Greetings from northern WI

[Ant]

Having dew form on your scope isn't a huge problem. Certainly no reason to pack up.

If you have a refractor or Mak then some proactive dew measures will help (a dew shield), dew forming on the outside of scopes is absolutely no problem whatsoever. Obviously if it forms on the lens or mirror of a scope then it will cause some issues unless you can get rid of it.

A number of people use a dew strap to control dew, if dew has already formed then you can use a hair dryer to remove it.

With a reflector the tube acts like a giant dew shield, I have only ever had a reflector primary mirror dew up once - so I suspect that you'll be ok. The finder scope is going to be much more of a problem. I suggest leaving the end caps in place until you use the finder, then replace them when your not.

There are lots of different types of scope, refractor, reflector, Maksutov, SCT, Mak Newt.... And loads more. A Dob (Dobsonian) is a type of mount not a type of scope.

Ant

[Kirscovitch]

I'm not so much as dew forming as I am taking the scope from 10 degrees F to a heated house.

[Stu]

Don't worry, you can still see the planets, but it wont be crisper then a refractor scope, still, pretty good views of planets.

Refractors= planets

Reflectors= Nebulae, Galaxies, Planets, Globular Clusters, Open clusters, ect

Dobs= Nebulae, Galaxies, Planets, Globular Clusters, Open clusters, ect but with better clarity.

What type of mount is it, Alt-AZ or equatorial

Equatorial= RA and DEC

Alt-Az= Altitude and Azimuth.

Not quite as simple and straightforward as that. There are different kinds of refractors, short focal length achros, long focal length achros, ED doublet apo's and triplet apo's. Roughly in that order they will show decreased amounts of chromatic abberation and improved contrast/planetary views.

Refractors can be good for planetary views, but actually, given good quality optics and a well cooled and aligned scope, aperture makes a bigger difference to the resolution (detail) that you see. Reflectors are generally cheaper per inch of aperture so are still a good choice for planetary viewing. I am speaking as a refractor fan here so you are getting an unbiased view!

A dob is still a Newtonian scope, mounted on a simple firm of alt-Az mount which makes it very easy to use for visual observing.

I believe your scope is an f5 130mm Newtonian on a computerized alt-Az mount. It will be perfectly good enough to get you seeing some great objects. For planetary viewing you might want to consider an upgraded eyepiece at some point but see how you get on with the ones you have. Jupiter is well placed currently, generally magnifications of between x150 and x200 give good results on this planet, assuming the sky conditions are stable. For your scope, maybe try a 5mm eyepiece for x130, or potentially a 4mm. Magnification is given by the focal length of the scope (650mm) divided by the focal length of the eyepiece. Spend plenty of time looking and the detail will slowly emerge.

For other objects you don't need as much magnification. For the Andromeda galaxy for example you need the lowest power, widest field of view and darkest skies to get a good view do use the 25mm ep you get with the scope. Other objects fall in between the two extremes really so you will find out what's best to use by experience.

As mentioned, make sure to allow your scope to cool for half an hour or so to get the best planetary views, not so important for low magnifications, and enjoy it!

Cheers,

Stu

[Kirscovitch]

Well first scope finally came today. I feel like a little kid at Christmas!!!