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Showing results for tags 'help'.
Found 81 results
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help First telescope. Meade LX90
Jimmystargazer posted a topic in Getting Started General Help and Advice
Hi all. Joined the formum last night after my first use of the Meade LX90 telescope. It was a decently clear night and managed to take a look at the moon but very little else.. Maybe I had massively high hopes of the performance of the telescope but I was very much under awed by the occasion. I couldn't afford a new scope so this was delivered used with a single 26mm eyepiece, no erecting prism. Also paid extra for a variable polarising moon filter. I tried my hardest to align the telescope but failed time and time again due to the fact that the stars selected by the telescope I couldn't really see.. I did a decent amount of research before selecting this telescope and have seen what it can do.. just isn't doing for me at the moment. So I would love anyone's input as to what I should do next. I assume I need more eyepieces. I get that from reading other threads on this forum. By the way.. reading the forum really encouraged me to join as you all seem amazingly helpful and so enthusiastic. I remember having a scope as a kid and it just made stars look a little bigger.. Hence I really hoped that this purchase would blow that experience out of the water.. Not yet.. but with your help and input I'm hoping I've made a good scope choice that will give amazing results in the very near future. I have three young kids and yes I bought the scope for me, but also for them too. I want to be able to point at the nights sky and say.. that star up there is actually Saturn... wanna see it's rings? Then show them using the telescope.. I will stop there.. thanks in advance for any help and advice you may give. Currently jimmystarblurredgazing.... Hipefully with your help and input to become... jimmystargazer.. -
Hi there! I’m looking forward towards purchasing a new wide FOV eyepiece from FLO (first light Optics ) and I do to know which one to pick! i will be using it on my f/6 8” Skywatcher dob and hoping to get good views of the Orion’s nebula , (large nebulae in general) andromeda and others. I ve heard the panaview 32mm is a good choice but I d like to know about the other options as well. I would like the budget to be around 100€ Clear skies, Kronos.
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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 -
Sooo after coming back from holidays(have been gone for a month and a half) i discovered that i had forgotten to use the lens caps to protect my Panaview 32mm from dust.... turns out, its dirty.Me having no idea what a "multiple element lens eyepiece " meant , learnt the hard way. I unscrewed the bottom part of the eyepiece and 2 lenses and a tiny ring came out... not knowing in how to put them in, tried a bunch of different ways, and still the eyepiece view was still bad.(couldnt even focus on daylight objects) after messing with it for a bit 3-5 more lenses came out. Now my 100$ eyepiece is totally screwed up and i have No idea how to fix it. I m panicking so much and i have absolutely no idea what to do. I hope i ddnt screw the lens up... if anyone thinks they can help me, i m gonna make a system in which you can tell me how to put the lenses back So lets name the first group of parts depending on their place from left to right : A(The first lens ), B(the ring) and C( The Thrid lens) , now, these i have no idea how to place them correctly (have in mind that A Is curved , if it gives you any information) The next 4 pieces you see are D(The thick ring), E(The big lens) F (the other ring) and G(the final lens) Here is a picture of each piece from both up side and bottom side First will be up and second would be down If anyone could give me instructions to as how i can put everything back together , i would be greatful (Uploading pictures in a bit)
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Hey guys! Its been 8 months since i ve started the hobby of astronomy.I would like to dig deeper now,i am looking for a book in astrophysics that involves mostly formulas and mathematics.With so many books in the market its hard to defferentiate science books from just books with information about the subject Thanks! -Kronos
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Hi, this question has probably been done to death here, but can I ask the community to help me decide on a new camera? After struggling with my very glitchy QHY5LIIc camera for a while, as well as having a forced break from astronomy, I have decided to get a new camera. After all the problems I've been having with the QHY, I really don't want to use this manufacturer again. I know lots of people use them quite happily, but once bitten ... I have been looking at the ZWO cameras - OSC, as I haven't the time, clear skies, or patients to do LRGB imaging! I have about £250 to spend, which I may be able to push to £300 if I wait a bit. ? So I've been looking at the ASI224MC, ASI290MC and the ASI178MC cameras. I mainly do planetary/Luna imaging, but I have also dabbled in a bit of DSO and would like to continue with both. I have a C9.25 and a ST80 guide scope. I know these aren't ideal for DSOs but please humour me! I think from the specs/information that the 224 is probably the best option. Although the resolution and QE are the worst of the three, the well depth and read noise are the best and the fps is pretty good too. I don't know if there are better/cheaper cameras using the same chips, such as Altair's range. I just don't want to make the same mistake that I did with the QHY!n Any help/advice you can give will be much appreciated.?
