First Telescope - Advice appreciated.

[markbmcfc]

Hi all,

Love this place, a great read so i've joined up.

I have my 1st Telescope, bought for me for Christmas.

Celestron NexStar 102GT.

Comes with it 4mm, 8, 12.5, 20, 25 eyepieces.

I decided to buy a Barlow x2.

I'm looking now for different things to buy that can make my viewing experience that much better. I have learned a lot from this forum, especially the reason why my 4mm with my barlow x2 just gave me a blur blob of jupiter! I didn't realise how to properly use the barlow, but i'm a simple kind of guy

So far, the best view i've had was looking at Jupiter and Saturn with my 12.5 Eyepiece with my Barlow. Haven't really looked at anything without the Barlow yet.

I'd like to know how I can now start to improve my viewing in terms of purchasing additional eyepieces and such like. I really want to get into Stargazing and want the most that my Scope can provide. Just seeing the two orange lines on Jupiter got me giddy. Saturn had me amazed for hours.

I'm not afraid to invest, though I cant afford to be spending hundreds yet, but im looking at getting some Supression Pads and some better eyepeices initally. Would really appreciate any advice in terms of eyepieces. Theres so many I really don't know where to start. I've read the guide on here, but I really need someone to say "Ok, heres the best 1.25" eyepieces, choose any of these"

In terms of what I want to see if that helps, I'd like to see some detail on the planets and if my scope is powerful enough (not sure if it is) some Nebula and the odd Galaxy. Pretty sure I saw Andromeda last night, I could see a tiny spiral looking fuzz, but that could have been anything if im honest, im very new to this!

Help! Ta

[John]

Hi and welcome to the forum !

You seem to have a decent range of eyepieces already - do you know what type they are ? (eg: plossls, MA's that sort of thing). It will help to know so we can see if there is room for any improvement.

What is the focal length of your scope ? - that will help to.

102mm scopes can see some detail on planets and see quite a lot of deep sky object like star clusters, nebulae and galaxies but most of the latter will appear as faint patches of light. There are a few exceptions but spiral structure in galaxies would be beyond the reach of your scope I feel - you need at least 8" of aperture and very dark skies for that.

[markbmcfc]

Hi and welcome to the forum !

You seem to have a decent range of eyepieces already - do you know what type they are ? (eg: plossls, MA's that sort of thing). It will help to know so we can see if there is room for any improvement.

What is the focal length of your scope ? - that will help to.

102mm scopes can see some detail on planets and see quite a lot of deep sky object like star clusters, nebulae and galaxies but most of the latter will appear as faint patches of light. There are a few exceptions but spiral structure in galaxies would be beyond the reach of your scope I feel - you need at least 8" of aperture and very dark skies for that.

Hi, thanks

Eyepieces, absolutely no idea what type they are, they came supplied with the scope from Costco. Celestron NexStar 102 GT Computerized Telescope - Telescopes

Is there any difference in terms of how they look? Sorry I couldnt be more help.

Focal length is 1000mm.

Dark skies - I have a little spot nearby on top of the Yorkshire moors which has very little light pollution. I'm often encountered by sheep as it's in a field but, the things we do for dark skies!

[Tinker1947]

You will be better of not using the barlow as it just adds more glass into the chain, and looking at the sizes, it half'es what ever you use it with, the 25, becomes a 12.5, ect ect, the only one it will make any difference to is the 4mm making it a 2mm with will properly just be a blur.

[John]

With a focal length of 1000mm, the 4mm eyepiece and the barlow lens will not be too useful as they will generate magnifications that are more than the scope and viewing conditions will take.

Buying new eyepieces will give slightly nicer views but won't revolutionise your viewing.

You could think about getting a UHC filter to make nebulae stand out a little better and a 32mm plossl eyepiece to give a low power, wide field of view for the larger deep sky objects like the Andromeda galaxy.

Other than that, try and observe under dark skies, not through a window (of course !) and keep practising observing different objects - as your eye gets more experienced you will be able to see the more subtle details and fainter objects a bit better.

[M4lcs67]

Hi markbmcfc. On one of your other threads you mentioned that you went up onto the Yorkshire moors to do your observing. Getting away from the light pollution is a surefire way of enhancing your experience. I live on the outskirts of Halifax and while the spectre of the dreaded sodium streetlights are around, my backgarden is pretty sheilded from them.

I have been contemplating the vibration suppresion pads myself, but cannot bring myself to part with the cash as I think they are a little pricey. I asked the question a few months back as to whether they were any good and the consensus is that they do actually work. It's down to if you can part with the money.

Also Hebden Bridge have their own Astronomical Society .http://www.hbas.org.uk/

Not too far from where you live. You could pop along and get some hint/tips and speak to them?

[M4lcs67]

Another thing you may consider investing in is the book Turn Left At Orion (Amazon). Everyone on SGL recommends it as the newbies bible.

[markbmcfc]

Thanks, will invest in a UHC and the Book!

My focal ratio is 9.8, so by doing the maths i'm looking for a 7mm, 12mm, 20mm and 30mm. I have an 8mm, 12.5m and 20mm in my initial set but I don't know how good they are.

I'd probably like to invest in a good 7mm and 30mm EP, but I don't know which types to go for.

In terms of brands, Celestron's, Vixen's etc - are any better than others?

I was looking at a 7mm Celestron X-Cel LX and a 30mm Vixen NPL EP. Are they any good?!

[todd8137]

hi and welcome ,sounds like you are push in the mag with the x2 barlow, i would stick with what you have at min get a good star atlas,phillips one or Cambridge star atlas ,every one harps on about turn left at orion,its ok ,but i would not rush out and buy it,a lot of peeps buy it ,and then find out its not the best ,and n one will tell ya that i they do no want to say that its a waste of time because they just paid 15/20 quid for it ,get the phillips star atlas i think its better than turn left at orion with its rubbish hand drawn pics

i would imagine now i will get shot down in flames

i will now take cover in the bunker

[Nosivad]

Hi, I have a celestron with the same Goto system as you. I find that, if I set it up correctly, it will accurately find many Messier objects and if you use the tour option it will show you loads of things, including some beautiful clusters and double stars.

I would buy a 30-35mm eyepiece with a wide field of view and a light pollution filter or UHC filter