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Showing results for tags 'help'.
Found 66 results
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Can I jump in into astronomy or theoretical physics if i study Chemistry in university?:/
arsxenic posted a topic in The Astro Lounge
Okay so I chose to take a year to decide which career to study, I've always been interested in physics and astronomy but I think I will go on and pick Chemistry. Any tips or ideas on what to do after? -
Prime focus on Star Discovery 150p
Ulysses31 posted a topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
So, I have gone and got myself a Skywatcher Star Discovery 150p, which has so far proved to be a very good little scope and I've had some very good results. I have now got the bug for imaging and have gone out and got myself a second hand Nikon D5100 and verious other equipment needed to do this, only to now find I can't get Prime Focus!!!!!!!! So the only way I can image is using a barlow x2 which obviously changes the F ratio from F5.5 to F11 slowing everything x2 this isn't to bad for planetary imaging but for DSO images not so good!!! After searching through lots of videos on to do this all I can find is...... I can either butcher the standard rack and pinion focuser that's fitted on it by cutting it down and rethreading it or by moving the primary up by 20-25mm, which seems a shame to do a brand new scope still under warranty! The only other option I have come up with is changing the focuser to a Skywatcher Low Profile Dual Speed Focuser For Newtonian Reflectors. Could anyone out there shed any light on this before I spend another £130 on the new focuser. Thanks -
Need Help Finding a Pair of Binoculars That Suite My Needs
JAFULTON posted a topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
Hi guys and gals, I recently purchased a pair of Nikon Aculon 10-22×50 Zoom binoculars for around $179 and I'm pretty disappointed with them. I live in Semi-rural northeast Texas and was looking for a good pair of binoculars for a casual stargazer like myself. I thought these would be the perfect pair, I was wrong. The field of view is pretty small and the focus is annoying. The view is like tunnel vision at 10× and too dark at 22×. Do any of you individuals have any helpful suggestions on what exactly I should get that suites my individual needs? I am looking for something that won't break the bank (under $300), has a large field of view, would allow me to see the moons of Jupiter, the Andromeda Galaxy, starclusters, nebulae, and maybe some of the Messier Objects? Also, without a tripod needed. I would like something that is comfortable on the eye and easy to hold. Its asking a lot, I know. But I'm hoping some of you who are more knowledgeable on the subject would be able to help me out? Thanks. -
Need help getting started with observing dso on a budget
azathoth posted a topic in Getting Started General Help and Advice
Hello, I'm very new to the practice of astronomy and my interest is with deep sky objects, I very much prefer "goto" type telescopes. Im just looking for a decent set up for visual observations of dso's and I have no idea where to start to look, please help! ( 500$ budget ) -
8" reflector vs small APO refractor
Ardoamros posted a topic in Getting Started General Help and Advice
Greetings stargazers, I'm considering buying a new telescope (my first telescope) for astrophotography, and some visual astronomy. But I can't decide which type should I get. I mainly want to photograph deep sky objects. After testing some variations in Stellarium I am worried that some deep sky objects won't fit into the aperture of an 8" reflector. I'm wondering which type should I get. And also I'm worried that I won't be able to photograph anything with a small refractor because I live near a city. I am also open to any suggestions for a beginner astrophotography telescope. (around 800$ would be perfect) Thank you:) I apologise if I made any writing mistakes. Edit: I'm considering buying a Bresser Messier 203/800 or a William Optics Zenithstar 61 but I'm still open to any suggestions. -
Hi, I've been into astrophotography for several years now, but I can't seem to make much improvement between images. Looking at the images in the Deep-Sky section with clean, white galaxies and perfect smooth backgrounds has got me thinking about what I'm doing wrong. I know I can achieve better images with the setup I've got, and I really want to improve in time for the summer nebulae. Is there any advice anyone can give? This is a diagram of my setup. My 1000d is modded. I use PHD drift align, and with that running my guiding is to within 2 seconds. I use APT for dithering and image collection, DSS for stacking, and GIMP 16-Bit for processing. A quick note at this point -- ive heard lots about StarTools and other programs, what is the best choice program which wont cost a few hundred pounds? Collimation has always been a bit of a difficult one for me, I've tried using both a Cheshire and a laser, but I never seem to get properly coma or gradient free images. These are the kind of results I'm getting--the main issues I can see are horrible backgrounds (dithering doesn't seem to be able to remove the dark frame scratches) and really grimy colour, but there is also coma and gradient/vignette which refuses to be corrected by flats. (I take my flats through some white fabric pointing at notepad open on my laptop.) A big issue for me has always been imaging time--where I live the council turns off the lights each night at midnight. For some reason, although I will often have the setup running from midnight until 3 in the morning, everything seems to go wrong after an hour. For example, the guiding crashes, or a glow appears in the images and wont go away, or hundreds of aircraft seem to pass overhead and streak everything . As the setup became more and more complicated, it began to take more and more time to set up: last imaging session it took 2.5 hours from opening the garage door to starting the first proper exposure. This makes everything far more difficult and time-consuming. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how I can solve these issues, or just improve my imaging in general? Thanks for looking John
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I have seen a great local offer for a national geographics telescope 76/700, but the catch is that the view finder is broken, is it possible to replace this?
