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First look at jupiter using argos telescope.


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Hi guys, So a couple of weeks ago my girlfriend got me a cheap newtonian 700x76 telescope from argos ebay. It cost the grand total of £27.99, she got it for me in all good intentions as she knew that i had always wanted one but been unable to afford one. After checking the internet it seemed to be generally agreed that my telescope was no more than a toy and would be useless. Last night was a lovely crisp clear night (the first in a week!) and it was with some trepidation and no expectations that i took my telescope into the garden. I lined up the viewfinder with what i believed was jupiter, then hunkered down for a look through the lens marked H20. A donut like blob greeted me! Heart sinking i turned the focusing knob and suddenly a glorious sight emerged, jupiter and her four galillean moons! I couldn't believe it! For the first time, with my own eyes i was seeing another planet, i felt like a 10yr old. This is a bit of ramble but here are my thoughts.

1: the viewfinder is a cheap nasty plasticky thing, very wobbly.

2:the mount is also a bit wobbly, but i stuck a bag of sand on it and it was fine.

3:The lens marked sr4 was all but useless, fit for the bin.

4:the h20 lens combined with the barlow lens gave me the best view.

5: Jupiter, although quite small, was lovely and crisp, two brownish stripes were clearly visible across it.

I can only imagine what it looks like through a decent telescope as i was blown away with what i saw and i even dreamt of it last night.

So there you go, the best 27 quid ever spent! Sorry if this is too long winded but i had to tell someone about it. Cheers, Col.

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If your happy then that's all that matters. You have started observing and now you have a first scope to help decide if astronomy will be for you. It will encourage interest and get you used to looking for night sky objects. I'm sure the moon will be impressive through it and you should be able to make out some star clusters and for sure M42 will be visible delight.

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hi and welcome to sgl ,the planets do have this effect i still never tire of it and always can not wait every year to pop up the said scope is a toy but if it did give you a great lift and the view of another world millions of miles a way it does not matter the price of it, i was looking my self last night at jupiter and it does make me smile every time at least you now no a small scope can do in terms of planets.

start saving for the big one if your interest lasts

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Excellent start, it's amazing how much or how little you can spend.

With your 20mm eyepiece and the 3x barlow you're magnifying 105x or 35x per inch. Which means you're magnifying almost as far as you can with the size of scope you've got, regardless of the quality, if it's all sharp at 35x per inch then you're doing fairly well.

Derek

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The opening post could be word for word my own experience of about a month ago. Having borrowed my brothers cheap 3" scope to look at Jupiter which was shining bright right outside my patio doors (admittedly a bit further away probably...)

Using the scope was as described above but then......blumming hell there's JUPITER!!!...and bands of cloud!!!!.....and moons....I can see 4 moons!!!!

I know own a 150mm Skywatcher + extra eyepieces + camera.

I wish you & your bank balance well!!! :-)

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congrats on your recent jupiter views. amazing isnt it. i tell work mates that they can make out jupiter and some moons with just binoculars,they just think im making it up.

theres much to consider when it comes to buying a telescope.read up as much as possible(stickies up the top of the forum help) and ask as many questions as you need. but something like a 6" dobsonian is actually very cheap nowadays.

good luck with your new found enjoyment.

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Sounds like you had fun...Try it on the double cluster down and left of the W that is cassiopea using just the 10mm eyepiece on its own...

Also have a go at Albeiro the double at the bottom of Cygnus before it sets. It should look lovely in your scope...

There are dozens of objects that will look great in your scope. Use it to get to know the sky..

Mark

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If it works then great.

Ultimately if the objective is fair and the eyepiece decent then as there should be little else other then air between them there isn't much to go wrong.

The tube and the finder may be plastic but those are just support and do nothing to the optics.

Have a go at the moon as soon as possible, since it is not full the views are often better.

If you intent to get a better scope then it may be reasonable to get yourself a reasonable eyepiece for the scope you have, views should improve. Idea being you can use it on the next.

As to a next scope it will heavily depend on the budget. If possible visit a local astro club and see what they have to look at and look through. That will give you some idea of what is available and may point you in one direction or another.

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I get up ever day at 4am as this is my best time for looking around.

Two weeks ago I was playing around with a old 400mm camera lens pull it to bits and put a 16mm lens in the back and I sit here every day looking out for abouth a hour and I love it . I have a SW250pds and use it under 5 hours in a year ,So for me the fun come from fast set up and not how much I can see.

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Good for you!

Sounds like you've got a scope that you can live with for a bit. My advice would be to save up and get as much use of your scope as you can decide until you decide what you are most interested in. Most people want a general purpose scope when they start in the hobby and I think a Newt is as good a place as any to start as they are fairly simple. As said above, you may already be at the limit of magnification but get to know the night sky and see what floats your boat. Scopes that are good for planetary are not so good for deep sky and vice-versa.

Maybe consider upgrading your EPs, but don't rush that either. Reasonably decent EPs can be had second hand for next to no money...

If you have an interest in astophotography then things change a bit. Save up for a good mount and go from there... but it's easy to spend big bucks!

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Great first light post, sheer enthusiasm regardless of equipment. When I saw Jupiter for the first time I shouted "wow". When I viewed Saturn I went completely silent! Don't know if anyone else felt these conflicting emotions?

Gotta say, my main interest is deep sky, but the first time you see the moon through a scope, Jupiter and the Galiaean moons, and Saturn's rings with your own eyes are to me very difficult to beat...

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Congratulations! You can't beat the feeling of finding something and viewing it for the first time. As others have said new eye pieces should make your scope a bit better but no need to rush as the universe isn't going anywhere. Just wait untill you get to see Saturn!! my biggest wow moment so far! :)

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Congratulations on your scope. Jupiter is never dull, no matter how many times you look at it.

The Moons is an obvious next target but also try looking up and finding M31 - The Andromeda galaxy (nearly two and a half million light years away!) , M42 - the Orion nebula and M45 - the Pleiades cluster.

Saturn will be around in the spring (or earlier if you are willing to get up at stupid o'clock!) and that's surely another show stopper.

Happy hunting!

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Hi and welcome to SGL

Your scope's aperture of 76mm / 3 inches is large enough to be useful for basic astronomy and by using the right eyepiece on the right object you will observe successfully.

The main problems with cheaper scopes are the tripod (wobbly), finder (inadequate), and eyepieces that push the magnifications too far for the aperture. You have addressed all of these problems so your scope should operate within acceptable limits and provide an excellent introduction to astronomy until you decide to upgrade.

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Hi Col,

A very similar story to mine except I bought the scope for my son and its a titchy 76/300; I'm now borrowing it pretty regularly and know that I need to get my own. Jupiter blew my mind when I first saw its moons - no bands but the moons were enough. Last night Orion rose and I found M42 - to be fair, I couldn't miss it - and I was blown away all over again :)

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AHh yes.. i started on a likkle 3inch reflector. the blue domed one that looks like a rocket ship. i then purchased a pair of binos and borrowed my mums spotting scope and now i'm a proud owner of a 10 inch dob!

and all i can think about is the 18-20inch Obsession scopes!

welcome to the SGL :)

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Everyones been brilliant, thanks guys! I was half expecting to get run out of town for having a "store" scope! And told to never darken this door again! I made the mistake of telling my workmates last night about seeing Jupiter and had to suffer 8 hours of Uranus jokes so its good that people here appreciated my enthusiasm (if not my equipment!)

I see that a lot of you have your equipment listed under your names so i might just put my beast of scope in there! And maybe the argos code for it!:)

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