Help

[DAVE098]

I'm new to astronomy and I'm slowly finding my way round the stars. I'm really struggling to align my scope, I've a skywatchers synscan125. Can anyone give me some advice on how to do it. Also, I would like to view some galaxy's, nebula etc, but need bait of advice on what magnification to use. Thanks to anyone who could help me, and hope u all have a good Xmas and new year. Pleasant viewing everyone.

[E621Keith]

I haven't heard of a Synscan 125 so I will assume it's a typo and you have a Synscan 127 Mak. I don't use a Skywatcher so I can't help you on the alignment procedure. However check your date input. Some scope uses the American date format of MM/DD/YYYY instead of the International DD/MM/YYYY, if you get that wrong it can mess up the alignment.

As for eyepiece, I'd suggest a 25mm to get 56x. It'd be even better if you have longer eyepiece to get a lower magnification. If you haven't seen any yet, you should try the Orion Nebular M42 and Andromeda galaxy M31. They are the brightest DSO, so they will give you some idea what to expect when looking at nebulae and galaxies. Basically faint grey smudges. Do not expect views like photos in magazines or Internet. These photos are taken by combining several hours of exposure, so they show details far too faint for human eyes to see.

If you live in a city, get a light pollution or nebula filter. It will improve contrast by cutting down sky glow. If possible, travel to the dark country side to observe.

[nightfisher]

have you downloaded stellarium, the brilliant software that shows you whats in the night sky, and where to look, oh its free

[DAVE098]

Thanks for your help, will give it ago.