Mark68

Hi all,

I live in Brentwood in Essex and have a few clear nights at the moment, I was wondering if I could have some help in knowing where a good place to go would be to try and see the milky way.

Is this a good time if the year, is there a particular direction I need to look.

Thanks in advance.

Hi all,

I stumbled across this website last night.

It is beyond my knowledge as a beginner, but thought it might interest some.

https://spacetelescopelive.org/

It is what the Hubble telescope is searching for which images.

On 23/08/2021 at 09:14, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I used to know but have forgotten, what do the Green bits mean ?

Steve

How do you get it to look like that.

Mkine looks like this

Did you manage to see colour through the eye piece?

Thank you. 

Will have another look tonight. 

I'll forget it is millions of miles away😄

4 minutes ago, tea_subtle said:

Hi. I’m new to the hobby so no expert but as stated above it sounds like you have found the trapezium in the centre. 
if it helps at all when I started this voyage with my grandson I thought getting up close was the secret. For us it certainly isn’t now. Much better views and perspective are to be found using lower strength eyepieces. 
last night was clear here and spent the evening looking at Orion, the beehive cluster to name a couple on a 20 and 26mm lens. 
maybe as time moves on we will get more orientated and observe things in more detail but at the moment it’s really interesting just seeing a bigger picture of the clusters etc. 

Yeah,  it did go against all logic. 

You would what's think getting closer is getting better. 

I need to get my head around that. 

2 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Here's a rough comparison of the 2 views: 8mm and barlow  (assuming x2) and 25mm alone. Using https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/

 

Yeah I use that quite a bit,  but airways doubt it. 

Is a clear day so will try again tonight without the Barlow.

Thanks

OK thanks, so that would be true even if it seems to have a shape?

I would see a cloud and it looked like a horse shoe then it was clear round the outside I think. 

Hi just a quick question. 

I am using an orion xt10 and looking for orion nebula.

I thought I found it last night, but I wasusing a 2x Barlow and a zoom lens at 8mm.

What I thought was the nebula didn't fill the whole eye piece and had 4 stars just behind it. 

Have I found the right one?

Hi all,

I have just upgraded from a 4" skywatcher heritage to an orion xt10.

I am using an alt-azimuth mount.

What an upgrade!!!!!!

The problem i now have is that when I focus on anything. Because it gets so much closer, I am having to move the telescope evry 30 seconds or so to keep the object in view.

Is there a trick i am missing. Or is it something I am going to have to get used to. 

To give you an idea, here is a quick picture I took of the moon using my phone

Hi,

I have a basic skywatcher heritage 100p. 

I recently bought this eye piece

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SVBONY-8-24mm-1-25-Zoom-Eyepiece-Multi-Coated-Lens-Astronomy-Telescope-Parts-/283934574144?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

But it seems even when I look at the moon it hasn't improved on when I used the standard eye pieces that came with the scope. 

I have seen about collimation the mirrors, but haven't a clue what this is or if I need to do it with my telescope. Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

1 hour ago, MrFreeze said:

Nice idea, but unfortunately the stock Skywatcher barlow is pants, and the cost of a decent barlow makes this an expensive option. I suspect the original suggestion wasn't a bad idea if you don't want to go to the expense of a zoom - at least you get a better FOV than a plossl or ortho.

David

So you are suggesting go for the BST?

1 hour ago, banjaxed said:

The supplied 10mm eyepiece is not very good so a better make of 6, 8 or 10 mm eyepiece will give much better views. In my 8” Dob Jupiter is the size of a pea and the smaller it is the clearer the image.

I don't mind it being small. In fact I expect it with my scope. It would be nice to make out some markings. At the moment all I can see is a white dot with the moon's round the outside. 

34 minutes ago, banjaxed said:

From my own experience I found the 3.2mm too powerful for planets as it is difficult to track at that magnification. My personal choice is 8 or 12 mm.

Ive got the 10 that it came with and even with a Barlow I can't see anything. Jupiter ISS just like a star, but I can see it's moons. That's why I'm looking for better magnification. 

Don't know if that is just because the eye piece is not all that or the magnification isn't enough. 

