My amazing first night with questions

[zoneca]

Tonight is the first time I can see through my first telescope that I received 2 days before. After waiting for two rainy nights at last got my change for only 1 hour best clear urban sky. When doing my observation the light black out, what a beginner's luck. I aimed at the ouany suggestions from anybody is welcome, what is the best ep to get full size Jupiter in my fov? And how about galaxies, can I view any with full size? moon and Jupiter with its 4 bright moons (first, I thought it was Aldebaran). I just knew that the aldebaran is a red star. Then I aimed the scope to orion constellation and found M42 (orion nebulae). I noticed that it has 4 bright stars in the middle of it. Again...Lucky me... I was amazed & so excited. Even though I turned the scope away & turn it back to the orion constellation, I can still find the M42. Amazing....

By using 10mm ep, I can see the small size of Jupiter & acceptable size of orion nebulae. What i have in mind, if I can see those thing in small size how could I see galaxies using 10mm ep? I only have 2 pieces ep 25mm & 10mm that come with the telescope. I need more power.... what is the right ep that can see jupiter in the whole fov? And why orion nebulae is not colorful as can see in pictures taken by others?

[michigander]

What scope do you have? Can't give much advice until we know the size of the objective lens or mirror...

What part of Indonesia?

Dana

[Mattscar]

Im sure someone can give a much more technical explanation than I can, but you shouldn't expect to see Jupiter in the whole fov. To get it into a size/colour you are used to seeing in photos on the internet, you need a rather larger telescope than most people have. I find jupiter is best viewed at relatively low magnifications as thats when you can see definition in the cloud belts and colours on it.

As for the orion nebula, when people take photos of it you are often seeing hundreds of photos stacked on top of each other taken over hours and hours, using a variety of filters sometimes aswell. Most Messier and DSO's will appear in black and white / greyscale to your eye even in a scope, however dont let that put you off! It helps if you know abit of information about what you are looking it (for example the orion nebula is a star forming nebula, which is pretty immense in itself) which will soon make you forget you are not seeing it in colour.

With regards to 'more power' there is an upper limit to how much magnification you can have depending on your scope/EP/conditions etc, but most of the time viewing things at maximum magnification can be more frustrating and less satisfying than bringing it back abit to increase the resolution/contrast.

Im sure theres bits Iv missed out there and other pearls of advice I've ommited, but untill someone comes along and fills in or corrects me that should explain enoguh to keep you going

[Andy_E]

I'm afraid Mattscar is right. The Orion nebula will appear as a fuzzy grey smudge, but with patience you should be able to pick out some detail. Colour is the preserve of photographers and professional observatories (though I have heard some have seen some colour in 16 inch scopes). you could try a barlow lens, which will give you a slightly larger image with your existing eye pieces. Unless it's a pretty big scope (10 in for a reflector or 100mm+ for a refractor) you probably don't want to go much more than a 10mm eyepiece anyway (you will probably get away with a barlow). As for Galaxies etc, less power is better. stick to your 25mm eyepiece for DSOs (Deep Sky Objects) such as galaxies, as the 10mm eyepiece will simply wont let enough light in to see them. With astronomy, it's all about light gathering power, not magnification. DONT BE DISHEARTENED! many people hope to have views through their telescope that rivals the pictures in magazines, but unfortunately it simply isn't possible. Enjoy the fact that these objects are visible at all! As for suggesting some eyepieces, like Michigander said, we could do with knowing the specifics of your scope in order to help.

[zoneca]

What scope do you have? Can't give much advice until we know the size of the objective lens or mirror...

What part of Indonesia?

Dana

I have Sky-Watcher 12" dob f/4.9 collapsible with 25mm & 10mm ep. I'm in pontianak (0°N 109°E).

[zoneca]

Thank you Matscarr & Andy. I won't give up, I will keep going to find other dso. Hopefully the coming nights will be clear. What is the max zoom that my scope can handle to view clear image? My scope is Sky-Watcher 12" dob f/4.9.

[mdstuart]

That's a good scope. I would suggest you buy a book called turn left at Orion which will give you a list of objects to go for..mind you with your location you are going to be able to see southern sky objects as well (I am jealous).

Try a bright globular cluster next. I would suggest M3 which is above the bright star Arcturus.

With your 10mm eyepiece you should see an amazing ball of stars which does look like the photos you see in books.

I have a 250mm dob as well. Your scope should be able to cope well with a 5mm eyepiece which will give you a larger more detailed view of Jupiter when the skies are settled. This gives a power of x250 with your scope.

Regards

Mark

Sent from my BlackBerry 9320 using Tapatalk

[swamp thing]

Hi

Believe it or not a lot of Galaxies are big enough to see quite well at low Magnification. M31 is so large it fills several fields of view in a scope like your 12" Dob.

Low to medium power works best on most average Joe galaxies. I find my 20mm and 12mm cover most of them pretty well.

[Double Kick Drum]

Hi

Believe it or not a lot of Galaxies are big enough to see quite well at low Magnification. M31 is so large it fills several fields of view in a scope like your 12" Dob.

Low to medium power works best on most average Joe galaxies. I find my 20mm and 12mm cover most of them pretty well.

Yes, the issue with galaxies is not so much their size but is more to do with the fact that they are comparatively feint. A 25mm eyepiece should be fine. The 10mm eyepiece would be more suitable for the smaller and more condensed galaxies.