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My Orion Starseeker IV mount has recently started acting weirdly in that it will continue to spew even after the movement buttons have been released, this will then render all buttons on the handset useless as nothing will work until it is switched off and on again. I contacted Orion and they claimed it may be faulty optical encoders but they haven’t yet replied on how I can fix it and I don’t really want to pay too much to fix it. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could fix it myself?
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Hi I'm in desperate need of help! I have just brought a 2nd hand Skywatcher 127 mak. Have checked the collimation and it appears ok, have left the telescope out in the open for an hour and have a nice dew cover for it. However I can't get the tracking sorted, the view finder is a nightmare and overhead objects I'm almost on my back, but worse of all I've just had a look at Jupiter which admittedly is low down in the sky but I can't get it to look more than a bright star. I have tried 10,15,25mm lenses and a Barlow but it just appears as a bright dot. When I do increase the size it goes out of focus and you get a circle with the black dot in the centre. I have read great things about this scope but it's hopeless for dso cos you can't find them and I fear the planets will be hopeless as well given what I've experienced with Jupiter. How on earth do you get planets large enough to see a bit more detail other than a dot of light? I think I will sell the scope on and just get a good pair of binoculars. Any advice?
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All I have with my celestron c102-AZ is a finderscope and a 20mm lense. What are a few barlows/ lenses/ accessories that I need or should have. My budget is about 500$ or less. The c102-AZ takes 1.25" lenses/ barlows.
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At 22:15 BST this evening I was taking a tour of the terminator and, as I was studying the vicinity of what I think was Sinus Iridium I saw a very bright smudge to its North West. I managed quite sharp focus on the crater edges but the bright smudge woukd not resolve. Studying my lunar map I beleieve the smudge was either on the edge of Foucault or Hacpalus (Foucault if Hacpalus was disected by the terminator). I have no idea what I was looking at but, it looked almost like ejecta catching the sun as it settled back to the lunar surface. Madness I know but.........
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Unsure of Eyepieces and Moon Filter
BeginnerNeedsHelp posted a topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
Hello! I recently bought a Vivitar 76700 on a whim because it was on a sale. I've been able to get it to work alright, but was having trouble viewing the moon because of its brightness, so I ordered a moon filter. In doing research I found that 1.25" is the most common and it seemed that's what would fit mine. It arrived today and in trying to test it, the moon filter is too big to be compatible with any of the eyepieces/tubes. I have googled endlessly and 1. cannot seem to find any smaller moon filters or 2. find any explanation for why it doesn't fit the eyepieces that came with the scope, or really any extra information on the telescope. I know that most of the reviews say this model is not great, but I'm not using it for anything serious. Like I said, bought it really cheap on a whim. I'd like to be able to use this moon filter and not have to return it or get a new one. I read a review that said this telescope model is compatible with 1.25" eyepieces but I don't see how that could be the case because the 1.25" moon filter seems too big for any part of the viewing apparatus. Does anyone know anything more about this particular telescope? Or if there is some kind of adaptor I could use to make this work for me? Thank you! -
Ok so last night I was out using my son's powerseeker 60 looking at stars when I decided to try and take some pictures through it with my smartphone. I was going through my pictures today and seen this one which caught my eye. My question is is it just a bad out of focus picture or did I photograph a deep sky object? I' too new to know ,and I'm just using his telescope to start to learn the sky while waiting for mine to come in. One picture is the whole photo and the other is zoomed in a little bit.
