What Can I Expect to See....?

[BeerMe]

Thanks for the info both of you.  Great that you both pointed out the same thing!

Mrbloke...do you mean find a clear patch of sky outside my home, then adjust the light pollution settings on Stellarium until it matches my actual view of the sky?  That sounds like good advice...now if only we had a clear patch of sky right now lol.

Thanks again

[Mrbloke]

Thanks for the info both of you.  Great that you both pointed out the same thing!

Mrbloke...do you mean find a clear patch of sky outside my home, then adjust the light pollution settings on Stellarium until it matches my actual view of the sky?  That sounds like good advice...now if only we had a clear patch of sky right now lol.

Thanks again

Exactly that.  I find that Stellarium is more than a little bit optimistic about my level of light pollution, so I went out, checked what I could see and tweaked it accordingly.

[woody296]

Thankyou

[alchurch]

nexstar 130 slt.

 For the first time I felt comfortable setting the scope up , and actually managed to point it at a number of objects, however they all looked the same, discs of light, almost filling the eyepiece, but with a large black disc in the middle and a black cross running through it.

The black disk and cross are part of the internal stricture of the scope, but I am wondering if it really should be so intrusive?

[bomberbaz]

nexstar 130 slt.

 For the first time I felt comfortable setting the scope up , and actually managed to point it at a number of objects, however they all looked the same, discs of light, almost filling the eyepiece, but with a large black disc in the middle and a black cross running through it.

The black disk and cross are part of the internal stricture of the scope, but I am wondering if it really should be so intrusive?

Youare way out of focus there, that simple. You should have pinpoints of light for stars..

Wind your focuser qall the way in and then slowly take it out. You will see the disk slowly shrink and then shjould form the pinpoint. 

[Stub Mandrel]

nexstar 130 slt.

 For the first time I felt comfortable setting the scope up , and actually managed to point it at a number of objects, however they all looked the same, discs of light, almost filling the eyepiece, but with a large black disc in the middle and a black cross running through it.

The black disk and cross are part of the internal stricture of the scope, but I am wondering if it really should be so intrusive?

That means you are focused on the secondary mirror and its supports, not the sky. Rack the eyepiece in and the disc will get smaller, keep going until it gets as small as possible (for stars it should be virtually a pin point) and you should see stars appear all over the field of view.

[alchurch]

Thanks for your help folks , and I thought bigger was better .

[hayzi111]

Great stuff - managing expectations is very important from the get go

[Neptune38]

Great post, Qualia, really put my expectations in perspective 

[MarsG76]

great report.... definitely will help answer some questions and give newbees a realistic expectation of observation.

[joeychatterjee]

So I have a 5" reflector, 1.25" focal. I have a 5mm and a 20mm erect eyepiece which cam with the telescope what should be my next peice of kit.

[bomberbaz]

So I have a 5" reflector, 1.25" focal. I have a 5mm and a 20mm erect eyepiece which cam with the telescope what should be my next peice of kit.

Hi Joe. You would be best starting a brand new topic in this section for your query. http://stargazerslounge.com/forum/186-getting-started-equipment-help-and-advice/

Steve

[Keith Roberts]

very useful and quite inspiring, thanks for taking the time to help us newbies!

[Mafisen]

Thank you very much for this post. As a total newbie to stargazing, I found this very helpful, mainly in keeping my expecations in check.

[Deano666]

Very well written post wish id seen it before buying my first scope which i upgraded to a larger one within six months. 

 

 

[Richard Hather]

Incredible thread I've had my Celestron Nexstat 6se for 5 glorious weeks now.

ive been fortunate in the weather and I've managed to have 5 sessions which have all been incredible in there own way.

The last session however was in one particular way better then the rest I was introduced to M5 and M13 which completely changed my purely visual take on things.

The Great Hercules cluster I found especially breath taking my plan is to start sketching my observations to train my eye to see even more detail.

This post has reinforced my plans and I can't wait to get started ☺️

[surfindogg]

Fantastic. I would love it if someone did an FOV calculator that showed you what you would really see like this. And allowed you to adjust the image for your local light pollution. Great post, thanks.

[Dave In Vermont]

Stellarium has the ability to factor your light-pollution level into what you'll be able to see. As well as setting views through different eyepieces and scopes.

If you don't yet have Stellarium, you can find it with a simple search - and it's totally free.

Dave

[TyReay]

Nicely done! I am going to direct my friend, who is interested in buy a scope, right here. 

[hoverge]

Wonderful sharing!

[littlebrownjug]

Thank you soooo much for taking the time to write this post, it should be printed out and given to every person stood in a telescope shop with dreams and money burning holes in their pockets. 

 

 

[SonnyE]

On 5/15/2016 at 15:58, Dave In Vermont said:

Stellarium has the ability to factor your light-pollution level into what you'll be able to see. As well as setting views through different eyepieces and scopes.

If you don't yet have Stellarium, you can find it with a simple search - and it's totally free.

Dave

So simple! So wonder-filled!

Click here: http://stellarium.org/

[noah4x4]

Much if the illustration content of "Turn Right at Orion"  can be found on line.

http://www.cambridge.org/features/turnleft/

 

[Chadnich13]

Unbelievably informative post! Well worth taking the time to read. Took down many notes for my future observing sessions. I can admit that I expected more at first from my scope but am still blown away by the vastness of the universe and im glad i now have a guide of what to expect. Excellent job!

[mattd85]

Well this certainly put things into perspective for me!