Little luck

[Spidy]

Hi there, I have had my skyliner 150p since June 2013 and have had very little luck viewing anything other than the moon, don't get me wrong I have a lot of love for the moon and have been very happy with what I have seen and have always been just as exited to get out and view it but I now want to look further afield like other planets I've been trying to find Saturn but I've only been using my apps on my phone to locate it and as my low level horizons are covered up by trees I'm pretty stumped for ideas on what to view I have the 2 eye pieces that came with the scope a 10mm and a 25mm and also purchased a 6mm from the good man at Viking optical in Norwich for whom was very helpful. I'm guessing my time to view Saturn if failing as the year go's on but if anyone could point me in the right direction on anything to view that would be great I live in the middle of nowhere so light pollution ain't a problem all help greatly appreciated. Spidy

[iksose7]

Hi Spidy, have you viewed any DSOs with your scope yet? I dont have a scope so use a camera and lens for imaging, but i do own some 20x80 binos. Even with these i can spend a quick hour outside and see plenty. With that 1200 focal length of yours, you should be able to see much more!

You can use this great tool for finding targets suitable for viewing in your scope - http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fovcalc.php

A few i would recommend: M31 (of course), M13 and the rest of the globular clusters, M81+M82, M51, M33, open clusters make for awesome viewing, the double cluster in Perseus is one of my favourites. I'm really looking forward to pointing my binos at M42 and M45 once they are high enough.

Like i said, that scope of yours should give you some amazing views, much better that what i get with my binos lol

[Philk_80]

Hi Spidy

As a newbie myself (first light last night), I have found Stellarium a valuable tool in getting to know the night sky and gauging what you want to look at prior to even going outside.

I have purchased the Cambridge Star Atlas which gives star charts and information on finding your way but I asked some similar on this forum and have just ordered 'Turn Left at Orion'

I found that i can locate a star but then through the finderscope they multiply 10 fold and I can't find the one I am after.

Google 'Messier' and get hold of the list of 110 Messier Objects and you will have no end of objects to pursue in the part of the sky you can access.

[AlexB67]

If planets is what you are after, set the alarm for about 4AM. Jupiter is pretty good now around that time, but it will get better later in the year.

That being said given the scope you have and by the sound of it good skies, have a go and see if like DSO's . Planets come and go and sticking to just planets and the moon limits what a scope can give you and the pleasures of the sky that are waiting out there for you. Each to their own of course, If DSO targets don't do it for you that's how it is, but giving it a go is well worth a try I think. Who knows you may like them, your scope is well capable of seeing them.

Right above near zenith there is a lot of stuff to see right now where the sky is best, so you can bring the best out of deep sky targets. Andromeda ( M31 ) may not be a bad one to start with, a big and fairly easy galaxy to find as a first right now. I'd highly recommend to organise it a bit, Install an application like Stellarium if you have a PC. Check where they are and prepare beforehand so you know what you are looking for. For DSO hunting it is important to start with to do that. Pointing a scope up in the sky and hope to find a few is unlikely to result in a high success rate.

Hoe you enjoy your fist DSO's, good luck

edit: Phil already said some of the things as I was typing, so sorry for repeating.

[HIP3802]

Hi, Spidy. The 150P is a great little scope - and very capable. Even though I have upgraded to bigger and better I have resisted selling mine on, and instead use it now as a portable scope and for imaging. I can recommend downloading the free planetarium 'Stellarium' (available here: http://stellarium.org/) which will help you plan a viewing session and help locate things when out. 'Turn Left at Orion' is a highly recommended book which will help you begin star hopping to manually locate things and Sky charts or pocket atlas will also help you plan and locate things 'in the field'.

The eye pieces that came with your scope are not the best - but neither are they the worst - the 25mm especially is a reasonable piece (I have used much worse than those!!) and even with those you should be able to see plenty if night sky objects through your scope. This is a short video which may help with rough timings of when things are visible and roughly where to find them thoughout this month: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/tonights_sky/

Hope this helps,

Martin.

[webboid]

Hello Spidy

I'm in Norwich & suffer with some light pollution but go to Seething (Norwich Asto Soc) where it is very good dark skies. Last Friday I was helping a fellow member with his 150P explorer, slightly shorter tube on a tripod. As you enjoy dark skies where you are I can assure you there is plenty to see. With the standard eye pieces we had very good views of Andromeda galaxy & it's companions M32 & M101 in the 25mm eye piece. Also very good view of M27 dumbbell nebula. The ring nebula M57 too though faint in the 10mm eye piece. Some globular clusters M13, M15 & M71 appearing as fuzzy cotton wool balls with a few stars resolved. Also some double stars Almach * Alcor & Mizar. The double cluster in Perseus was also very nice in the 25mm eye piece. He was a happy chap as he had not had too much success himself. With patience & practice there are a lot of things to see with your scope. A red dot finder can be a help in finding a good star to start your star hop from. You can then change over to the finder scope. Also a star map or book is useful for navigating.

I think sadly Saturn is only about 9 degrees above the horizon just after sunset & Jupiter is around at 3am! But it won't be long before it can be seen late evening.

Happy hunting.

[Spidy]

Thank you all so much for your help I will be taking all your advice on board and will surely be looking into DSO as well as picking up a star chart and that computer programme I can't spell off top of my head can't wait to get out again thanks again everyone you have all been great

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[TractionMan]

Stellarium?

[Hawksmoor]

Hi Spidy

All good advice so far. I would also suggest you look at the magazines Astronomy Now and The Sky at Night. These monthly magazines include; charts and suggested dates-times- targets for viewing together with good advice regarding observation and imaging techniques.

Hope helpful

George

[Spidy]

It's typical that I have recently started to buy a magazine called all about space but it don't say to much about helping me to stargaze lol so I will swap magazines as from Thursday (shopping day) hehe and will buy one of which you have suggested thank you

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free