Celestron Astro master 130 EQ and quite clueless.

[Loracoe]

Hi... I am new to astronomy and just got a telescope, I haven't been able to see anything except the moon, and having great difficulty in trying to focus it on an object such as a star, the red dot finder is not helpful at all. If anyone could help, that would be deadly.

[costeveol]

Hi Lorace,

What eyepieces are you using?

[Loracoe]

Ehm... Either the 10mm or the 20mm.

[costeveol]

Either should give you a good view of Saturn.

Do you know where to look in the sky? I can help you if you don't

When you say "focusing in on a star" is the image blurred - polo like or you just cant see it in the EP?

Finally (sorry for so many questions) Is the scope second hand or new?

[Bigdaddyjeff]

Hi Laracoe...my first scope was the astromaster 114eq which i had for christmas and i have managed to find my way around the nightsky...my first outing with it on Boxing night...i stumbled upon Jupiter...and when i say stumbled i literally mean we saw a bright 'star' and after setting the scope up to look at it saw a couple of moons along with it....so be don't lose heart or willing. You may need to collimate the scope and if you search the posts and threads on here you'll find a lot of info and guides on how to do it. Also think about downloading some software and as others will say on here Stellarium is as goos as any. I will agree about the red dot finder not being too much of a help tho

Gaz

[Loracoe]

Sorry, I mean I can't see anything, I can't find anything in the sky other than black. I have an idea where to look like I know Polaroid and some other constellations but I can't see them through the telescope. It's new I just got the whole thing a few weeks ago.

Ahh... I'm close to giving up at this stage. :L

[costeveol]

Don't give up - the rewards are too great.

The 10mm Eyepiece should only be used for Planets & the Moon until you get a bit more experienced.

The 20mm is the one to use on stars/dso's ect. This is not ideal - a 32mm would be better.

It sounds to me like the finder is not aligned properly, I agree with Big Daddy, red dot finders are not as good as finder scopes.

Get the moon centered in your eyepiece (it is currently rising in the south) and make sure the red dot is centred in the middle. Pick a star - Spica is the brightest one, directly above the moon to the right and try and get that in the EP. The next brightest object above that is Saturn and so on and so on. Download Stellarium - it is free and awesome!

If that doesnt work you may need to colliminate the scope (the mirrors are out of alignment)

Use the 20mm for everything - until you feel more comfortable then go for the 10mm.

Good luck

[John]

The key thing is to try and make sure that the red dot finder and the scope are pointing in exactly the same direction. It's best to do this in the daytime using a distant tree top, telegraph pole, chimney etc. Get the object (OK it will be upside downs !) right in the centre of your lowest power eyepiece (the 20mm) then, withouth moving the scope at all, you need to adjust the red dot in the finder so that it's pointing at exactly the same thing.

If you can achieve this then you can be resonably confident that, if you point the red dot at something or someplace in the night sky, that is where the scope is pointing and the 20mm eyepiece should show you a magnified view of that part of the sky.

Then you can use a star atlas or the free Stellarium software to find a interesting object (eg: Saturn), find it with your naked eye, put the red dot on it and you should see it in the eyepiece (which may need to be focused to get a sharp image).

If you have already done all the above then I think I can only advise you to re-check the alignment of your red dot finder and the scope.

[Loracoe]

Thank you guys very much.... Hopefully I'll find something tonight. :|