Am I doing everything wrong?

[GuyWithAnOldTelescope]

So I've recently thrown myself into this hobby, and, despising the term "beginner," bought a $600 refractor that I've seen listed as an "intermediate" scope. Now I've done plenty of research into what telescope to buy, and the Celestron Omni XLT 120 (120 mm aperture) offers great views of the sky and moon. I also understood that the planets would look disappointingly small at first. Well I wasn't wrong. But Jupiter seemed tiny. Saturn even smaller. My dad's old 70 mm scope offered the same view. The magnification on the XLT 120 is 40x because the eyepiece is 25 mm and the f/l is 1000 mm. Looking into it, filters and a smaller eyepiece would offer better views. I've ordered a kit with eyepieces down to 6 mm. Would an eyepiece that small afford decent views of the planets/moon/nebulae without obscuring the image horrifically?

Also, the scope is mounted on a CG-4 Equat. mount. From the manual and online, I've deduced that the simplest way to polar align the scope is to point the leg marked "N" north and set the latitude to 28 degrees (where I am in Florida). Using the right azimuth and declination axises (axes?), I can rotate it to different parts of the sky, but what does an equatorial mount do? I've looked online and the answer never seems clear. When I operate the scope, it seems like I'm simply pointing it at objects as one would with a alt-azi. mount, but the process is complicated by the alignment of the axes/axises.

Note: I really enjoy astronomy; even when the objects are tiny, I still have a blast. It just seems like I'm not doing something right.

[John]

The 6mm eyepiece will give you a magnification of 166x which will provide views of Jupiter and other planets that are over 4 times larger in the eyepiece than the 25mm eyepiece does. If your kit comes with a barlow lens you can boost the magnification further though 166x is usually enough to see plenty of detail on Jupiter.

Saturn is further away than Jupiter and a smaller planet so it does appear smaller though the scope than Jupiter. The higher magnifications will help with Saturn too.

Planets will still be far from "filling the eyepiece" though and thats quite normal. They will be substantially larger than your 25mm eyepiece is delivering though. 

So you are no doing anything wrong other than using a low power on a target that would benefit from a higher power.

[Bizibilder]

The shorter focal length eyepieces will give you greater magnification (1000/6mm = 166x)  but in astronomy magnification isn't the end of the story.  You have to learn to see detail - for instance, if you look at Jupiter you will see a yellowish blob, look for 15 minutes and your eyes will start to pick out details like the cloud bands and the Red Spot.

The EQ mount also takes some getting used to!  You are correct to align the tripod leg to "N" and set your latitude.  You then swing the scope to find your object - then you should be able to lock the Declination axis and use either the motors or slow motion handwheel of the polar axis to follow the target across the sky.  As your polar alignment won't be perfect you may need the occasional "tweak" of the declination slow motion to keep your target in view.  The whole process of using an EQ mount is a bit like riding a bike - once you have practiced a bit you wonder what all the fuss was about!

[ronin]

That scope should be producing very good views on planets and most other things, it looks like a very nice choice of scopes.

Jupiter will be small but display reasonable detail at 100x, even a bit less. so a 10mm eyepiece will give that, an 8mm eyepiece will give abut 125x and that will do Jupitr and Saturn. You may find a little more magnification for Saturn is useful, but I recall Saturn at 125x as excellent.

Over here the scope seems to come with just the one 25mm eyepiece (40x). If the same in Florida then you need to start spending money on a few more. Sorry to be depleting your bank balance.

The ones that are recommended here will be the Astro-Tech Paradigms and the Celestron X-Cel's.

The X-Cels come in 5mm, 7mm, 9mm and 12mm the 7mm and 9mm would be I think very good in your scope for highish magnification.

The Paradigms come in 5mm, 8mm and 12mm, slightly less choice but they cost less and performance is as close to identical as you will get.

I would be tempted by the 7mm and 9mm X-Cel, even though the cost is more per EP. You have the option then for the 7mm when conditions allow 142x, and the 9mm 110x, when conditions are poor.

