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Hello from a 22 year old Novice


Lewis90

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I've always been interested in the stars and the universe since I can remember. Only in the last couple of years have I really had the money to further persue my obsessions!

Whilst visiting my aunt came across a telescope shop across the road, decided to have a look around. The man who ran the shop was very welcoming and gave me good advice as to what to buy. I ended up settling on a skywatcher explorer 130 as it wasn't too expensive but also can see the rings of Saturn. As it's my 23rd Birthday next week my girlfriend and family have all chipped in for it. It's sitting in my shed at the moment but I can't open it until next Sunday! (V.frustrating). This seems a really cool forum for people like myself as I've tons of questions. I've no idea where to start, literally was going to point it to the moon and have a look! So many things to ask like I've been hearing about moon and sun filters etc. Are these needed??..Clear enough skys in London?.

Anyway I'll savour these for another section I'm sure. Can't wait to get started!

Lewis

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Hi lewis and welcome to sgl

You will get plenty of helpfull advice on here

Moon filters its a personal choice i dont use one myself

As for looking at the sun never view the sun without the correct filter in place

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Hi, Lewis, and welcome to SGL! A good place to start any journey is with a decent map - and one of the widely used maps on here is the free planetarium "Stellarium" which can be downloaded from here: http://stellarium.org/ This can be customised to your local area. This will show you not only what is in the sky but through co-ordinates, help you to find it with your scope.

Martin.

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Welcome to SGL

Moon filters are a matter of taste, really. Some people are happy without them, whilst others prefer to use them. Try it without and see how you get on.

Solar filters are a different kettle of fish. You do need one if you want to look at the Sun at all. They fit over the front of the telescope to cover its entire aperture. You can buy them or make them yourself by buying the filter material. When you get that far, people will help you out if you ask.

James

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Thanks for the Welcome people.

Do you think the Explorer 130 is a good starting scope to work with? I'll hold off on the filters and other accessories for now I suppose until I'm actually familiar with my own. (I have a tendancy to go overboard at the start). I'll have a read of all the introductory posts on the forum and see what I can gather from that. I'm sure I'll be pestering you all with loads of questions though! Hope that's alright! :)

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Thanks for the Welcome people.

Do you think the Explorer 130 is a good starting scope to work with? I'll hold off on the filters and other accessories for now I suppose until I'm actually familiar with my own. (I have a tendancy to go overboard at the start). I'll have a read of all the introductory posts on the forum and see what I can gather from that. I'm sure I'll be pestering you all with loads of questions though! Hope that's alright! :)

Welcome to SGL!! So far I have not heard anything negative about the 130. I know alot of folks on here use them, so that should be a good sign. Make sure to research on this site before buying anything. Lots of great information to be found! We don't want anyone wasting money on the wrong equipment since it isn't cheap.

Again, Welcome aboard!

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Hi Lewis welcome to the lounge

and welcome to this great hobby, don't bother with a Moon filter

they are good if you are an older person like myself, I use one

because of eye problems, the glare from a full or near full moon

can be harsh on the eye if observing for long periods of time, you

have a long way to go before you need one, solar filters are for everyone,

it's dangerous not to use one, try this link it shows how to make one and

tells you of the dangers that can happen which is permanent blindness

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014hpkh by the way your scope is

a good starter scope and will show you many things. Enjoy.

Good Luck and Clear Sky's

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Welcome Lewis90!

From what I've read, the Explorer 130 is a great starting scope!

I use my moon filter when observing the moon but it really is a matter of opinion. They are more useful when the moon is quite full because at times the moon can be extremely bright and through some scopes it can be almost painful to look at. I'm not sure if that'll be the case with your scope. Best thing to do is just have a look for yourself!

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Hi Lewis and welcome.

You mentioned solar filters. When you do start observing the Sun, three things to remember:-

1a. Always use a full aperture filter (ie covers the whole of the objective);

1b. or an off-axis filter (ie same as the objective cover but with a smaller hole off centre).

1c. DO NOT be tempted to purchase an eyepiece solar filter!

2. Cover or remove your finder. This applies to either a finderscope or red dot finder.

3. Point the OTA away from the Sun when not in use in a direction well away from the Sun's path/track.

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Hi Lewis and welcome, I'm a newbie and have the same scope as you and I love it. Learning my way around the sky, tried some astrophotography, finding messier objects, planets, I can't get enough!

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