Newbie frustration

[Benzo]

I'm completely new to this hobby and have recently bought a Skywatcher Explorer 130 as my beginner's telescope.

Tonight was quite clear with a good view of the stars and also Venus and Jupiter.

Now I could see Venus through the Super 25 eyepiece but when I focused in, all I could see was the planet as I would see it with my own eyes, is this something to be expected of with this level of scope?

If I unfocused it, the secondary mirror came into view and I have no idea if this is normal.

Any help woud be really appreciated

[Atlas]

It's because your using the 25mm eye piece. That's for wide field viewing of stars and galaxies. If you get yourself a 10-6mm or a 10mm with a x2 barlow, you should get some nice detail on Saturn and Jupiter. The lower the eyepiece number, the stronger the magnification. But remember, anything over a 200x magnification will be pushing it with your 130mm aperture. Also what detail you see depends alot on atmospheric conditions.

[Benzo]

Thanks for replying.

I have both the 10mm and the Barlow lens.

I did try both in combination but saw aa big black nothing.

Would that just be down to the Finderscope not being correctly aimed?

[Atlas]

Most likely. When you increase the magnification, you lower your field of vision alot. They get easier to locate with practice. Also, with a barlow attached, you will lose some lightness in the object. you should still be able to see it with a 10mm and a barlow. just may have been a poor seeing night. Poor seeing conditions can happen even on a seemingly clear night.

[Qualia]

I'm a newbie as well, got my scope yesterday, and have been viewing from my window over a light polluted city in Spain and the observations have been spectacular. I say all this because we pretty much have a similar scope. But Venus will always be tricky, even a bigger telescope will see very much the same kind of thing as you or I, namely, a bright glare. Venus is cloaked in cloud, so you or any other won't ever get to see surface features.

[Atlas]

I'm a newbie as well, got my scope yesterday, and have been viewing from my window over a light polluted city in Spain and the observations have been spectacular. I say all this because we pretty much have a similar scope. But Venus will always be tricky, even a bigger telescope will see very much the same kind of thing as you or I, namely, a bright glare. Venus is cloaked in cloud, so you or any other won't ever get to see surface features.

Very true, even our top planetary imagers can only manage cloud patterns on Venus.

[scuffer]

Blackness due to not being aligned to Venus so yes make sure your finder scope is properly aligned, Venus to me is a very bright small ball and shows phases like the moon , also by the time you have changed eyepieces it will have moved out of view so you should find it it in your finder scope again and get it dead centre of the crosshairs .

[Stargazer33]

Hi Benzo!

I have recently bought my first scope and getting the finder scope aligned with your main tube is essential to finding small objects or things at high magnification.

I'm sure you have read how to do this - i.e. in daylight, pick a stationary object that is at least 500m away (the further the better) and get it centred in your main tube. Then adjust your finder scope until the cross hairs are right over the object.

I picked the finial on the top of a weather vain on a nearby church.

I did find however that I was off slightly so had to go back another day and align again. Also if you knock the finder scope or worse still remove it after using the scope you will have to set the alignment again.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Bryan

[Orion_the_Hunter]

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/80772-eyepieces-very-least-you-need.html

Have a read of the link above, I think you'll find it very useful.