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Does anyone have experience with a celestron sky portal? The app says i need to purchase starsense auto align which costs a lot while the sky portal wifi module connects to wifi for one third of the price. Do they both accomplish the same thing? can I just get the lesser expensive one to accomplish connecting my telescope to my phone via wifi? Any experience or help would be much appreciated.
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I am looking at buying an older 1993 version of this model and wondered if anyone had any comments on its performance. Does it have autostar, I don't think it has gps but can you fit one in the way you can for a camera. are the optics good
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This is kind of dumb, but so am I. I've noticed that some people have a little signature or excerpt that is always at the end of every post describing their telescopes or equipment and wondered how I would add one. Excuse my ignorance, I am very new to this site
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Found a old Celestron 21066-wos-a
Revilo posted a topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
Hi all, was just going through the garage to find something and had come across my dads old Celestron telescope the ,model of the scope says it’s a 21066 wos a. The focal length is 900mm and aperture is 2.3”. Was wondering if any of you knows something about this telescope? I’m guessing it’s not that great. here’s a few pictures of it. Olly. -
Just seeing big grey blobs when viewing planets
Kelvan posted a topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
I've had my telescope (the Galileo G-872 refractor) for several years now and have been able to view planets in quite a bit of detail such as the rings on Saturn and the red spot on Jupiter. But recently every time I have tried to focus in on any planets (I've tried Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) all I get are big grey dots. I am still able to focus on the moon with great detail but the planets still remain to be big grey dots. I have tried several times over the past few weeks in all different conditions and locations, I've cleaned the lenses, I've tried all of my different lenses and attachments and nothing works! I would really appreciate some help from someone who is maybe a bit more experienced in these matters than I. -
Should I take an old Skywatcher skyliner 200p for €200 Or a new one for ~€300-400? the old one is black(not a flextube) which should I take?
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Hello, which telescope do you recommend?
Tof1234 posted a topic in Getting Started General Help and Advice
Hello. So i am very new to the world of astronomy and i just want to stargaze. I would like a telescope to look at the Moon in decent detail and maybe some other planets too and some stars too. I type this to get some help. Below i have multiple options for telescopes. I am on a strict budget, under $50 and i want a telescope that just does the job. i do not need any extreme scope just one that'll do the things mentioned above. Here are the options: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360-x-50mm-Reflective-Monocular-Astronomical-Telescope-Space-Spot-Scope-Tripod/132194688993?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D43781%26meid%3D9616727f6af84b67ad88a06df4fed9bb%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D152515267398 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Performance-700-76-Reflector-Astronomical-Telescope-NEW-UK-FAST-DELIVERY-/191464648175?hash=item2c942eadef:g:6gEAAOSwBahVaDII http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/900-60-Reflector-Astronomical-Newtonian-Performance-Telescope-60x900mm-Silver-/262966529588?hash=item3d3a06ce34:g:QRMAAOSwurZZNgwR Which one of those will be the most suitable for me and which one would you recommend. BTW, i live in Birmingham, UK. -
So I am very new to gazing the night skies and I have a very important question about equipment / lenses for what I'm trying to do. PLEASE keep in my that I have tremendous respect for the entire universe (whatever and however I may see it, it's just amazing) but my preference in my new hobby is just to view the Planets & our Moon. I'll start off by first saying that I bought the Celestron 8se Goto Scope (8") from Amazon along with 8mm to 24mm Baader Planetarium zoom lense, 2.5x & 3x Barlow lenses and a new Telrad finder scope. I spent over $1,800 and tried for the past week in the evening under clear night skies viewing Venus & Mars. Then at about 4:00am to 6:00am in the morning viewing Jupiter. In all cases for the past week and a half Mars, Venus & Jupiter were clearly seen and they were correctly centered and focused in my eyepiece. I had no success in seeing any features on either planet with using 6mm up to 24mm lenses (with and without the Barlows). I did see Jupiter focused and managed to see three moons. However, very in focus but still just no features! Obviously, the Moon was seen with great features in every case. (Simply incredible for the first time!) So of course I hit the Google button and searched this forum for hours! I ended up sending everything back to Amazon for a refund. I know by this point you must think I'm very impatient but 95% of my search results stated that I do not need an 8" scope or this type of scope just for viewing the Solar System if I'm not really interested in viewing Deep Space objects (which is my current preference). And I pretty much don't need the Goto features of the 8se (which is very difficult to allign anyhow) as I can easily identify any planet and of course, the Moon in the night skies. For the money I spent, I was really hoping to see alot more than just focused colored circles. However, it was very cool just knowing I was viewing these planets for the very first time but not worth the $1,800. Finally, the reason for this post is to ask the more experienced Astronomers to recommend the best sensible telescope / lenses to purchase for just viewing Planets. Thank you in advance for any help and taking your time to read this as I'm very anxious to purchase something new this week. (I got back my $1,800 but I'm not looking to spend it all, lol) Please, give me your best recommendations!
