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Yet another newbie

SpaceTarget

By SpaceTarget
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SpaceTarget

SpaceTarget

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Hi All

Been lurking for a few weeks. We've just bought a 130mm reflector and we've already developed the knack of being entirely lost in space.

Binoculars: "There it is".

Telescope: "Wha? Uh? Whereditgo? Is that it? Are you sure? No, wait. Arrgh! I turned the wrong knob again. Grrr...."

Only really had one clear evening so far, and much of that was spent prodding, poking and otherwise messing with the 'scope ("what does that bit do, then?") but we did manage to see Saturn's rings, which was a real "wow" moment.

And nobody really prepared us for how fast objects can move across the view at higher mags. It's like a video game, but darker, colder and with controls that were seemingly designed by a madman.

My better half is interested in DSOs. I'm more of a solar system type chap. Once the initial "wow" thing calms down I'll be looking to take a few pics.

So hello, and be ready for a thousand newbie questions. In the meantime, please can someone remove the clouds and arrange for the Earth to stop turning....

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. I enjoyed your commentary detailing your thoughts when trying to find an object - the thing is it never gets any better!:icon_salut::D The hardest thing to get used to is scale and the fact that through the finder or eyepiece, there are just so many more stars. There are some red dot finders (Rigel and Telrad) that help break that cycle break by allowing you to position the scope with one eye still on the night sky. This is particularly useful given that your normal finder will show you an inverted AND back to front image which doesn't help much when trying to work out which direction to point your scope. The unmagnified view afforded by the red finder is similar to that which you see on a star map which means that the red dot finders will get your 90% there, then your visual finder can close in, leaving you to fine tune at the eyepiece. Ii a perfect world the straight through visual finder can be replaced by a right angle one that only presents a back to front view (...one less thing to think about :D). Now it's all very well me spending your money with my suggestions but remember that these items can be used on other scope that you might want to upgrade to later on.

On the subject of what to look at and where it might be, I would suggest that you take a look at some free planetarium software called "Stellarium" which you can view here. Its easy to use with lots of "toys" to keep you occupied when its cloudy. It can be calibrated to your observation location and has a useful time/date advance feature which will help you plan your observation evenings. Hope that helps.

Clear skies

James

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marshy123

marshy123

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Welcome to SGL. You are about to experience the newbie joy I am still grappling with. Level tripod, polar align, knock into tripod, re-polar align etc. All worth it though when you see something truly amazing. Clear skies mate!

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SpaceTarget

SpaceTarget

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Wow! Thanks for the warm welcome. Not sure I've been on such an active forum before.

And thanks for the advice and encouragement. I should confess that we made things harder for ourselves by not bothering to polar align the 'scope so we were having to fiddle with both EQ controls at the same time. It felt a bit like riding one of those bicycles where the pedals and handlebars both work opposite to normal. Plus there is the fact that the image is upside-down, back-to-front, inside-out and "moving" so apparently simple instructions such as "travel down Orion's left leg" turn into an epic undertaking. I promise we will approach it in a more patient manner next time, assuming we ever get another clear sky! It just needs more time at the controls (and polar alignment).

Prior to getting the 'scope we had already discovered the delights of Stellarium and bought a pair of Olympus 10x50 bins. I know it's obvious but isn't it fantastic to look up at an "empty" bit of sky where Stellarium says there should be a cluster of 7 stars then to be able to see that cluster using only a pair of bog-standard binoculars?

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shellfish

shellfish

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Hi All

Been lurking for a few weeks. We've just bought a 130mm reflector and we've already developed the knack of being entirely lost in space.

Binoculars: "There it is".

Telescope: "Wha? Uh? Whereditgo? Is that it? Are you sure? No, wait. Arrgh! I turned the wrong knob again. Grrr...."

Only really had one clear evening so far, and much of that was spent prodding, poking and otherwise messing with the 'scope ("what does that bit do, then?")

LO and welcome :icon_salut::):D

DONT PUSH THE BIG RED BUTTON ;)

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