work shop inside the planetarium. He showed me tons of cool stuff we could do to the mirrors, and the focuser. So with my machine knowledge I threw a old focuser he had into a lathe and machined it smooth and to fit my scope. He aligned the mirrors and also polished them and said they were out of whack when I got it. He also gave me a set of super nice eyepeices the previous professor left there. I came home last night around 10 pm and I found Andromeda by using Cassiopeia in one min.  It was pretty impressive through my modified little scope. I saw the spokes and the bright center as well as a general haze around it. I mean I am trying for dear life to get a 12 inch mead dobby that is around 5 feet tall in about a week. I know the shop owner personally and he might do payment. I heard the bigger the better so I think that might let me see what I want to see. 

[Jim Steele]

Glad you managed to get it sorted

A 12" dob will show you loads more detail and it sounds like you have good skies to see some of the spiral arms of Andromeda even with a small scope.

Best of luck and I hope your initial impressions of the scope don't put you off too much. Astronomy is a fascinating subject and learning as they say is part of the journey.

[happy-kat]

Wow sounds like your little scope is no slouch now. Plenty to find and enjoy in it that will keep you busy and with it being so portable you will be able to grab so many extra observing minutes.

[griz11]

Look at how much the stars twinkle. If its not much seeing is good and you can use higher power eyepieces. If not stay with the low power stuff. My first scope other than the one my father bought me as a child was very similar to what you have. It was a let down when I first used it. Nothing wrong with the scope really. Just my expectations were all out of line seeing all these astrophotos and not knowing what it took to actually make them or how big of a scope. I went to a 20x80 bino and liked it better for visual observations. For a small scope I really like the Borg/Hutech stuff. I had two of their small refractors and they were excellent. Having had a couple of SCT's and refractors I wouldn't buy anything but refractors now. And since I only do AP and no visual stuff anymore I went totally away from telescopes and now use camera lenses. Once you get it all lined up and out to the desert it will be much better. There are light pollution filters available. They cut the sodium and mercury lines out of the spectrum and cut most of the glow. My brother lives in Houston which is totally light polluted but with one of these filters I was able to image Andromeda with somewhat decent results. Didn't think I'd see it at all actually. So that might be something to look at so you don't have to drive to observe. Have fun with it its a fantastic journey you've undertaken.

Griz

[jason.p]

Wow! That's quite a jump from the Jessop to a 12in Dob. My first scope was a Jessop 80mm reflector and views of the moon and Jupiter fired me up and got the "aperture fever" going. I went to 150mm then 200mm and was amazed at the improvement each time. Finances have put a stop to any more!

How lucky you are to have the professor and access to a clear site!

Keep in touch and let us know how you're getting on, esp when the 12in arrives.

Good luck

Jason