You've probably been asked this before!

[xiuxiuejar]

Got my 6 year old daughter a Heritage SkyWatcher 76/300 for Christmas. I know it's not a great scope but after A LOT of investigation, I believe it was a good deal at 48 euros - especially complete with finder-scope and I was not prepared to spend 140+ euros on the better scopes.

We've been out for 3 hours tonight and had a lot of fun so I am happy with my investment - especially having witnessed the craters on the moon with such clarity!

I have two questions really ...

I know this piece will have severe limitations but I'd like to get more magnification. Seeing as the eyepieces provided are probably not of the greatest quality, I would have thought a Barlow lens would possibly not be my best course of action so I am looking at getting a new eyepiece. Many people are recommending 4mm lenses but would this be a little too close to the technical limitations of our telescope? I was thinking that maybe a 6.5mm lens, while not magnifying so much, may give us a clearer and more comfortable viewing experience. Would I be right? 

My second question is that I'd love to show my daughter some planets. I'm not expecting to see great things but I would have thought that Jupiter with its size should be visible. Which planets would be visible to us and how do we find them? 

I am such a potato when it comes to astronomy so forgive me if I have made a fool of myself but I am desperate to show my daughter how to get the  most out of her new toy. Thank you very much.

[Peter Drew]

The telescope is a good one for the price and its capabilities. A 6mm eyepiece would give 50X magnification, enough to show the main cloud belts of Jupiter and of course its four main moons. Saturn's ring and main moon Titan should show as well as the phases of Venus. Apart from that, Mercury, Mars and Uranus should be seen but don't expect to see detail. The telescope is a very short focus one and a suitable 6mm eyepiece for best results is likely to cost a similar amount to the complete telescope, it would , however, be a good start for a future telescope. To find the positions of the planets, download the free planetarium programme "Stellarium".  Welcome to this forum and good luck.  

[baggywrinkle]

The max  useful magnification is going to be around 140x and that would be under good coditions. The 6mm and a 2x barlow would work but the image dims down as there is more glass in the line of sight to make the image loose contrast. It would be OK for the moon and the brighter planets. The field of view would be smaller and so you would be moving the telescope to keep the object in view.

Also have a look at the M42 in Orion's sword, that is always a wow factor view.

But enjoy! That is the main thing.

[xiuxiuejar]

Thanks for the replies. So you both agree that 6mm is better than 4mm? And you say I can go up to 140x magnification but wouldn't that be pushing the limitations of comfort? Remembering my daughter is 6 years old, would she be able to use a set up like that? Thanks again.

[cuivenion]

Hi, if you input your scope specs into this:

http://www.stargazing.net/naa/scopemath.htm

and have a read through it should give you a good idea of what eyepieces to use. This page:

http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm

Gives a good idea of the size of your targets in different eyepieces. Don't count on the colour and detail being there though as the pictures for the app on that site are from sources such as Hubble.

Generally the higher mag eyepieces are better off being used on targets like planets and the low to medium mag on DSO's. All this is dependent on sky condtions of course. As for finding the planets:

http://freestarcharts.com/index.php/the-planets-this-month

A planisphere is also of help and be bought cheaply from Astro Boot. There are varies smartphone/tablet apps out there that tell you what you're looking at when you hold it up to the sky. Skyview for the Ipad is an example of this. It's what I use, though there may be better examples.

Good luck and clear skies!

[Dave In Vermont]

Regards eyepieces - a young person of 6 should have no problem using the short eye-relief of a 4mm eyepiece of an inexpensive variety such as a Plossl. Now for something many people don't quite understand about telescopes when they first start out: It's not only about magnification (x). It's also very much about light-gathering ability. The larger the aperture (diameter) of the lens, or mirror, the more light the scope gathers. This equals how dim an object can be to be seen more easily by the viewer.

So a lower magnification and wider field-of-view (F.O.V.) afforded by an eyepiece, the more objects that can be seen.

Enjoy!

Dave

[ronin]

For Jupiter look East at about 9:00pm, there is a bright "star" up there, very bright. That is Jupiter.

To check use binoculars, it will be a small disk and you may pick out 1 to 4 moons either side.

Scope you have is f/4 and that is a bit of a problem, makes it short but keeping it setup can be a problem.

Look up collimation of newtonians but unless things are very wrong I am going to suggest you leave it alone.

Is there a club anywhere near you that you could join.

Thinking that someone there may be able to check and adjust the collimation for you occasionally.

Eyepieces, well a 4mm is a pain to use, you have to get very close to it, a 6mm is more useable and would give 50x and that is OK for Jupiter - should see a couple of bands and whatever moons are in view (some hide behind Jupiter).

Eyepiece types, owing to the cost of the scope stick to plossl's.

If you get a better scope in the future ask first as some are a bit troublesome - some are a Bird-Jones design and the tube length is about half the focal length, avoid these. Easy to see as there is a fair mismatch.

One possible option is an 8mm and a barlow, does mean buying 2 bits however. But may be a fair option.

For Jupiter if you are around reading these then go outside now, look East or South East now and about half way up you should see it easily if the sky is clear.

[xiuxiuejar]

Thanks for that. I have been outside and the sky is so clear that there are so many stars. I am guessing that Jupiter is the largest and brightest visible, a little above another fairly bright star. I have to get a compass and start looking into the best times to view the planets. I will also be making my decision on 4mm or 6mm in the next couple of days, I want her to enjoy her telescope as much as possible but give her the least frustration I can. I think if I calibrate the finder scope well, it will help us a lot. In reality I would have loved a more expensive telescope but my wife would have killed me as she wanted to buy an even cheaper direct one but I can't imagine a 6 year old with the patience to focus a small telescope on a tripod. 

