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Am I doing something wrong....


Steven D

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....or am I just expecting too much?

Since getting a telescope as a present for Christmas, this is the first cloudless night I've had so I've been out in my garden and had a look around. Can't see the moon so I've looked at a few stars using both the eyepieces that my scope came with. One is a wide angle one and the other is a 10mm one. I have a 150mm scope. My 'problem' is that I can see the stars that I am looking at just as good by using a pair of cheap binoculars that I pinched from a theatre in London thirty years ago and that's barely better than what I'm seeing through the finder scope! My ever helpful wife is asking me whether I've taken the lens cap off! Is that it?

Oh, one of the stars is a bit pinker than the rest, what's that one?

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Nothing wrong!

The Stars, except for our Sun are just points of light, their just too far away, so no real detail, and  except for some variations in colour that your eyes may  perceive, nothing really much  to look at.  Sorry to disappoint.

Thats why I prefer low powered binoculars,  their great for looking at the Stars. You will see a greater swathe of them with the wider views afforded by something like my 8° 8x40s

Where the scope comes in,  is the detail they can provide at higher magnifications on the Moon/Planets and deeper space objects, again, using the wider, low powered eyepieces for the DSO's

Now where did I put those  binoculars :confused:

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Stars, no matter how much magnification will always look like points of light. They're too small and too far away to look any different. You need to be looking for certain objects like nebulae or galaxies or planets. to find where to look, download a free piece of software called stellarium. 150mm scopewill show youplenty when pointed at the right targets :)

Best of luck

edit: try for the orion nebula(m42) or the andromeda galaxy (m31) and if your awake for it Jupiter. 

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Stellarium will help you find DSO's the Messier list is a good place to start, download the Telrad Maps there free and Stellarium has the Telrad circles built in so all those stars you have seen  will be guide's to DSO's that need a telescope to see them, you could invest in a Telrad finder makes it so much easier and the 110 Messier object are there for the finding....

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Thanks all. I downloaded Stellarium and had a play around with it and I came to the conclusion that the pink star I saw was called Betlegeuse (I always thought that was Mars!). I also noted that the moon was still below the horizon and after looking on the 'net saw that it was due to rise at 20:49 tonight. Then it went all cloudy! Just looked again and it is patchy at the moment so I might get my first view of the moon yet. Fingers crossed.

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Hi Steven

Mike here from Thurrock in Essex and like yourself I got my first scope this xmas and tonight was my first night using it from the back garden. Most of the stars on show seemed quite hazy and so I decided to just wait for the moon and ignore trying to set up my goto mount. It finally announced itself at around 10pm in the middle of my neighbours tree, which just left a few degrees until it went behind the nearest building.....!  What I did get however was a smashing first view ever of our moon as the clouds were kind to me for the short time I had. My wife came out too for a look and we were both gobsmacked. The moon is worth the price of the scope on its own, and so the rest of the universe is for free !! I'm sure you will be really pleased when you get your first view.

I have concluded that my back garden is not a great viewing platform....off to my dad's place in the wilds of Hereford for the New Year and the scope is getting packed.

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Whilst I concede that stars are point light sources at the magnifications we can use I would also say that there is a great deal more to see from them when you have enough aperture to split double stars.

These are stars that will appear as a single star at low magnification but when you look at them at higher magnification you will be able to see two (or more!) distinct stars and you may even see that they are different colours.

The most famous is Albireo in Cygnus, the striking difference in colour between the two stars is really something to behold.

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Whilst I concede that stars are point light sources at the magnifications we can use I would also say that there is a great deal more to see from them when you have enough aperture to split double stars.

These are stars that will appear as a single star at low magnification but when you look at them at higher magnification you will be able to see two (or more!) distinct stars and you may even see that they are different colours.

The most famous is Albireo in Cygnus, the striking difference in colour between the two stars is really something to behold.

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

145CMa is the one I saw most recently. Quite a sight.

But yes, there is always something to see.

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There are plenty of targets for a 150mm scope. :-) it just takes practice finding what you are looking for. The first time you find Jupiter or Saturn in your scope, you'll be ecstatic! Not to mention you can watch four of Jupiter's moons change their positions throughout the night! Enjoy!!

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Hi Steven

Mike here from Thurrock in Essex and like yourself I got my first scope this xmas and tonight was my first night using it from the back garden. Most of the stars on show seemed quite hazy and so I decided to just wait for the moon and ignore trying to set up my goto mount. It finally announced itself at around 10pm in the middle of my neighbours tree, which just left a few degrees until it went behind the nearest building.....!  What I did get however was a smashing first view ever of our moon as the clouds were kind to me for the short time I had. My wife came out too for a look and we were both gobsmacked. The moon is worth the price of the scope on its own, and so the rest of the universe is for free !! I'm sure you will be really pleased when you get your first view.

I have concluded that my back garden is not a great viewing platform....off to my dad's place in the wilds of Hereford for the New Year and the scope is getting packed.

I'm in Hornchurch and I had the same as you in so far as that when the moon started to rise it was a clear sky but it was obscured by a tree in my garden. As it was rising it started to get cloudy and by the time it had cleared the trees it was in full cloud. I can only see the moon for the first 3 or 4 hours before it goes over my house - after that, I'd need to set my scope up in my street. Might have to take my scope round my friends house when we go round there on New Years Eve!

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Even though the stars appear as just points of light I still find it awesome that that light has travelled maybe millions of years to hit your retina. I often spend ages just looking around at nothing in particular contemplating my place in the grand scheme of things.

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I'm in Hornchurch and I had the same as you in so far as that when the moon started to rise it was a clear sky but it was obscured by a tree in my garden. As it was rising it started to get cloudy and by the time it had cleared the trees it was in full cloud. I can only see the moon for the first 3 or 4 hours before it goes over my house - after that, I'd need to set my scope up in my street. Might have to take my scope round my friends house when we go round there on New Years Eve!

That's a lovely idea, just keep the ones that have had a few away from your lovely new scope [emoji3]
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Well, I took it with me and after we had seen the new year in, the moon was up in the clear sky. I got it out of the car, fitted it up quickly in my mates drive and BINGO! - a clear view of the moon, craters and all. Fantastic. Everyone was impressed. Well pleased. Now to bed. Goodnight and an happy new year to everyone.

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