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New amateur with 8 inch Dobsonian

sebiwoo

By sebiwoo
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sebiwoo

sebiwoo

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Hi there. I have just bought my first telescope, an 8 inch Dobsonian. I was so excited about using it that as soon as I had put it together I took it outside to look at the moon. I figured I could just point it at the moon and have a look, knowing of course it wouldn't be perfect as I hadn't checked the collimation or aligned the view finder with the telescope. With both the 10mm eyepiece and the 25mm eyepiece supplied with the telescope all I could see was a white blur in my whole field of view. Is this because the magnification is too strong or is it to do with the fact that I haven't checked the collimation etc. I could focus on stars easily enough. Of course I am going to set up the telescope properly before I really start using it but I was just curious to know about the eyepiece magnifications in relation to my scope. Any help would be much appreciated!

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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Hello Sebiwoo and welcome to SGL!! You say you could focus on the stars but not the Moon? I suspect that, as the Moon was near full last night, your eyes were overwhelmed by the brightness of the Moon. Additionally, at around full Moon, there is very little detail visible as there are no shadows to make things like mountains and craters stand out (If you were on the Moon the Sun would appear to be directly overhead - hence little or no shadows). If you look at the edge - where the light and dark parts of the Moon meet - you should be able to see shadows and, after a while to allow youe eyes to adjust, you should start to make out details.

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VigdisVZ

VigdisVZ

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Hi and welcome. It's probably a focus issue, not collimation, but check into both just to be sure. If not just post a detailed description of the problem, maybe with a picture of your focuser, and it should be easily fixable.

Glad to have you on board.

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sebiwoo

sebiwoo

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Thanks for the warm welcome guys, this is my first blog of any kind ever! You're right, knobby, i have put both the 2 inch and the 1.25 inch holders in together. Assumed that was the right thing to do! Will sort it right now. When will the cloud and rain end? ( You don't have to answer that.)

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Patrice Lanteigne

Patrice Lanteigne

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Hi Seblwoo,

I'm new here as well. Did your newtonian's dust cap come with a much smaller cap covering an off centre hole? I like my 8" dob because it's easy to set up and easy to use, but to avoid 'snow blindness' I view the moon's craters through the little opening created by only taking the little cover off. Make sure it's not lined up over one of the secondary vanes and should be good.

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Sebiwoo and welcome to SGL, great new scope and you really should get some rewarding views when you have got to grips with it. Any problems just post in the relevant help/guide sections. If you havn`t already done so, download the free program Stellarium, it will help you find your way about the stars, a copy of the book TL@O could also be of help, as this will guide you to some of the many objects which can be seen in the Constellations throughout the year, enjoy :icon_santa:

John.

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rwilkey

rwilkey

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Hi Seb, and welcome to SGL from the Swindon contingent. Great telescope, will keep you occupied for years. Rather than stop the aperture down (by removing the small cap on the dustcover) I prefer to use a Moon filter, a neutral density one - ND96 (0.9) which gives 13% light transmission, I find that just right on my 200P.

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