3 minutes ago, banjaxed said:

Not had any experience with those eyepieces but for a little bit more outlay you could get a BST Starguider which are excellent eyepieces and highly thought of by a lot of our members.

Thanks. 

This one is still affordable. Would you know if 3.2 is any good for my scope?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-32mm-ed-eyepiece.html

Hi,

Ive got a birthday coming up in November and looking to get an eye piece to be able to see Jupiter and Saturn and hopefully andromeda

I have a skywatcher heritage 100 at the moment( not the best I know).

Currently I only have the standard eye pieces that come with the scope. 

I was looking at getting this one

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-uwa-planetary-eyepieces.html#faq

I haven't got loads of money, but at the same time don't want to waste it by bit getting a decent one. 

Can anyone advise if this is any good or if not one that would be without spending a lot of money

Thanks

4 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

 

Sorry to seem a bit fussy, but Jupiter is generally referred to as being masculine!

At least two of his belts are usually easily visible.  Depends on seeing and altitude.  Lower magnification can sometimes help.

Doug.

My apologies.

As you can guess, I'm new to this, so just trying to find my feet. 

I guess I need to save up for a decent eye piece. Definitely can't see any belts with what I have got. 

Hence the question. 

17 hours ago, cletrac1922 said:

Mark

With my 10" Dob, when doing Space Badge, cubs and joeys, scout movement, and K- grade 4 primary schools presentations with my club, I use a 15MM and 17MM wide-angle-angle eyepieces

Both give good eye relief

For the moon, use your 25mm eyepiece, with a lunar filter

I also have a 2X barlow, very rarely use it

John

 

Ive got a 10mm with 52 degree view and can't make out anything from Jupiter. I can see her moons but not her clouds. 

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

Which 4mm did you buy and do you have any other accessories than those bundled with the scope? 

There is a 4mm Nirvana for sale in the classifieds that should do quite nicely. 

 

 

I bought this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0839G5PTP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_wWvhFbKF3K1RE

It was cheap and I have learnt from my mistake.

I haven't got the money just yet, but was asking in advance.

Will keep an eye on the classified page though.

Hi all,

Can you advise me on the best eye piece I should get to view our planets. 

I would like to spend around £50 to £60 I think. 

I only have a beginner telescope (heritage 100p) so know I am not expecting to see them in close up. 

I rushed in with a cheap 4mm which had a really narrow field of view and for me and my scope is next to useless at the moment.

Thank you

31 minutes ago, gaz81 said:

Sky is amazing 🙂

I spotted Saturn for the first time few days ago when the cloud broke... was amazing! To see the rings with your own eyes 🙂

Still not managed to see jupiters clouds or Saturn's rings yet. Can see the moons around jupiter though.

Not had much chance to get since the weekend due to the clouds.

Just another one, as you are aware the skywatcher heritage 100 comes with a table top stand. Is there a reasonably priced tripod I can get to put it on, to make it easier to move around the garden.

Great advice thank you to all.

This is my first picture of the moon without the Barlow with the 10mm. It was only taken with my phone so not expecting perfection at all.

6 hours ago, Waddensky said:

Depends on the object you'd like to observe. A 2x barlow doubles the magnification, so that might be useful for small objects like planets. But a barlow + your 4 mm eyepiece result in way too much magnification for your scope. Keep it under 100x, on exceptional nights you can try up to 150x (you won't see more details but some details are easier to see at higher magnifications) but that's about it under normal circumstances

Jupiter and Saturn are not  well-placed these years, they are always low above the horizon. This means there's a lot of air to look through, most likely causing the blurry image you're experiencing. Take your time, sometimes the air suddenly improves for a few seconds.

Great advice. Thank you. 

So when I look for m32 am I best with no Barlow and 25mm.

17 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Out of the supplied eyepieces, the 10mm is not so good from what I have read from other SkyWatcher users here... and other astro-forums.
Once your eyes have been 'dark adpated', (it can take up to half an hour), some finer details should start to appear. I remove my specs when
at the e/p too.

So I should still be able to focus in and the scope will counteract my eye strength.

It's just that I have used a tool suggested on here to understand what I can expect to see and using the 10mm with the Barlow I cannot get a clear picture like this. It is still blurry. Although I can see Jupiters moons.

Am I expecting ting too much.