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Hello everyone, As you can probably tell I’m brand new to the community. While I’ve been passionate about space related topics for my whole life, I’ve finally taken the leap and I’m about buy a simple astrophotography rig. Ive done a fair bit of research and, like many, I’ve decided that the William Optics Zenithstar 61 APO refractor is best suited for my situation. I plan to use my canon 600D/T3i as the main imaging camera and I also plan to use the Skywatcher Star Adventurer as a tracking mount for this scope. However I have a few questions: 1: I seem to be confused about how I should connect my DSLR to the Z61. As far as I’m aware, all I need is a T-ring and the WO Flat 61 Field flattener and I should be good to go. Is that correct? 2: will I need a dovetail bar to mount the Z61 to the star adventurer? Or can I directly mount the z61 to the base of the star adventurer? (This was demonstrated by Trevor Jones from astrobackyard with his Z61 and the ioptron Skyguider Pro.) Sorry for such a long thread; I’d just hate to finally get all my gear together and find out that some gear is incompatible. Thanks for the help! -
Probably a stupid question... Heyyy soo i am a begginer and about to buy my first telescope.A Skywatcher 200 p. I ve just though of something , Since i know filters can be stacked i ve been wondering if i could take visual RGB filters and stack them.Specifically blue green and red in order to create a visual full colour image ,like photography. I know its probably a stupid question because people all over the world would have done this by now .But i m just curious. -Kronos
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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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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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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. 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. -
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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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. -
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. -
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??? -
Hello all, I have just joined and have been looking around, and putting in various searches to find the answer to my question(s). I have already found some valuable information, but i can't find a specific answer to a question i have relating to exposure times. I have shot the milky way several times before, from a tripod and a wide angle lens. I am aware of and understand the "500 rule" and that worked fine for me at first when i was shooting with my Canon 6D Mark II. When i moved over to the Sony A7III i noticed significant trailing using the same rule and that led me to the NPF rule (Via the photopills app incase people dot know). I am heading back to Tenerife once again in about 6 weeks time and want to buy a star tracker so i can get some really detailed images. I have done a fair bit of research and in principle, the whole thing doesn't seem to be too daunting or difficult. I have purchased the Polar Scope Align Pro app so i can align Polaris as accurately as possible, i will practise putting the unit together and familiarising myself with the different parts etc, but it is the exposure times that i do not understand. My best glass is the Carl Ziess 50mm F/1.4 Planar, the 18mm F/2.8 Batis, the Sigma 35mm F/1.4 Art & the IRIX 15mm F/2.4 Blackstone. I currently do not own, nor have i ever used a tracker, and I cannot find any information relating to which aperture, ISO and Shutter length any of these focal lengths should or could be shot at. Is there anything similar to the 500 rule or NPF rule that relates to using a tracker with varied focal lengths? or is it just a case of stepping the lens down for sharpness and then trial and error? Thanks in advance, Matt.
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This is maybe my 3rd attempt at a galaxy and I am trying to figure out the best way of doing it since I live in a red zone of London suburbs. I took this over 2 nights (well, 1.5 really, as my guiding wasn't working and plate solver wouldn't comply after meridian flip...) with my 8" EdgeHD SCT with 0.7x reducer and Atik 490X. Around 20 Luminance subs at 10 mins each (1x1) and around 15 RGB subs at 5 mins each, but binned 2x2. I use Astrodon filters but also have an LP filter permanently in my image train. Question: should I only use RGB and create a synthetic L channel, given LP, or continue trying with the actual luminance? Gradients are horrible with luminance but RGB doesn't have as much detail (only red filter seems to be more sensitive). My stars are all over the place (colours pop out everywhere, in the wrong way), how can I control this better? Also, as I wrote, the red filter seems to have much more detail than the rest and when I add all the channels into PS, the red colour just overpowers everything (and in general, how can I keep the star colours as they are and not have the red and blue go crazy - I am not sure the name for it, but it looks like chromatic aberration on steroids). Any other general tips would be great... Thank in advance. GFA PS: I cheated with the core: just changed the temperature to make it look a bit more glowy; for some reason, I barely had any yellow colour from the data...I will post stacked images, if of interest. -
This is probably my options as of now:I will definetly buy a 12mm BST Starguider A 2X BST Barlow( So thats 100x and 200x magnification) AND Either: 15MM BST STARGUIDER VS 25MM STARGUIDER My dobsonian telescope will include:A 25mm and 10mm Eyepiece . So the obvious awnser is to go for the 15mm BUT i ve read in reviews that the bst s have are noticabely better than the eyepieces that come with my telescope.So i am wondering, should i buy the 25mm or the 15mm BST? Also is it worth to barlow either 25mm eyepiece to make 12.5mm and ditch the 12mm i am definetly buying for a 6mm one? i am thinking not because if i barlow the 6 mm it will give me 400x and i think that is too much magnification for the image to appear clear , plus i will also barlow the 10 mm to give me a 240x the acceptable limit for good clarity / magnification ratio (i ve read that and not sure if its true or not). Thanks again for your time and help! This forum has been very polite, welcoming and kind to noobs like me just getting into the hobby XD I hope i can one day look back at myself and laugh at my ignorance! This site has been truly amazing and i hope i can stay a member for a long time to come! Thanks as always Clear skies everyone Kronos -
I live in south Wales valley so what planisphere do I get
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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! -
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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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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Hello everyone! Newbie here, Just registered after looking around the net, trying to find answers! I've always been interested in stargazing, never got a scope, though, Until now, Me and my 6year old decided to get one, I got an Astromaster 130eq, for free, as it has a broken leg brace, and the eyepiece was toast, (I bought a new eyepiece, and got a leg brace on the way) The eyepiece I got, Was a generic brand, and it's a 40mm one, (I got a 40mm one as the broken one was also 40mm) Today me and my son got our first look at the Moon, which we both loved! Now however, I've been looking at getting some better eyepieces, From what I've seen, I believe a 10mm would be better for looking at the Moon? I've seen them from 4mm up to 40mm, And I'm unsure as to what I'm looking at:S Obviously we'd like to view all sorts of things, But as with a lot of people, being on a budget means I gotta be smart with what I get, so any suggestions would be well received! I think I've read something about certain eyepieces work better for certain scopes, And I don't really know much about the one we have, if it's any good for a starter etc, so any advice there would also be wonderful! Thank you for reading my longer than expected wall of text:D -Chris -
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
