new boy

[the bishop]

hi everyone,

just joined up,

i have to admit that i have visited the site in the past a couple of times and found it very helpful so have decided to jump in.

i have always wanted to know just what is what up there but after getting hold of a planisphere about 3 years ago dusting off a pair of 10x50 bins, getting a couple of books from the local library and a few coppies of the astromony now mag i havent looked back...just up.

i am truly amazed at how much i have picked up and how much there is out there!!

living in Cwmbran south wales we have some nice high and dark places but then lots of cloud to go with it.

as yet i have not moved into getting a telescope as i wanted to try and find my way around the sky first before going overboard, well that and i had a new lens for my nikon last year but... i do now have some bigger bins.

who said you cant teach an old dog new tricks...i suppose i class my self as a backyard stargazer, i would like to get a scope that i could attach my dslr to so if anyone has any advice then by all means pass it on coz if you dont ask questions you dont answers.

im looking forward to learning a whole load more from you all

gra...the bishop

[Skybrowser]

A warm welcome.

Try doing a search on here and you'll find exactly what you're after. I think that by taking your time, getting the planisphere out with the bins, you are on a perfect course to gradually progress and find your way further into this brilliant hobby.

Try downloading Stellarium (it's free) and it's really useful once you've got it set up - it's fairly straightforward and only takes a few minutes to set up.

[richbyers]

seconded on stellarium

also two skills to learn/read up on while you wait for your scope

1.star hopping

2.averted vision

these two are key to telescope visual astronomy

1.what it sounds like- finding a major star and then using it as a point of reference for finding dimmer objects

2.looking out of the corner of your eye basically- things are brighter, and this is key for deep sky objects

rich

[Glen]

warm welcome to the lounge bishop, it's good to see another join without a scope. Plenty to see and talk about with just the mark 1s let alone bins.

Any questions just ask.

[JamesM]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Nothing wrong with learning the sky first either by eye or by using binos to help you understand where the constellations are and what objects interest you, which in turn will inform you what you need regarding a scope. I second Steve's suggestion of Stellarium, very useful and certainly a learning tool when the clouds come in. There is a nice date/time advance feature which is particularly useful in working out when objects will be available above the horizon, no point in waiting for Saturn to appear if its not going to show up till 3am and you've got work tomorrow (...though some of us don't care anyway!) An important point is that there is not one scope that does it all, although there is a degree of overlap between different designs of scope be it looking at planets and the moon or observing faint deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae. Clearly a good budget can help widen your choice as to what to get in the future, whilst bearing in mind other considerations like storage and portability should you desire to travel to a dark site. Goto scopes although more expensive, are great to use and certainly make finding objects a little quicker allowing you to do more 'observing', especially when there is occasional cloud around which would normally mean packing your kit away for the night. However it is important to stress here, that as good as goto is with often a menu of around 15,000 objects, the mount might be able to take you to these locations but if the aperture of the scope is insufficient to visually resolve the object, then the money spent won't represent best value for money. Manufacturers are very good at playing the numbers game in their specifications implying that they can deliver more than the scope is designed for so be careful here.

The best value scope you can buy is a reflector type and in particular, the dobsonian. These newtonian scopes use a simple alt-azimuth mount in order to ensure that most of the money is spent on the mirror which is really where the action is! These scopes will come with a couple of eyepieces that are quite good and certainly an improvement on the the jam jars they used to supply with scopes. As you progress, you will of course want to upgrade these eyepieces and in particular the barlow eyepiece (which is not that great) but there isn't any rush and if when the times comes, it will help if you can borrow some eyepieces to try out first before committing any cash. The down side of using a basic dobsonian design, is that these versions will require you to nudge the scope to keep track of your object, which is fine for low magnification wide views of the night sky but as soon as you ramp up the magnification, then more effort is needed to keep the object in view. Alternativel, some scopes come on equatorial style mounts which effectively is an alt-azimuth mount with the mount head tilted backwards. This has the effect of changing a normal horizontal movement into now becoming a shallow arc across the sky which is designed to mimic the path of the stars as they track across the sky. This movement can be motorised in both the horizontal (RA axis) and vertical (DEC axis) and can be added later as a modification. With the dobsonian scopes, there is no facility to upgrade and motorise their axes and so a decision about whether to include this facility has to be from the outset. If I was to express a personal recommendation for an excellent scope that will get you up and running (...and a bit more!) then I would recommend the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P (8") as I believe that it is as this aperture (8") that observing becomes an interesting and worthwhile experience and will perform well on both solar system objects as well as DSO's. I hope you don't mind me setting the scene for you with regards to kit because I know you are not looking to get a scope at the moment but thought it was a worthwhile exercise in at least get you to think about what you might want and what other information you might need well before time. There are numerous threads on here in which new people report that their head have started to turn a funny shape as they attempt to consider all the options (...my head has never recovered!) HOpe the above and takes you further down the path.

Clear skies for now,

James

[Glen]

(Click of piccy) Well said James and good advise.

[the bishop]

hi everyone,

thanks for all the advice, most helpful and its only day one

wow just found and downloaded Stellarium now this is worth having...and free!!! many thanks for pointing me to it!

the advice re scopes is very useful as it looks a real minefield, but as you say its not on my cards as yet... but...will be and from reading other posts today something you really want to get the right balance of if possible from the off.

i have recently completed a binocular tilt mirror mount for my bins that i found on line using a first surface mirror and some plywood, so its like looking down into a microscope rather than head back and bins on a mono or tripod and it works well even if i say so myself, also using an old office chair to move around on is good.

mind you the wife almost wet herself laughing watching me the first night i used it, but what the hey it works

gra