Help for a newbie

[Luke_uk]

Hello, I'm Luke from Farnborough, Hampshire.

After having a long term interest in the nights sky I finally got my first telescope yesterday and was keen to try it out last night.

The scope in question is a Sky-Watcher 130p with AZ goto. With a background in navigation from the merchant navy the goto wasn't really an issue and although not quite spot on I'm sure with practise I will get it. My issue is the general setup of the scope with so many screws and attachments both myself and Partner ( who is a very keen bird watcher) are a little confused.

Lenses . I think after reading up last night I get the general idea. The scope came with a Barlow X2, 10mm and 25mm. When looking at Jupiter last night I could not make out a lot of detail. I know I can reduce the wobble by reducing the height of the tri-pod. I also read I may get better result by not using the Barlow with the 10mm. Is this true and if so how do I fit it?

I think some better lenses would be worth purchasing, but what ones? Also some more in depth instructions would be nice?

If anyone has any advice of a newbie it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

[GuillermoBarrancos]

The barlow is a seperate piece. Just take it out and only put in the 10mm eyepiece. That will give you a Nice view of Jupiter + moons.

[Luke_uk]

Thank you

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[proflight2000]

The Barlow lens is a wonderful invention indeed, however when pushing the limits with one it is a case of getting the mind and the eye in perfect match. By putting a 10mm lens through a barlow you are actually raising the power, so roughly it becomes 5mm, that really is hard on the eyes at times as anything you have in view will seem to be moving very quickly and unless the mount is perfectly tracking then you will be constantly moving the scope to keep the object in place. With the 10mm id say forget putting it through a barlow, the 25mm is ok, but in effect that is then bringing you back to just having the 10mm lens in place.

I go for eyepieces now that give me a wider field of view so that I dont strain my ever rubbish eyesight. Believe it or not, you can actually get a better view of things by using the 25mm eyepiece, dont look straight at an object, allow your eye to look at the whole picture, its called averted vision, just let the eye take in the information and you will actually see more. The one big thing to remember is size isn't everything, I get some beautiful views by using 40mm eyepieces. As orion is about at the moment, have a look at the Orion nebula, put your 25mm in and visit this beautiful object, then spend half an hour just looking at that one place, you will start to see a wealth of things as your eye gathers the light. Oh and just to add, a larger eyepiece will show you the wider picture as well, to show this, view the seven sisters (the Pleiades) with both the 10mm and the 25mm, you will see what I mean. Welcome onboard as they say. My grandfather was in the Merchant navy, a fine service it is too.

[Luke_uk]

Thank you so much for your very helpful advise proflight. I will let you know how I get on

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[proflight2000]

Just to add Luke in respect of the eyepieces, there are a number of ways to find what's best for you as it really can be a minefield at times as not all people like the same sort of thing. If you have a local astronomy group, pop along to a meeting and see if you can borrow one or Two, or, pop into a telescope shop and try them. I started collecting BST Explorer eyepieces, they are comfortable, decently made and for the money I can't knock them, but others may, so it is worth going through the search engine here and reading up on what others have. In my kit I have an 8mm, 12mm, 25mm and a 40mm, it covers what I need and as with eyepieces, a good barlow lens as some of them are pretty naff to say the least. Clear skys my friend.

[inedible_hulk]

+1 for the BSTs. I have the 25mm, 15mm, 8mm and 5mm for use with my 130P. I can recommend the Revelation x2.5 Barlow too

[esxste]

The stock eyepieces and Barlow are pretty poor. Jupiter would appear as a bright blob, but no real detail could be seen easily. After looking around at other things I started to get a little frustrated. The 25mm is better than the 10mm, but that might be because the lower power demands less.

My frustration led to me purchasing new eyepieces only a few days ago.

I purchased an 8mm and 15mm BST Starguider (rebranded from explorer) to use on my Skywatcher Explorer 130. I got first light into them yesterday, and the difference is very clear. Where as Orion's nebula appeared as a smallish, but distinctive smudge of light, the BST showed far more of the nebula. With the 8mm I was able to easily see the bands of Jupiter, and it was sharp and well defined. For fun, I added the stock Barlow, and simply got a mess of aberrations. The Barlow really is low quality, I'd avoid using it. High magnification won't always give you the best view.

I would definitely say that a new eyepiece should be your next purchase. I'm very happy with the BST's but the Celestron X-Cels are in the same price and quality range, from what I've picked up on this forums.

As for wobble, my mount has an accessory tray between the legs, I usually put a bag of sand on it, the additional weight helps stabilise the mount.

I hope this helps

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