Whats viewable

[MartinJH]

So ive just been out with the 150p, I must warn you to ignore my slightly biased amatuer ignorance, but I was a little disapointed :/.

Using the stock 150p setup (10mm&25mm eye pieces) what was viewable was tiny bright stars.

I wasnt expecting to see Nebulaes but I seem to be missing something, is it worth purchasing a Barlow.

I have seen some good shots on here of Saturn and the like, so was wondering what I should do next.

[Bazzaar]

Er. find Saturn?

[paul schofield]

Hi MartinJH, I found using my Tal x 2 Barlow and my 9.7mm eyepiece made a great difference when viewing Saturn, Jupiter and I only have a S.W 130P. The Barlow improved the view greatly.

[MartinJH]

Hi MartinJH, I found using my Tal x 2 Barlow and my 9.7mm eyepiece made a great difference when viewing Saturn, Jupiter and I only have a S.W 130P. The Barlow improved the view greatly.

Thank you Paul, i'll look into it .

[umadog]

I'm not sure what your question is. Your scope is more than capable of showing you all sorts of different nebulae: you just need to know where to point the scope. Go buy yourself a copy of "Turn Left at Orion" and start working through it. Being in Wales you've got relatively good access to dark skies. Once you know where a few things are, head out somewhere darker. That'll make more difference than anything else.

[MartinJH]

I'm not sure what your question is. Your scope is more than capable of showing you all sorts of different nebulae: you just need to know where to point the scope. Go buy yourself a copy of "Turn Left at Orion" and start working through it. Being in Wales you've got relatively good access to dark skies. Once you know where a few things are, head out somewhere darker. That'll make more difference than anything else.

I apologise for the first post I was in a narky mood last night:/.

On a better note I have orderd a 2x Barlow anyway so that should be coming soon.

There is deffiantly a few sweet spots around here, I have some in mind with zero light polution so providing friday/saturday night are clear and the barlow has arrived i'll spend a bit longer observing.

[Capricorn]

The reason you saw tiny bright stars was because that is whet the scope was pointing at.

If someone walked up to you and said: "You've got a telescope can you tell me where Saturn is." Could you do it?

Because if you cannot then you cannot point the scope at Saturn.

I know someone that can tell you just about every star, tell you the constellations, details of the stars, where nebula, clusters galaxies are, and details of those. They don't own a scope, as best I can tell never have. Owning a scope does not make you an astronomer.

Have you aligned the finder and the main scope? Otherwise aiming the finder at something is not going to accomplish much. After that comes knowing where to aim the finder.

[bish]

It's a very good scope but does take time and practice. As mentioned above Saturn under good conditions at a reasonable magnification is excellent. The moon is great too. Galaxies and nebula will generally be a bit underwhelming visually but there is great satisfaction in finding DSO's. Dark skies make all the difference. I had a great view of the veil nebula with my old 150p from kielder (with a contrast filter) but can't see it from my garden with the 250p. There are some nice open clusters to keep you busy too. keep at it, get a book and stelarium (and some bins if you can).

[umadog]

You don't need a barlow. You need a star atlas.

[AlphaRob]

You don't need a barlow. You need a star atlas.

I have to agree with this! A star atlas, planisphere, or downloading Stellarium (free bit of software, very good) is the best bet, then next time you're out, before you use your scope, spend a bit of time finding the constellations if you haven't already!

Even at this time of year in a light polluted area the 10mm EP will show Saturn with its rings and at least one moon. You'll be able to see M13 the globular cluster in Hercules with the 25mm EP, it'll look like a fuzzy patch bigger but fainter (well it is 25000 ly away ) than the surrounding stars. You can also try splitting a binary star like Albireo in the constellation of Cygnus. On higher mag it'll appear as two stars very close to each other but with different colours.

Another couple of seemingly obvious things but mistakes I made, find objects with lower magnification first, then change EPs for higher power, and check the alignment of your finder scope. Mine was out to start with and I couldn't find a thing

Happy hunting

[Moonshane]

hi Martin

My first recommendation is get a Telrad not a barlow. This will dramatically enhance your ability to point the scope where you want it. in conjunction with your standard finder (right angle finder even better) you'll be finding things in no time.

Next, have a read of my thread http://stargazerslounge.com/observing-reports/147053-superb-night-despite-light-s.html. This is really written for my own notes but I always upload them to help people put together an observing list for an evening if they are not too sure what to go for and using a scope of the same aperture as yours.

I am not an expert but very enthusiastic as you'll read! The two publications mentioned are also highly recommended.

Good luck

Shane

[umadog]

Big +1 on the Telrad.

[todd8137]

hi what was you thinking of seeing did you research the scope and ask others what they see? you should see lots with that scope? doubles clusters gobs nebula do you live real close to street lights ?

[swamp thing]

You don't need a barlow. You need a star atlas.

Totally agree with this.

If I were you I would point my scope at Cygnus then just wander across the Milky way down to Scorpius.

Use your low power eyepiece and enjoy the view.

Your bound to bump into star clusters and other interesting stuff on the way.

Then look em up in your new star atlas and see what you've observed.

I would get the Telrad after the star atlas.

Regards Steve