I will say that if the budget is tight then you may be OK with plossl eyepieces - assumes that the smaller eye relief is acceptable to you. But really the AT's and the X-Cels are a lot better at the end. If there is the chance to borrow a 10mm or 12mm plossl one night then give it a try.

[John]

I believe he has already ordered an eyepiece kit and may not want to invest further just now.

[Langy]

The EQ mount does take some getting used to. It took me two or three sessions. It may e worthwhile just watching the two videos below which will help a lot on using the mount.

Someone has already given advice on EP's but from what I gather (being new myself) you get what you pay for. If you buy cheap quality EP then don't expect to get a lot from them.

Setting Up an EQ Mount

How to use an EQ Mount

You will find the youtube has a wealth of information on this hobby from using kit to what is out there and is well worth spending some spare time looking.

[GuyWithAnOldTelescope]

The EQ mount does take some getting used to. It took me two or three sessions. It may e worthwhile just watching the two videos below which will help a lot on using the mount.

Someone has already given advice on EP's but from what I gather (being new myself) you get what you pay for. If you buy cheap quality EP then don't expect to get a lot from them.

Setting Up an EQ Mount

How to use an EQ Mount

You will find the youtube has a wealth of information on this hobby from using kit to what is out there and is well worth spending some spare time looking.

The XLT 120 comes with the CG-4 German Equatorial mount. Would you consider this a quality mount? 

[GuyWithAnOldTelescope]

That scope should be producing very good views on planets and most other things, it looks like a very nice choice of scopes.

Jupiter will be small but display reasonable detail at 100x, even a bit less. so a 10mm eyepiece will give that, an 8mm eyepiece will give abut 125x and that will do Jupitr and Saturn. You may find a little more magnification for Saturn is useful, but I recall Saturn at 125x as excellent.

Over here the scope seems to come with just the one 25mm eyepiece (40x). If the same in Florida then you need to start spending money on a few more. Sorry to be depleting your bank balance.

The ones that are recommended here will be the Astro-Tech Paradigms and the Celestron X-Cel's.

The X-Cels come in 5mm, 7mm, 9mm and 12mm the 7mm and 9mm would be I think very good in your scope for highish magnification.

The Paradigms come in 5mm, 8mm and 12mm, slightly less choice but they cost less and performance is as close to identical as you will get.

I would be tempted by the 7mm and 9mm X-Cel, even though the cost is more per EP. You have the option then for the 7mm when conditions allow 142x, and the 9mm 110x, when conditions are poor.

I will say that if the budget is tight then you may be OK with plossl eyepieces - assumes that the smaller eye relief is acceptable to you. But really the AT's and the X-Cels are a lot better at the end. If there is the chance to borrow a 10mm or 12mm plossl one night then give it a try.

http://www.telescopes.com/telescope-eyepieces/125-inch-eyepieces/125ineyepieceandfilterkit.cfm <- That's the kit I ordered. It comes with Barlow lenses and eyepieces down to 4, 6, and 12.5 mm

[GuyWithAnOldTelescope]

Also, is there a better way to find objects? At the moment I use charts and an app on my phone called "Sky Guide," then I just look for the  object there and point my scope at it. The finderscope doesn't help very often though it probably should.

[brantuk]

There's nothing wrong with using an app on a phone to find objects. But if you really want to learn the sky then you can't beat spending a year through the seasons star hopping to consolidate object positions in your mind.

Learn where the ecliptic is, how to find the pole star so you know which way is north, south, east, and west, and where the constellations are and which are their main stars. That will give you the basic tools to get started.

Use your app (or a computer with Stellarium downloaded - it's free) to discover which constellations are currently available and which objects they contain. Then the rest is manual recognition of which stars to hop to to get to your chosen object starting from a constellation main star. Some folks like to draw imaginary lines in the sky that originate from constellation main stars and intersect at an object. I personally use a combination of hopping and line drawing.

You'll find the finder scope very useful for this - but align it in the daytime on a distant object like a church spire tip or a pylon tip a mile or so away. The tip should be central in both finder and scope eyepiece to be effective. Learn 3 or 4 objects per month and by the end of the year you'll have an impressive glossary of nearly 50 easy to find objects registered in your head. Hth