Just Amazing

[Stargazer 2013]

Went out last night and saw Jupiter,first time was 3 days ago and only saw 3 moons but  it was such a good clear night last night I saw 4 Galilean moons easily,still having trouble focusing though with a 10mm and x2 barlow...I saw stars way past what I could see with naked eye,saw BigDipper so much brighter...

Went to point my scope at a star at East,not sure what it was but it appeared red,anyway couldn't focus as too far away but loved last night

 

[fredster]

What sort of time did you go out and look at Jupiter?  Only ask as Jupiter doesn't rise to a decent height in the sky until 11pm onwards. So it could be you were looking at a very unsteady Jupiter in a wobbly bit of sky. And would explain not being able to focus at higher power. Or maybe the collimation is a smidge off with the telescope.

[Stargazer 2013]

I went out about 11.30. It was at x65 with a 10mm and went to x130 max with x2 barlow,I just can't see Jupiter really focused at moment,I have bought a

Seben Zoom Telescope Eyepiece 7.5-22.5mm 1.25

Hopefully this can give me the much needed magnification to see Jupiter better

     

[emadmoussa]

Ah, the excitement of first real targets...before you know you'll be speaking NGC language. Good stuff!!

[Stargazer 2013]

Ah, the excitement of first real targets...before you know you'll be speaking NGC language.Good stuff!!

lol..NGC language?whats that then ?

[emadmoussa]

lol..NGC language?whats that then ?

In the beginning you get hooked on the Messier objects terminology...M this and M that. Then you discover there's also the Herschel objects..then..oh...there's the New General Catalog (NGC) that contains thousands of objects and include all the previous categories.

You have for example the Andromeda galaxy - Messier object 31 (M31) also called NGC 224

[Stargazer 2013]

lol..I think I need to translate that

more reading on those I think haha

[emadmoussa]

Then grab yourself a bargain and order this 3-volume book - it contains all the information you need.  http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0486240657/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Daniel-K]

thanks for that emad just ordered some

[emadmoussa]

thanks for that emad just ordered some

Cool!

[Steve Ward]

" Went to point my scope at a star at East,not sure what it was but it appeared red,anyway couldn't focus as too far away but loved last night "

Not sure why you couldn't focus on the star , they are all effectively the same distance away as far as the scope is concerned ... could be you need to tweak the collimation or upgrade from the Seben eyepiece. 

[AlexB67]

Don't forget the almighty Dew problem  Easy to forget when starting out, perhaps you were suffering from some of that too a bit into the session, it may not be immediately obvious in the dark when optics begin to dew up over time, but stars will begin to show less clarity and eventually form a small halo around them. Apart from the atmosphere at higher mag when Jupiter is low in the sky causing a problem, it could also be that your barlow eyepiece combo is not supplying enough focus travel. No doubt you'll work it out in time and if need be just ask next time  .  If you can't focus on anything near zenith I.e. a star above you head with the barlow eyepiece combo, focus travel may be an issue.  As you push up the mag the star will not appear quite as pinpoint and clear as at lower mag, but still, when focused it should come to a point, just with a bit more noise.

[Stargazer 2013]

Don't forget the almighty Dew problem  Easy to forget when starting out, perhaps you were suffering from some of that too a bit into the session, it may not be immediately obvious in the dark when optics begin to dew up over time, but stars will begin to show less clarity and eventually form a small halo around them. Apart from the atmosphere at higher mag when Jupiter is low in the sky causing a problem, it could also be that your barlow eyepiece combo is not supplying enough focus travel. No doubt you'll work it out in time and if need be just ask next time  .  If you can't focus on anything near zenith I.e. a star above you head with the barlow eyepiece combo, focus travel may be an issue.  As you push up the mag the star will not appear quite as pinpoint and clear as at lower mag, but still, when focused it should come to a point, just with a bit more noise.

yeah heard about that,that's the cold getting in the mirrors I believe?

" Went to point my scope at a star at East,not sure what it was but it appeared red,anyway couldn't focus as too far away but loved last night "

Not sure why you couldn't focus on the star , they are all effectively the same distance away as far as the scope is concerned ... could be you need to tweak the collimation or upgrade from the Seben eyepiece. 

I only just bought the Saben eyepiece,using the ep's they gave me with my scope.I focused it but was just twinkling lol as stars do

Then grab yourself a bargain and order this 3-volume book - it contains all the information you need.  http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0486240657/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

cheers for link

[Steve Ward]

Ah ... that would be down to the unsteady atmosphere ... 

[fredster]

You'll be fine with the Seben Zoom, one of Seben's good products. I had there 8-24 zoom and it was great. In fact the Televue 8-24 appeared to be no better.

Those madly twinkling stars are a dead give away that high mags are not going to workout too well. When you see the stars twinkling you know you're in for a rough time with the planetary stuff.

[Stargazer 2013]

Thing is with stars there isn't much to see lol..

[emadmoussa]

Thing is with stars there isn't much to see lol..

In 1" or 100" telescopes star will appear as points of light

[Steve Ward]

Unless it's a mere 93,000,000 miles away .... 

[fredster]

Thing is with stars there isn't much to see lol..

With stars they will all appear as points of light, regardless of maginification. The interesting thing with stars are their colour, pairings with other stars (especially a colour contrasting double) or just a huge mass of them in a cluster. Stars are beautiful in the right context but seen by themselves they will never be that interesting.

[brantuk]

If you were pointing East and saw a red star it could have been Betelgeuse. If it appeared as a very bright star - then you might have been actually pointing at Mars. Just depends on time and precise bearing - but both are very different to most other stars.

If it's clear early (like now'ish onwards) you may be able to find Albireo (double star) at the tail of Cygnus - which is a beautiful gold star accompanied by a smaller distinctly "cold blue" star. It's one of the best doubles visually.

[Special K]

Might be good to make a start with the collimation tuning for experience if you have further problems getting good focus below 130x on a good seeing night. You should have some basic instructions in the kit. Last time I did it, I spent ages but think its pretty accurate without the use of a special device. You may find this useful in the future and was a great help to me: http://www.astro-baby.com/collimation/astro%20babys%20collimation%20guide.htm

Also, I have a devil of a time getting focus when I exceed 130x in the 130P. This might be down to the Barlow not being that compatible with my BST EP's. No doubt most of the problem is seeing, and am prone to pushing the scope to the limit now and again!

[Stargazer 2013]

If you were pointing East and saw a red star it could have been Betelgeuse. If it appeared as a very bright star - then you might have been actually pointing at Mars. Just depends on time and precise bearing - but both are very different to most other stars.

If it's clear early (like now'ish onwards) you may be able to find Albireo (double star) at the tail of Cygnus - which is a beautiful gold star accompanied by a smaller distinctly "cold blue" star. It's one of the best doubles visually.

Yes I was sure it was Betelgeuse..