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new to telescoping and need help

BluEyedArcher86

By BluEyedArcher86
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BluEyedArcher86

BluEyedArcher86

Posted
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I recently discovered the thrill of seeing things outside our world...... I began with a small refractor scope and upgraded to a 4.5 inch reflector.......which only sparked my interest. I now have an Orion 8 inch reflector, and a nice set of Meade eyepieces. I have found Saturn and thank I have seen a couple DSO. But this is all using 25mm or 32mm eyepieces. I want to zoom in and see a little more detail on Saturn, and Mars. Right now Mars just looks like a medium sized redish star. It's closer to us than Saturn, so I don't understand why it looks so small in my scope. I have tried to use the different millimeters eyepieces... But so far, everytime I use a lower number millimeter eyepiece I can't seem to find anything! I tried to line up with Saturn and then magnify but after changing eyepieces I can never seem to find Saturn again. I realize that a higher magnification means a smaller, much smaller, field of view. I think is right term, but meaning that you are so magnified that the whole planet will not be able to be seen through the eyepiece at one time and that it will rotate out of your field ofview rather quickly. I have also tried to look in the Moon through my xt8 but cannot get a good picture. Its all blurry and just can't seem to focus. I had such crisp, clear,awesome views with my4.5inch. also, take into consideration that since I purchased my xt8, I have only got to use it 3 or 4 nights. It's been so cloudy and foggy where I live. Any recommendation or advise you guys could offer to help me better understand my scope and eyepieces would be greatly appreciated.

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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First thing, with the xt8 you may have to remove an adaptor ftom the focuser to get focus, some one else will chip in on this part, but if you have already viewd saturn with this scope disregard what i just said.

Mars will seem smaller even though its a lot closer as compared with saturn its a much smaller planet

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Schorhr

Schorhr

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Hi there,

welcome to the forum :-) Either the moon was blurred due to fog or you are using some adapter tube that causes problem focusing?

Mars is much smaller then earth - so even though Mars is closer then Saturn and Jupiter, those gas giants are huge. Mars will be tiny at 200x, 300x shows more but requires very good seeing, and still will be a tiny dot. After you accept that, you can still see lots of detail if you view it long enough and adjust.

I always start with a low magnification eyepiece, lets say 30mm, and instead of switching to 3mm directly, I place a 8 or 12mm in inbetween.

But if you center the object in the overview eyepiece and use a well adjusted finder, it should be possible to switch right to higher magnifications... Over 200x will often be blurry due to seeing conditions.

Good luck!

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Schorhr

Schorhr

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PS:

Size: Look at the bottom graphic on http://www.callanderprimaryschool.ik.org/p_The_Solar_System.ikml for a rough sense of scale.

Or http://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html

Also, even though sketched for 4 inch aperture, http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/ will be the sizes to expect, with a bit more detail if seeing conditions allow it.

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Pankaj

Pankaj

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Posted

I recently discovered the thrill of seeing things outside our world...... I began with a small refractor scope and upgraded to a 4.5 inch reflector.......which only sparked my interest. I now have an Orion 8 inch reflector, and a nice set of Meade eyepieces. I have found Saturn and thank I have seen a couple DSO. But this is all using 25mm or 32mm eyepieces. I want to zoom in and see a little more detail on Saturn, and Mars. Right now Mars just looks like a medium sized redish star. It's closer to us than Saturn, so I don't understand why it looks so small in my scope. I have tried to use the different millimeters eyepieces... But so far, everytime I use a lower number millimeter eyepiece I can't seem to find anything! I tried to line up with Saturn and then magnify but after changing eyepieces I can never seem to find Saturn again. I realize that a higher magnification means a smaller, much smaller, field of view. I think is right term, but meaning that you are so magnified that the whole planet will not be able to be seen through the eyepiece at one time and that it will rotate out of your field ofview rather quickly. I have also tried to look in the Moon through my xt8 but cannot get a good picture. Its all blurry and just can't seem to focus. I had such crisp, clear,awesome views with my4.5inch. also, take into consideration that since I purchased my xt8, I have only got to use it 3 or 4 nights. It's been so cloudy and foggy where I live. Any recommendation or advise you guys could offer to help me better understand my scope and eyepieces would be greatly appreciated.

Hi. I own a self made 5 inch reflector. Saturn look fabulous, for I can even see the cassini'd division at 120x. Mars will look tiny for it is too small as compared to Saturn. You should try Jupiter with XT8. It'll amaze you ! With an 8" reflector, you can try the ring nabula. It will be easily visible in reasonably ok skies. But dont go beyond 180x. Remember, the higher the pollution, the lower should be the power of the eyepc.

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Pankaj

Pankaj

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PS:

Size: Look at the bottom graphic on http://www.callanderprimaryschool.ik.org/p_The_Solar_System.ikml for a rough sense of scale.

Or http://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html

Also, even though sketched for 4 inch aperture, http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/ will be the sizes to expect, with a bit more detail if seeing conditions allow it.

An excellent writing. It cant get more better !

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi BlueEyedArcher and welcome to SGL, it will take a little time for you to become accustomed to using your new scope, there is wealth of information and help in the various sections of the forum. If you are having a particular problem, just post in the relative section for advice. The one thing we cant` help with though is the weather, enjoy :)

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MattJenko

MattJenko

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If you are after getting a new eyepiece, then a zoom eyepiece might help you as you could zoom in while still ensuring that the object remains in the center of the eyepiece. Most zooms (my Hyperion certainly) it almost perfectly parfocal, so the object also stays pretty much in focus as you zoom in. This would allow you to get the object in view with a wider field and then up the power while ensuring that it does not get lost out of view. I can only vouch for the Hyperion zoom, which seems to have a decent amount of support on this forum. I picked up one second hand for about 2/3 price of a new one.

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Shelster1973

Shelster1973

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As from others, a very warm welcome to SGL.

I also have an Orion 8" Newt, although I mostly use mine for imaging.

Everyting that I have learnt so far has come from teh very learned and exceedingly helpful people that I am lucky enough to sahre this forum with.

No matter how silly you think your question here is, someone will always be able to offer some advice and assitance with it.  Stick with it as the rewards are very exciting and pleasing.

Clear Skies.....

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  • 1 month later...
rwilkey

rwilkey

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Hi there, and welcome to the forum.  Your experience of losing the object when you try to up the magnification is quite common when you first start out, just look around again for the object but remember you will need to refocus when you find it.  Good luck!

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