1st planet to look for at this time of year.

[NIGHTBOY]

Hmm will see how I get on haha, after all if something is say left and up from the moon, then you still physically have to move the scope left and up, it will just come into view reversed.

Could someone please clarify that the images through the skyliner 200p are both upside down and inverted or one or the other? Many thanks.

[Schorhr]

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/letsgo/helpdesk/6907117.html?page=8

On a reflector, your image will be upside-down, just try it during the Day (but no where near the Sun to avoid damaging your eye).

On a refractor, the image will be fliped.

[NIGHTBOY]

Ok so mine being a Newtonian, the image will be upside down but not flipped. I should be able to cope with that (I think haha) One thing I will mention tho, the finder on the skyliner looks an absolute pain to look through, why didn't they put in on a right angle???

[Schorhr]

Because they are more expensive ;-)

A Rigel Quickfinder, telrad and/or a other optical Finder will be so much more useful ;-)

[NIGHTBOY]

Ahh something else to buy!! Haha. Scopes just been delivered, roll on tonight!! Hope it's clear!

[AndyWB]

Scopes just been delivered, roll on tonight!! Hope it's clear!

I can pretty much guarantee it won't be!

[NIGHTBOY]

Yep, raining like mad! Oh well can hopefully get it built and to the lining up of the mirrors. (Forgot what it's called)

[Stargazer_00]

right now the only planet you can easily see at a reasonable hour is Earth.

the distant planets are just dots and the major planets aren't up till early morning

This is a Mars year though, so all good!

[Schorhr]

It's worth the wait... And there are so many deepsky objects there is enough to explore ;-)

[NIGHTBOY]

I'm just trying to collimate it now. After looking throught the collimation tube, the black circle looks in the centre but the white circle is off centre. (I haven't unscrewed anything yet)

[Schorhr]

Great, just follow one of the guides you find online, and even if you can't get it a 100% right don't hessitate to use it anyway and just ask here for help :-)

With my Heritage 130p the moon at 200x was amazing, with good colimation breath taking.

Good luck, clear skies!

[NIGHTBOY]

Great, just follow one of the guides you find online, and even if you can't get it a 100% right don't hessitate to use it anyway and just ask here for help :-)

With my Heritage 130p the moon at 200x was amazing, with good colimation breath taking.

Good luck, clear skies!

I've done it! although it was probably more luck than judgement hahah. its hard to go off the cross on the collimation tube when there is already a cross from what holds the primaty mirror in place....

Now to set the view finder up the manual says I need to focus on something 500 meters away, how big do they think my back garden is?!!

[Schorhr]

Hehe, if there is nothing that far, use something closer, but you should use a distant mountain top, church, tower or anything, really.

When the moon is up, you can use it as well, but during the night adjusting the finder is a bit of a hassle, especially when the earth moves :-)

[NIGHTBOY]

Hehe, if there is nothing that far, use something closer, but you should use a distant mountain top, church, tower or anything, really.

When the moon is up, you can use it as well, but during the night adjusting the finder is a bit of a hassle, especially when the earth moves :-)

I'm sure I'll find something somewhere. As for the Collimation settings, the manual should say 'The top end moves your Black and White circles, use the bottom end to get your Bullseye in the middle hahahah.

[cosmosboy]

stellarium is a really good tool to learn how night sky works . just play with it for few days , then u will find out a lot of info are there . use constellation lines , search window , zoom function and then do star hopping as per your convenience . when u click on a object , at the left top corner , there are various info about that in real time .

[CJ77]

With regards to the GOTO vs Manual debate, I bought my first scope last month from Rother Valley Optics in S Yorks (Can't recommend them enough for the time they took to talk, and most dedicated astronomical supply shops seem to get the same kind of review). I went in with the intention of buying a 200p Dob, but after telling them what I wanted out of astronomy initially (a bit of everything, planetary, lunar and deep sky), they suggested a 127 Mak with GOTO. I have to say that I'm certainly not disappointed with the GOTO function, although I do find myself manually slewing at times, just to experience a bit of freedom from the guided tour facility. The ability to track objects, particularly at higher magnification is very useful, although I gather it is possible to do this manually with practice. In terms of learning the night sky, though, I bought a pair of 10x50 bins before Christmas last year, and often found myself flat on my back in the middle of the garden looking around Perseus, Casseiopeia and Andromeda to find some of the wider field stuff - The Double Cluster in Perseus was amazing when I first found it (its still one of my favourites). So I guess what I'm trying to say here is that both approaches have their merits, as you can get an awful lot out of the sky with binoculars, which can reveal a surprising amount of detail that you can then examine further with no need for a GOTO, and a GOTO can guide you to the fainter stuff, and hold it in the field of view more easily. I'm planning to start sketching, so the tracking ability suits me for the moment. I may well add to my scope collection in the future though.........

[ronin]

Always odd to say it but get a childs book of constellations.

They are laid out for people that have no idea of what is where. Many times the assumption is that there exists some amount of knowledge and so you are not actually starting from nothing. Stellarium is good but consider first what you actually need to know in order that it makes sense.

A 4 year olds guide to the constellations is going to be simple and assumes you know very little indeed. You do not start school by doing a PhD.