Skywatcher 150p - Another what am I doing wrong thread?

[Robbrad]

I have a Skywatchers 150p and and eq3 mount, a Barlow x2, 10mm, 25mm, a t piece some metal tube that looks like a photography extension tube. Let me firstly say my astronomy ability is pretty poor. I have not tried to get the auto tracking working as my polar alignment went wrong and the space in my garden was limited.

I will also say I love photography and really got the scope to eventually take astrophotography.

I got the scope in July. Due to weather and the general unsociable ours of or sun my first few uses of the scope have been a challenge to say the least. I thought I would start simple and view the moon, first experiences were good - saw some wicked craters and detail with different combinations of the Barlow, 10 and 25. I have tried to photograph the moon with varying success, focusing is really difficult, and what looks sharp on the cam often doesn't translate to sharp on the pc. I haven't tried stacking images yet or tracking but that might help. Due to our small garden the moon hasn't really presented its self in a favourable position to try this. Not tried viewing planets yet for the same reasons.

the attached image is my attempt of using the ipad cam against the eyepiece, fail.

I digress, back to the question at hand, I have moved the scope up to our dormer room 3rd floor as I'm currently renovating the dining room. This morning I got woke up at 5 ish am for some reason, had a look out the window and to my joy there was jupiter a little to the left of the moon in the middle of Gemini ! I got the scope lined up and thought ill start with a 10 mm only. I tried to focus but it would only go way beyond the focus required or way below, no fine enough adjustment, there was no gaps between the moons and jupiter, at best it appeared as a blob with a tail, looked a little bit like a small white match stick - all joined up.

I tried with the Barlow and the 10mm - same issue but increased issue.

am I doing something wrong, are my expectations to great? I was expecting to see separation at least between the jupiter and its moons and at best some detail on jupiter.

please help!

Rob

[wookie1965]

Ive got same scope as you first try your 25mm, always start with lowest powered eyepiece, but from what your saying it sounds when you moved scope you ay have moved primary mirror a tad a Cheshire collimator will check this. have you got a Astronomical society nearby you could take your scope up to. These scopes are F5 meaning there fast they can when moved lose collimation and need to be checked from time to time. There are are plenty of links to show you how to do this astrobabys being one of the the best but you will need the Cheshire or to be going on with a 35mm film canister with a hole in the top that will help.

http://www.astro-baby.com/collimation/astro%20babys%20collimation%20guide.htm

Here is the link to astrobabys you will only need the part lining up your primary i would imagine.

[ronin]

Reads that you were inside with the scope viewing Jupiter through the window?

If so then it is usualy to get poor images, the glass will cause distortions, not sure about the temperatures but if you opened the window then air currents will make life difficult.

Rotten way of putting it but they are intended to be used outside and usually cool. Like a car, that runs best when warmed up a scope runs best when cooled down, just the way it is.

The glass will not help, fine for 2 eyeballs to look through but as the magnification is stepped up so imperfections become more significant and impact more. Even with binoculars = low magnification, viewing wildlife is not quite as sharp through glass as sat outside with no glass in the way.

Concerning the images you describe (cannot see any), going through an eyepiece does not produce good and consistant results, it can occasionally but they are the exception not the rule. For imaging the webcam is usually modified so that the lens is removed and so the scope focuses an image on the webcam sensor - need a holder for the webcam. At present the webcam lens is doing that. You need tracking, images move a lot faster then appreciated and a moving image is a blurred image. If you are hand holding the camera then more shake and movement.

You will also I suspect need a barlow (good) to magnify the image of Jupiter, it is generally bright enough that it will take being blown up and that also reduces the brightness, so it doesn't swamp the image with too much light.

The eye is "selective" a camera is not. You can look at Jupiter and see Jupiter then move your view and see the moons. The eyes and brain handle the difference. A camera cannot do that. It sees Jupiter and the moons exactly the same. So Jupiter comes out and the moons disappear (too small and dim) or the moons come out and Jupiter is a big white blurred blob (much brighter and overexposes the image).

What people do is take a set of images for Jupiter (set of images not image) and process the first lot to get detail of Jupiter. Then they take another set of images for the moons and process that to get the moons to display. Jupiter is in effect "thrown" away in number 2. Then they join the first with the second and get Jupiter and it's moons. Called cheating. :eek:

Afraid that any form of astro imaging is a lot different to photography.

[m37]

If you're into photography and you have a DSLR, they can be a great start for imaging. The image sensor chip on them is quite big so planets look a bit small but it will get you started, as Ronin says a Barlow will help. Have you tried the moon? Often a great place to start and learn the ropes. Nice and bright and easy to find consistently! Try some single shots of it then maybe a video which you can 'stack' in software such as the free and excellent registax.

Welcome aboard and good luck with it.

[Andy_E]

If you were viewing through the window then as above. If not, then remember you need to leave your scope to cool down before viewing is satisfactory... particularly at high magnifications. A good general rule is 5mins per inch of aperture, so for a 150p you'll need around 30 mins cooling time outside to get the best from it. As mentioned before, it's always worth checking collimation if you ever get any unsatisfactory views too (the astrobaby link above will see you right!)

[rwilkey]

Hi Rob,

Congratulations on your new scope, a good choice. You need to use the telescope outside so that it cools down to the ambient temperature, if you use it inside you will never achieve focus as the warmer currents inside the house will affect your views. The other thing is to use the 25mm eyepiece first, find your target and focus it, then go onto higher magnification once you have checked your target. Going straight into photography before you have got used to using it visually is not a great idea, get used to handling the scope first and find out what it is capable of.

The piece of 'metal tube that looks like a photography extension tube' is probably the 2" fitting adaptor that you use if you want to use 2" eyepieces. This replaces the 1.25" adaptor when you want to do this.

Be patient, the photography will come once you have got used to handling your telescope. And good luck!