About to purchase my first telescope.

[Beck]

Hi everyone!

Looking to get into some stargazing and thought I'd sign up here for some tips and advice!

So a friend of mine at work mentioned he had a few telescopes and was looking to sell one since he doesn't have time to use them any more. I offered to purchase his Celestron Firstscope 114 EQ Compact along with an attachment to attach an SLR camera to the scope to take some long exposure pictures.

Now, as this is my first scope I have pretty much no idea how to begin. The scope has a Star Pointer Finderscope to align to objects in the sky. So it could be as easy as "point and shoot". But I'm guessing that's not the case.

So does anyone have any advice when using this scope? How do you easily find what you're looking for when there are so many stars in the sky? I've been told this scope can see Jupiter and spiral galaxies and such, which I am very excited about seeing.

Also, with the SLR attachment do any of you have any tips for capturing the best pictures?

Thanks for any advice, I'm looking forward to exploring the sky!

[Andymac79]

I would slow down with the SLR fitting for now, that is a whole new ball game.

You dont generally easily find anything but there in is half the enjoyment.

Jupiter will be a good first target at the mo, a great place to start. Download this for free http://www.stellarium.org/ and see how much is up there.

[Ganymede12]

I would start by Reading.Magazines such as Sky at Night and Astronomy Now have monthly star charts which would be good for learning your way around the sky.

[Capricorn]

In the simplest terms that scope+camera+long exposure will never happen.

Advice: EQ5 mount, dual motors, 150P scope or small refractor, T-ring and DSLR will give some results, as a start.

Better is HEQ5 with Synscan, apo refractor, DSLR or ccd probably looking at £2000+ without budgeting in assorted bits.

Sorry, but the reality of astro photography is a long way from sticking a DSLR on a scope and going click.

[Ganymede12]

Sorry, but the reality of astro photography is a long way from sticking a DSLR on a scope and going click.

For the advanced stuff then this is true but basic afocal imaging of the moon is easy with a digital camera.

[Beck]

Yeah, I wasn't going to be jumping straight in to try and take some photos. I know it won't be a walk in the park. I just got it so when I get more competent at using the scope I have the attachment ready to go.

Thank you for the link, seems like a very handy program!

[nephilim]

For AP i'd say you'd be struggling, i'm not sure if theres even an attatchment to 'piggyback' the camera on top of the scope, you need an EQ mount to take long exposure photos (for that read VERY expensive). AS for seeing galaxies, they appear as tiny smudges an all but the bigger (8"+) scopes, I'd say buy it only if your interested in lunar viewing. You'd be better buying a pair of bino's for around the same price as you'd get great widefield views, good lunar & the odd galaxy (m31). I may be wrong so wait till someone else can advise aswell.

Steve.

[Andymac79]

For AP i'd say you'd be struggling, i'm not sure if theres even an attatchment to 'piggyback' the camera on top of the scope, you need an EQ mount to take long exposure photos (for that read VERY expensive). AS for seeing galaxies, they appear as tiny smudges an all but the bigger (8"+) scopes, I'd say buy it only if your interested in lunar viewing. You'd be better buying a pair of bino's for around the same price as you'd get great widefield views, good lunar & the odd galaxy (m31). I may be wrong so wait till someone else can advise aswell.

Steve.

An important point and one to remember

[Beck]

Thank you for the replies!

Yeah, I never expected to see any of the far away stuff in great detail. But any excuse to have a quick drive out into the countryside and have a gaze up at the night sky is good enough for me. Perhaps if I keep at it and manage to get better at finding things I will upgrade to a more powerful scope. We shall see!

[Aenima]

Unfortunately, certain aspects of stargazing can cause dissilusionment. Usually the colourful hubble type pictures inspire fantastic expectations of seeing the galaxies and planets in detail that just cant be done with a run-of-the-mill telescope.

And then you do look through the eyepiece. Instantly you want more - aperture fever people call it - and this will almost always involve upgrading the scope. Better to think about it longer, even better still to look through someone elses scope, ask around forums read about peoples experiences with first and, usually, second scopes - this one is a good starting place.

BUT, the truth is this is an amazing hobby, it is just not usually what you first imagine it to be. Anyone will recommend it.

