How to use eyepieces/telescope

[Shaoz]

Hi All

I'm a newbie and I've just bought my Skywatcher 200p EQ5, so I'm inexperienced. I found the Orion nebula last night with a 25mm eyepiece and an Astronomik CLS filter, then decided to magnify it with a 10mm but the nebula and stars were still small. Please advice me on how to magnify what I'm seeing with eyepieces. Give me some tips, for example on how to view the Orion nebula clearly and bigger... e.g. what filters, eyepiece, etc to use. Sorry for the question but I'm still learning how to use my new telescope.

[ronin]

I will assume that the scope is f/6 giving a focal length of 1200mm.

The 10mm eyepiece will give 120x and the 25 will give 48x.

Both should give reasonable views of the nebula as it is effectively 1 degree across, twice the size of the moon. However looking at Wikipedia the whole of the nebula may be 1 deg whereas the central brighter part looks more like 1/4 of that, possibly a little less.

For more magnification there is only one route, a smaller focal length eyepiece, would not suggest a 5mm as it will not get too much use, a 7mm should be more useable. If you are in the UK then perhaps the BST 8mm but that is close to the 10mm and may not give the difference required.

I would suggest something other then a plossl, the eye relief at 7mm will be short and could be uncomfortable.

Next is the scope, have you collimated it? For decent performance the scope will need collimating at regular intervals.

Finally what are you expecting? People see highly processed hubble images and expect the same. The nebula will be small and it will be (in general) grey.

[cs1cjc]

Stars will remain points of light however much they are magnified but some of them turn out to have a companion or indeed companions.

[rwilkey]

A 32mm ep is the best for the Orion Nebula, can't imagine the Astronomik CLS filter would be much help as this is for photographic use, a UHC or OIII filter for visual use would be better, but I prefer unfiltered views on M42.

[Tiddles]

You may find faint objects just disappear as you up the magnification. You are only able to capture a certain number of photons from DSO's (governed by aperture). At low mags, these are concentrated into a smaller area in your fov and hence appear bighter. At high magnification these are spread out in your fov and will become fainter to a point that they may well disappear.

[Shaoz]

Thank you for your replies. Also I'm looking to get a UHC filter but don't know which brand to get. I read posts regarding UHC filters but cannot get straight answers. So what's the recommended UHC filters for Skywatcher 200p EQ5 out there?

Many thanks

[John]

The Skywatcher UHC is not bad. I also liked the Orion (USA) Ultrablock which is a UHC-type filter but a little more expensive than the Skywatcher. Remember that these filters benefit nebulae rather than other types of deep sky objects.

[DOBBY]

The Orion made OIII is the best I've tried...this 'table' may help you for UHC though...Castell UHC Deepsky Filter for 1.25-Inch Eyepieces [Castell-Duhc1] - 36.00 : 365Astronomy: Discovery for every day!

[rwilkey]

I use the SW UHC filter with my 200P, a very capable filter in my view. The Astronomica is also supposed to be very good, as is the Orion.

[Shaoz]

Thank you very much all. I appreciate... I decided I'm going to get a Skywatcher UHC filter for my first time, then progress from there. Wow...!!! using a telescope is really a big effort...

[stevetynant]

Thank you very much all. I appreciate... I decided I'm going to get a Skywatcher UHC filter for my first time, then progress from there. Wow...!!! using a telescope is really a big effort...

It can be an effort and frustrating at times but above all its a great learning hobby and a lot of fun

[newman]

Thank you very much all. I appreciate... I decided I'm going to get a Skywatcher UHC filter for my first time, then progress from there. Wow...!!! using a telescope is really a big effort...

Trying to figure it all out and do everything at once can be overwhelming and frustrating, yes. But here's the beautiful part; there's no hurry. Nobody's pacing you, the hobby is always going to be there whenever you feel like giving it some attention. Just take a deep breath and take it at a pace you feel comfortable with; it's a hobby you chose to spend your free time with, and it shouldn't be anything but relaxing.