[xiuxiuejar]

Hi, I just wanted to thank you all once again and also to thank those who contribute to the forum. Having downloaded the recommended Stellarium software, we now have at least a clue as to what we are searching for. I have calibrated the finderscope and the three of us, my wife, my daughter and myself are excited to have seen Jupiter and her moons and a few other things. I can also say that for the price, I am extremely happy with my telescope - very easy for a 6 year old to move around and use and I think good quality for the price. I have sourced some lenses recommended by various sources - these are not top quality but I think they will help us see a little more detail. Thanks and good night!

[MiguelMJr]

It looks like the whole family likes the scope, that's wonderful.  

Below is a link to a list of the Messier Objects. See if you can find and view them all as the year passes by. This will give you, your wife and daughter a goal to reach and thus a reason to go out and look as the seasons pass.

Start saving for a bigger scope and have fun with the one you have now.

Miguel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Messier_objects

[MiguelMJr]

Another thing... When searching for an object it is better to start out with a lower magnification (focal length of telescope divided by focal length of eyepiece equals magnification) and once found boosting up the magnification by changing the eyepiece in order to get a better look.

Miguel

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi 'xiuxeuejar' and welcome to SGL.

It's a great little 'starter scope'. One of my friends has purchased one for his six-year old grandson for Christmas, (2014). He too had been asking me what did I think. Well after a quick look throught it before he wrapped it, I was pleasently surprised. I tried it with my 6mm Ortho's and I too think that is the limit. I also tried with my TeleVue 3-6mm Naglar zoom and it did struggle once it left <6mm.

Have a look at Astro Buy & Sell http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/ too. This tends to be a better place to pick up 'used' equipment rather than ebay.

[gnomus]

Hi, I just wanted to thank you all once again and also to thank those who contribute to the forum. Having downloaded the recommended Stellarium software, we now have at least a clue as to what we are searching for. I have calibrated the finderscope and the three of us, my wife, my daughter and myself are excited to have seen Jupiter and her moons and a few other things. I can also say that for the price, I am extremely happy with my telescope - very easy for a 6 year old to move around and use and I think good quality for the price. I have sourced some lenses recommended by various sources - these are not top quality but I think they will help us see a little more detail. Thanks and good night!

Make sure that you have told Stellarium your location (I found it slightly awkward to set up the first time I tried to use it).

Also, you might want to consider a couple of books.  "Turn Left At Orion" is always a strong recommendation.  Also, "Nightwatch" is very good (and it provides a method of familiarising yourself with some of the major constellations, using the idea of "pointer stars").

Best wishes. 

[xiuxiuejar]

Would a Barlow lens be useful for us or would it be "too much"?

[gnomus]

Would a Barlow lens be useful for us or would it be "too much"?

You will find various ways to estimate the maximum useful magnification of your telescope.  See this http://www.rocketmime.com/astronomy/Telescope/MaximumMagnification.html for example which suggests that one shouldn't magnify much beyond the diameter of the objective of your scope (in mm).  In your case the objective diameter is 76mm.  Others suggest that you can go to 2-2.5 times the objective diameter when the seeing is excellent - http://​https://www.astronomics.com/eyepiece-highest-useful-magnification_t.aspx

To calculate magnification you take Focal Length of scope (which in your case is 300mm) and divide it by the focal length of the eyepiece you plan to use.  The 6mm eyepiece would, therefore, give 50x magnification.  You will be able to see plenty at lower magnifications like this.  Indeed, sometimes magnification will "degrade" the image.  For instance, the other night I thought that I got my 'best' view of Jupiter and its moons (albeit the planet was small) through an eyepiece that only gave me only a little over 50x magnification.  Much above this and the picture became very 'fluid' and difficult to focus.

You could think of the barlow as being a way of "doubling" the number of eyepieces you have.  So a 2x barlow could be used to turn your 12mm eyepiece into the equivalent of a 6mm, and so on.  If you had eyepieces (or eyepieces plus barlow) that gave you a range of options between, say, 50x to 150x (bearing in mind that the higher power stuff will only get occasional use), I think you would be all set.  

[L8-Nite]

As she is only 6 years old, consider starting out with our nearest neighbour, the Moon. There are many features she can learn about, and a greater opportunity to observe them over the monthly cycle even with the local light pollution at your location. There is little need for dark adaption when viewing our Moon, in fact, it is easier to view with a low wattage outside light on as it minimizes eye strain when the Moon is bright.

There was an Astronomy shop on the corner of La Rambla and Carrer de Pelai by the plaza when we were in Barcelona a couple of years ago, might be worth a visit; the place was well stocked.  

Edit: Photos of shop.

[Tums]

Hi, I've just received this little book from Amazon, and have to say, I'm finding it very informative. may be worth a look.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0007598688?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

[xiuxiuejar]

Excellent. Thank you all. This forum is great!

[Astro Imp]

If you and your family get hooked on observing the moon The Virtual Moon Atlas, which is a free download, will give you all the information you are likely to need.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Dave In Vermont]

If you and your family get hooked on observing the moon The Virtual Moon Atlas, which is a free download, will give you all the information you are likely to need.

Good luck and enjoy.

I concur. It's is a very good atlas of your Moon:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon/

That's a free site with many other goodies as well - all free of charge.

Clear Skies,

Dave