How do I ask a question

[Trevorcrosshands]

Folks, I've just joined this site and as an old timer, find it difficult to get started. How do I ask a question, is it on these posts?

[Langy]

Welcome to SGL.

Yes just find a relevant forum and ask away, don't worry no question in here is a silly question, we all post what we think is silly but you will be amazed with the wealth of answers.

[RikM]

Welcome to SGL

If you have a look at the names of the forum sections listed on the main page. Find the section where your question fits e.g. is it about getting started  observing, or equipment or whatever, then post your question on a new thread just like you did here.

[ronin]

Exactly the same way as you have asked this question.

Look through the various sub sections and pick (guess at ) the most approporite.

Or stick it in The Astro Lounge, that seems to often be a bit of a catch all. :evil:

Fairly informal and if you stick a question on eyepieces in the imaging section, the 2 things will happen:
People will answer it anyway,

Someone may come along and move it to a more relevant section.

Daft questions are welcome, avoid astrology at all costs.

[RikM]

Yes, as ronin says, if you post it in the wrong place or get stumped with something, find a moderator (red, green or blue tag under the picture) who's online (green circle next to their username) and send them a massage. If you hover your mouse over the username you will get a pop-up with an option to 'send message'. The reply will show up as a little #1 over the white envelope icon at the top right of your screen, just next to your username.

[HumptyMoo]

Welcome Trevor, Give it your best shot, choose a section that looks/sounds about right and you'll be good to go.

Even if you get it totally wrong, no one will chastise you for a genuine mistake.

Questions are the vehicle that got humanity to where it is today, fire away!

[Trevorcrosshands]

Ok thanks all.

I look forward to asking many dumb questions but will research first not to time waste.

Here's the first starter for 10, as I wear specs, should I gaze with or without them?

Cheers

[Langy]

Here's the first starter for 10, as I wear specs, should I gaze with or without them?

That is down to personal preference. I wear specs and quite short sighted so prefer to keep them on. An EP with good eye relief is great for this.

Now several will take them off, it's a personal choice as to how you feel most comfortable.

The best bet is to try for a period of time with and without so you can see what you are happier with.

[Oddsocks]

Hello Trevor and welcome to SGL.

I too wear glasses and over the years I have invested in a set of Televue eyepieces as my eyesight defect was mainly astigmatism and Televue make specific astigmatism corrector lenses called "Dioptrix". These attach to the output side of the eyepiece and they had to be ordered to match the prescription of my normal glasses.

As long as you don't suffer from astigmatism and only have near or far sight defects then observing with or without glasses just comes down to personal preference, moving the focuser inwards or outwards will compensate fully for your near or far sight.

The only rider is that some eyepieces do not have enough eye relief (the distance that the image is formed on the back of the retina from the rear objective lens of the eyepiece) and you may find you have to remove your glasses anyway so that you can place your eye close enough to the eyepiece to reach focus.

 One annoying feature I found of not wearing glasses and using corrected eyepieces is when you want to swap from the eyepiece to the Telrad finder and then it used to be a fumble in the dark for the glasses even though they were usually on a cord round my neck or trying to strangle me when the cord gets caught up in the mechanics of it all!

In the end my optician suggested keeping a pair of my old frames with the right lens removed, so then I just used the right eye for eyepiece viewing and when looking up I could use the finder with the left eye, magic...problem solved.

In recent years I have had torn and damaged retina's in both eyes and very seldom use my telescopes visually now, mostly I just stare at a laptop gathering photons via a camera but I still enjoy the hobby immensely.

[sidelight]

Hi and welcome,

I wear specs too with wildly different different lenses for each eye.  I still prefer to use the scope without, the biggest challenge so far has been that when my son joins me the focus has to be adjusted for each of us.  Not a huge deal, and good practice for him.

Cheers

Ross

[RikM]

I prefer to keep my glasses on to observe. I have invested in long eyerelief eyepieces to make this easier. 

[Chris Rowland]

I take my glasses off to observe for myself but if I'm focusing the scope for other people keep them on.  That way the scope is more or less in focus for them.

Chris

[ronin]

The "general" opinion or habit seems to be:

If you have a noticeable degree of astigmatism then they stay on - the scope cannot compensate for astigmatism.

Otherwise if just short or long sighted you do whatever is most natural for you, depending on the degree of short or long sightedness.

I have slight astigmatism but often remove mine, doesn't seem to be any real difference in what I see.

If I am at a public event looking through a scope I leave them on, I would have to adjust the focus otherwise and not really fair to the next person.

I actually suppose the biggest factor is having somewhere convenient to put the things if they are not in front of my eyes. That one aspect is very likely the contributing factor to wear or not wear.

[Astro Imp]

I need to wear varifocals and prefer to observe with them off.

However when using a star atlas I find it a hassle to keep putting them on to consult the atlas and removing them to look through the finder/scope so compromise by wearing them until I have found my target and then removing them.

I guess it all depends on what you're comfortable with.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Ok thanks all.

I look forward to asking many dumb questions but will research first not to time waste.

Here's the first starter for 10, as I wear specs, should I gaze with or without them?

Cheers

Welcome. This question has been asked before, but its a good one. As has been said its down to preference. I do think the general thinking is that if you suffer from an astigmatism, then its best to wear glasses while observing. 

[kasheyev]

Daft questions are welcome, avoid astrology at all costs.

What is the usual cost of astrology?  As a beginner at the budgeting stage I'd like to know exactly how much I'll be saving.

Thank you in advance.

[wxsatuser]

What is the usual cost of astrology?  As a beginner at the budgeting stage I'd like to know exactly how much I'll be saving.

Thank you in advance.

You get shotdown in flames.

Really depends on what you want to achieve.

Give us some info on what your interested in.

[kasheyev]

You get shotdown in flames.

Really depends on what you want to achieve.

Give us some info on what your interested in.

The flames do sound intriguing... but I was just being a smartass about "avoiding astrology at all costs."

Thanks though, I'm actually still in the information retrieval stage and don't want to hijack the thread any more than I have.

[wxsatuser]

Don't mention UFOs as well.

You ain't seen me, right!

[Langy]

Will we not get to see ET sometime?

Sent from my Windows Phone 8X by HTC using Tapatalk

[kasheyev]

Don't mention UFOs as well.

You ain't seen me, right!

Not a UFO nut, so no worries.  I will have an IFO in a minute if I stub my toe again on my wife's desk chair on my way to bed.

[RikM]

Astrology and UFO's in the same thread? Someone'll end up getting banned for sure 

Where did I put my hammer?

[theclearskiesofthemoon]

What's wrong with UFOs? A lot of people see unidentified things in the sky. A UFO can't help it if some people think they're spaceships controlled by beings from beyond this world when it's obviously Venus or a seagull.