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Ben Kenobi

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Ben Kenobi

Ben Kenobi

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So I am new to all of this, never even been on a forum before. I am currently taking an astronomy class at college and I was fascinated from the second the professor turned on the star machine. With pretty much the last of my money, I purchased a new telescope. Bear with me on this, I know it may be tiny, but I bought a Celestron Firstscope 76. My main thing is riding dirtbikes out in the desert, but I noticed that the stars are more brilliant then I ever have seen when I camp out there so I though astronomy would be a perfect side hobby to do after dark instead of starring at a campfire. My main goal is to see Saturn's rings and to see a nebula or as many as I can. I know my scope is small but I have heard good reviews and have been told its actually pretty potent for its size. 

If anyone has a Firstscope I would love to talk about it and see if it can spot what I am looking for. 

post-39793-0-13470500-1414877680.jpeg

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oldpink

oldpink

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Hi and welcome to SGL

start with easy targets like the moon

maybe the planets and some open clusters (M45)

saturns rings may be a bit ambitious but saturn will be possible but don't expect a large disc

more a small smudge with a bulge

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Ben Kenobi

Ben Kenobi

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Hi and welcome to SGL

start with easy targets like the moon

maybe the planets and some open clusters (M45)

saturns rings may be a bit ambitious but saturn will be possible but don't expect a large disc

more a small smudge with a bulge

Would a filter help me at all with Saturn or is my scope just too small? Do you think that this scope will be better then naked eye viewing or should I have not even bought it? 

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Tums

Tums

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Hi Ben ;) Welcome to the Lounge. :)

The main thing when your starting out, is Enjoy it. This really is a fantastic pastime, and if you have any questions ( And I promise you, you will have loads ;) ).

Then this is the right place to be. ;)

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Ben Kenobi

Ben Kenobi

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Ben, I think that maybe your scope, will be too small to see some things. And not sure filters would help.

Maybe have a look at this link

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/

It will give you some good info.

:)

Glanced through. Its a bit depressing to be honest but I really want to get into this so I guess I will learn with my little scope now and that will motivate me to work harder to buy a nice scope. Would $7,500 buy me a scope good enough you think, or is it impossible to get a good image from below our atmosphere? 

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Pete Presland

Pete Presland

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Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire :smiley: Saturn is lost in the glare of the sun at the moment. you should be able to at least make out an oval shaped disc when you do get to observe it though. the Orion nebula is an easy spot even with the naked eye, so you will have no problems seeing a nebula.

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swag72

swag72

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Glanced through. Its a bit depressing to be honest but I really want to get into this so I guess I will learn with my little scope now and that will motivate me to work harder to buy a nice scope. Would $7,500 buy me a scope good enough you think, or is it impossible to get a good image from below our atmosphere? 

Hi and welcome to SGL - Don't be depressed about it, the best scope is the one that you use and if it's small but teaches you the sky and furthers your desire for more then that's a good thing.

You can get decent pics from below our atmosphere. I'm a DSO imager, I guess that's not your bag. But if you do a quick search for Damian Peach, he really is at the top of the planetary imaging game.

Look forward to seeing you around :)

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Tums

Tums

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Glanced through. Its a bit depressing to be honest but I really want to get into this so I guess I will learn with my little scope now and that will motivate me to work harder to buy a nice scope. Would $7,500 buy me a scope good enough you think, or is it impossible to get a good image from below our atmosphere?

Ben, these are the realities, unless you can afford ' Hubble' , your not going to see things like you do on TV or in books.

Your $7,500 would buy you some very good kit.

But for now, I would say, buy a couple of good books, and read up on this brilliant pastime,

1, Backyard Astronomers Guide

2,Turn Left At Orion

Are a couple of good starting points.

Learn the Sky, and decide what you want from your new Hobby. Will you be happy being a 'Viewer' or do you want to get into 'Astrophotography'

I started, by viewing,but the bug then bites to take images of what I was seeing through my eyepiece, so I could show others. And that's what happens,to a lot of us.

Then a few hundred or thousand £/$ later, we still want more. lol

So for now,

Do a bit of reading

Learn the Sky

But more than anything ENJOY IT. :)

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Ben and welcome to SGL, many years ago I acquired a similar 76mm reflector, with patience and some good skies you should, amongst other things, be able to see some of the major planets, although they will not reveal any detail but appear as very small discs. Visual observations with our atmosphere can, even with expensive optics, be good to the downright poor, even though the sky may appear clear at the time.

No matter how much money you throw at the hobby, visually you are never likely to see the images as displayed in the many books and web sites that deal with the subject. It is the progression from visual, with suitable optics and mount, using digital photographic equipment, that is the route to be taken if you want to achieve this end.

You are a long way from this point, just starting out. It would be wise to enjoy the scope you have bought, without considering spending a deal of Dollars, until you have assimilated enough knowledge to know down which path you want to travel, never the less, your dark desert skies on Tatooine should be a great help, enjoy your Astronomy and may the force be with you :)

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Vox45

Vox45

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Welcome to the forum :)

You know what they say: the best scope are the one we use. This is a nice little scope, very convenient and it will serve you as a grab and go scope if you ever decide to buy a bigger one .. I've always heard from expert to start little or with binos anyways ;)

Clear skies

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Ben Kenobi

Ben Kenobi

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Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. My scope came in the mail yesterday afternoon and I could not wait till it got dark. I set it up, adjusted the finder, and got it ready. I even made a nice aluminum table with parts from an old ladder to place it on and I had a nice bar stool at the ready. I have over a few acres of land in a pretty rural area where no one has lights on so I thought it would be great seeing, and there were no clouds in sight. But the wind picked up quite a bit and the moon was a waxing gibbous and it was brighter then I have ever seen. I printed out a November chart from Skymaps and set up my scope. The moon was throwing off so much light that I could actually read the chart without a flashlight. I first looked at the moon for a good while and realized I need a moon filter and a 4mm eyepiece. My scope only came with a 20mm and a 10mm. For the rest of the night I darted across the sky hoping to find a cluster or something but either I was in too much of a hurry or the conditions were not optimal. 

So my first question is... If the moon is full, at waxing gibbous or waning gibbous, will that really effect seeing other celestial objects that much?

Second question is... Even if the sky is clear and the stars are not twinkling, will a strong wind make it hard to see into space? I think the answer is yes because the photons of light coming from celestial objects might be disrupted by the wind, but I could be wrong. 

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