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What happens if the universe expands faster than the speed of light?
Patrick2568422 posted a topic in Physics, Space Science and Theories
Eventually, due to "dark energy", the universe will be expanding so quickly that it will break the speed of light. This, if I am not wrong, already happened at the beginning of the universe for 10 to the power of -43 seconds. So, what will happen once the universe is expanding at that speed. Will the laws of objects moving faster than the speed of light apply (mass increasing, time slowing down ect.)? I have to stress I am my no means an expert on the matter, if anyone could point out mistakes in this question please do. All answers would be much appreciated. -
Good morning everyone, Just to start out, a little about me: I'm US Navy stationed in Sicily, Italy, originally from lower Alabama. I've always been an Astronomy geek, pointing out the stars and planets to friends at night....nothing beats a calm, windless, clean night out in the middle of the ocean. Other than what I've picked up over the years sky watching and reading, I've recently finished up my second semester of Astronomy so I have a decent understanding of the sky....but I know bare minimum about telescopes. I never owned my own telescope and it's been a while since I've looked through one. I did some research and almost bought an entry model celestron a few years bac, but didn't. I like to consider myself beyond beginner, so I'm looking for an intermediate level scope. I've done several telescope finders and seen several reviews. On a budget of under $1,000, but would rather stay closer to $500. I want to see the moon yes, but more interested in the planets and deep sky objects. I will be traveling with it...by traveling, I mean driving about an hour or more to get to a nice dark field. With that I've eliminated a dob, as an option. I'm looking for something that will fit in my car, and a grab n' go/no hassle. My main question is does a newtonion/reflector type require much maintenance? like if I pack it up and drive to spot am I going to be fumbling with it in the dark, trying to get a clear picture? I really want something no-hassle and spend more time viewing than aligning. The reflectors get more aperture for the money over refraction type. Astrophotography is possible, once I get more comfortable and can afford it, ill get a mount, but other than that a simple iPhone snap will suffice. That brings me to my next point, I'd like to explore and would rather spend the money for a good view, than the motorized mounts. Are the motorized mounts really worth it? I also planned on getting a eye-piece/filter kit. So, I've narrowed it down to the Celestron Omni XLT 120mm- the entire Omni line keeps popping up best reviewed/high rated lists; The Orion SkyView Pro 8". Like I said I also plan on getting a filter/eyepiece kit. Any other options or are these good?: no-hassle, decent deep sky/good planet view, $500-$1000 budget (including eye-piece kit), fit in a car. It's my first telescope, so I want the best bang for the buck, not a beginner scope. I'm an adept learner so I'm not scared off by non-computerized mounts (and I want to learn to use without it). Thank you for the help!
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Whenever i add the erecting eyepiece to my telescope, the view goes black!
Wojtekwayne posted a topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
I only just got my telescope and have not yet had a clear night sky but during the day i can see light through the telescope but when i add the erecting eyepiece, the view goes black. anybody know why??? -
Watch Mixed with meteorite - trying to get more people to look up (need advice)
JamesG posted a topic in The Astro Lounge
Hi There, I hope I have found the right place to post but I am 23 years old (living in Manchester, UK) and have a mission to try and get more of my generation to take the time to look up. I want more people to share my passion and get as excited about the universe as I do. For the last 2 years, I have been working to create a watch which is made with meteoite, to serve as a daily reminder, so people take the time to look up and put all their worries and concerns into perspective. I am reaching out to this staregazing community for help and advice, how I might do this better, also I am hoping to learn and get some feedback - I would love hear what you think of it. In other news I am looking to buy my first telescope and I would be open to as much help on that too! Either way thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to hear from some of you soon James