If want to see craters on the moon, saturn with a hint of its rings, jupiter and its pinpoint moons and the occasional smudge of a large bright galaxy core or faint nebula then you will be happy to know that a relatively normal scope - still expensive but do-able - will give you these views, with some degree of satisfaction. Depending on what you have in mind, you'd want say, 6 to 8 inches aperture, 200 to 400 quid all in (complete set-up new). It varies in used equipment markets, but worth a look.

Either way, with photography its more complicated - long exposure ie. non-planetary, non-lunar imaging is v hard and expensive, and you need to be determined to succeed. However, to get pictures of the moon or planets like saturn jupiter maybe mars, you can get a webcam and use it instead of the eyepiece - in a regular set-up, ie not necessarily an equatorial mounted large expensive one.

Still requires an expenditure and patience, but not out of the question for the beginner.

Best of luck with your upcoming introduction to stargazing.

Regards

Aenima

[Beck]

Unfortunately, certain aspects of stargazing can cause dissilusionment. Usually the colourful hubble type pictures inspire fantastic expectations of seeing the galaxies and planets in detail that just cant be done with a run-of-the-mill telescope.

I know as soon as I look through the scope I will want more. But I'm a guy who could happily sit and stare into the night sky a little white dots for hour on end. If I can see anything with a little more detail I will be happy. There are a few group meets planned around my area over the next few weeks. I might head to one and talk to some people, see what they can teach me.

My friend at work said those views are visible with this scope. So I'm looking forward to actually trying (I guess it's part of the fun trying to get a good image from the scope!) and since Jupiter is apparently good to view right now that will probably be my first stop.

Apparently this scope has a motor which will automatically move the scope to track objects, so I may try a few shots of the moon with a long exposure once I get the hang of things but I'm not expecting hubble-like images on my first try with my very first scope!

Thanks for the reply!

[Aenima]

Apparently this scope has a motor which will automatically move the scope to track objects, so I may try a few shots of the moon with a long exposure once I get the hang of things but I'm not expecting hubble-like images on my first try with my very first scope!

Thanks for the reply!

You wont need long exposure for the moon, its the one object thats universally easy to image.. webcam or dslr - planets just need basic pointing to get a few minutes of avi footage to stack into a single shot, its the deep sky stuff - nebulas galaxies star clusters etc that need the specialist approach, but the moon is for everyone

Regards

Aenima

[CSM]

With a motor to track it and a webcam you will be able to get some good images of Jupiter, Moon and Saturn. But before you try that get used to the scope. That will take a while.

[whatstars]

Hi,

I'm new....very new, to stargazing. I've just bought a Jessops TA800x80 (last minute closing soon bargain) I have never owned or handled a telescope before, but the instructions are useless. I've put all the pieces together, and taken off the caps and put on the 20mm lens, on top of the Barlow.?? (who he)? but when I look through the eyepiece I can't see anything... zilch.!! Living in the wilds of the North East (near Kielder) I should be able to see something. I've waved it around, much to the distress of my nearest neighbours .........nowt. just a grey round image. Someone out there, please help a pensioner who thought it was oh so easy.!!!

Failing that...... it may be for sale in the near future.x

[Aenima]

Hi,

I'm new....very new, to stargazing. I've just bought a Jessops TA800x80 (last minute closing soon bargain) I have never owned or handled a telescope before, but the instructions are useless. I've put all the pieces together, and taken off the caps and put on the 20mm lens, on top of the Barlow.?? (who he)? but when I look through the eyepiece I can't see anything... zilch.!! Living in the wilds of the North East (near Kielder) I should be able to see something. I've waved it around, much to the distress of my nearest neighbours .........nowt. just a grey round image. Someone out there, please help a pensioner who thought it was oh so easy.!!!

Failing that...... it may be for sale in the near future.x

Hi there.

For stargazing advice u really are in the right place, and its likely a small mistake somewhere along the path from box to back garden that has got you the instant lack of results. The best thing is to write a bit about what scope you have and how its all set up, this will then sound familiar to someone who remembers having a similar issue.

Rather than selling up, when you do get your scope working you'll probably start pondering your next astronomical purchase.

Dont worry, a great example was me outside earlier desperately confused as to why my 'goto' technology could'nt find the brightest object in the sky besides the moon. Turns out I was still entering the settings for 2012! - doh -

But post a few more details and you should be up and running soon.

Regards

Aenima