saturn

[ash]

good morning SGL have just seen saturn for the first time WOW...what a start to the day.Would my 1 week old skywatcher 130pm need collimating? seemed to have two saturns..? Also is there an eyepiece that could enhance my said telescope not compaining but god put us here to strive to improve what we have.

Really chuffed

Cheers

ASH

[themos]

It's f/5 (Focal length: 650mm, aperture 130mm, 130/650=1/5) so it's not forgiving of miscollimation.

two saturns..?

Lucky you! Some of us only get one...

Don't be scared of collimation. There are some good guides on how to do it on SGL.

Yes, you can probably get a better eyepiece. How much were you thinking of spending?

[ash]

don't know i know they can be expensive maybe £60ish. Are zoom plosyl's any good sort of 4 or 5 ep's in one or would it be better to get a separate one for each magnification? What's the difference between a good one and bad one open to advice. Was really excited with saturn this morning perhaps it was my eye's that needed focusing it was pretty cold this morn. It was quite light so i presume it would be a better site in the dark.

Venus was in the same sky but that was very bright couldn't see much or it could have been me!!

Thanks

ASH

[themos]

I know what you mean, I have astigmatism, the right eye is worse, and I don't like using my glasses with the eyepiece so I am never sure if I am seeing distortions from the optics or from my own eye. I yielded to the temptation and bought an expensive eyepiece, the Nagler. I certainly have not regretted it. Take your time choosing, think about your favourite target and pick a focal length based on that.

[ash]

Focal length??? sorry still trying to get my head around all of this not even polar aligned or used Ra/DEC settings yet(to eager to look at something)!

Any brands i should avoid?

It's hard work being a newbie so much to learn so little time.

Thanks for replying

Cheers ASH

[rigel1]

Don'y worry too much at the moment about better eyepieces Ash. Just have some fun with what you have got and learn a little more about the eyepieces you have and what magnifications you can achieve. Look at buying yourself a cheap book or two about stargazing. They can help about basics tremendously.

Have fun

Rigel1

[ash]

Hear what your saying Rigel 1 trying to run before walking and it's not as if the planets etc are going anywhere is it!! Probably got a bit excited it's nice to see them in a book or something but to see these things in the flesh it's something different.

I hear 'turn left at orion' is the book of the moment or is there one for the likes of me?

Can i practise polar aligning or Ra/Dec'ing through the day or is it just for night time ? I know stupid question.

Just to cloudy at the moment doing me head in!!

Thanks ASH

[The Warthog]

Most name-brand plossls are good eps. They have a 52 degree field of view, and are all about the same as far as clarity and performance are concerned. I favour the Antares Super Plossls, but some don't. I'm a little surprised that you see two Saturns. That doesn't sound like a collimation problem. Do stars look sharp, with maybe a few spikes on brigher stars? Then you are probably OK. If you crank the focuser so a star in the centre of the FOV is out of focus, is the resulting disk evenly circular? Then your collimation is probably not too bad.

Magnification is your telescope's focal length divided by your eyepiece's focal length. These are printed on the eyepiece, and usually on a plate on the scope. Your maximum practical focal length is about 260x, but work at about 100x until you get used to using the scope.

Best wishes. You'll have a lot of fun.

[ash]

Sorry for taking so long to reply looonnng weekend at work missed out on a clear night last night invitation to the pub after said weekend was just to irresistable.

I think it was my fault for the two saturns telescope not cooled down enough, hadn't woke up proper eye's watering etc.

Trying to get up earlier tomorrow venus is very bright outside my front window and just to make sure there is only one saturn!!

Will check the disc is evenly circular thanks Warthog

Is there such a list as " top 50 objects to see for beginners" or something??

Cheers

ASH

[themos]

The Turn Left at Orion book is such a list. Try google search for "sky objects telescope" or some such.

[ash]

Very clear sky last night seen a few M's in perseus looking for somemore tonight.

How clearly should i be able to see mars with my Skywatcher 130pm just seemed like a red blurred disc and on occasions there were two of them????

Hope it is only me and not my telescope that is at fault

Any advice would be helpful.

Cheers

ASH

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

It occured to me today, might seeing two of them have anything to do with looking at Saturn through a double-glazed window? Just a thought.

Kaptain Klevtsov