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First Telescope help

twofatslugs

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twofatslugs

twofatslugs

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So you all decided what you're going for now? :)

Matt.

Yeah, thanks for the help guys. Am going with the Skywatcher Skyliner 200p Dob, and a collimation cap. Will purchase the 6mm Wilson optic a month down the line probably. Will see what the views are like with the supplied optics.

Thanks again for the help, wish me luck for the collimation when it arrives.

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martin_veasey

martin_veasey

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Yeah, thanks for the help guys. Am going with the Skywatcher Skyliner 200p Dob, and a collimation cap. Will purchase the 6mm Wilson optic a month down the line probably. Will see what the views are like with the supplied optics.

Thanks again for the help, wish me luck for the collimation when it arrives.

I'm sure you'll love the scope. I use the same "tube" but mounted on a "tripod" mount - Skywatcher Explorer 200p and I'm delighted with it. A couple of thoughts come to mind:

  • You're probably right to delay on buying new eyepieces. I think the 25mm supplied is okay and the 10mm is disappointing. However, the problem with small lenses is that you need a really still night (lack of turbulence) otherwise their strong magnification just picks up a wavy image. I have 5mm and 9mm eyepieces and probably use the 9mm item 80% of the time. Get your kit, focus the 10mm on Jupiter (and soon, Saturn) and take it from there
  • Don't worry about collimation out of the box. It'll take a while to get familiar with the telescope and it's not the highest priority - just get out there and look at the heavens. When you are ready, my favourite two websites on the subject are here and here They both make it very clear - don't worry, just take it slowly and make sure you understand each step, what you're expecting to see and why. It is possible to do with a collimation cap alone though I use a Cheshire myself
  • You asked about why different eyepieces for planets and deep-space objects. The truth is that (in terms of apparent size to an Earth observer) the planets are small and many DSOs are rather large, so the planets need much more magnification. For example, M42 (the Orion Nebula) is one of the larger and easier to find DSOs. It is about 60' (arc-minutes) long and wide and so of the same order of magnitude as the Moon. Jupiter is, at best, just under 1' across and so is much smaller
  • You may find it initially frustrating lining up the telescope with the object you want to see. The Moon and the major planets are straightforward but, initially, one star looks much like another in the finder. I bought a "red-dot finder" (a Telrad in my case) which has the effect of projecting a bulls-eye target on the sky. It makes life much, much easier

Best of luck and come back with your observations and more questions!

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  • 3 weeks later...
twofatslugs

twofatslugs

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Just popping back in to update you guys. The scope arrived today, all built and collimated it with relatively little trouble. The primary mirror was already aligned out of the box, and the secondary didn't need that much adjusting. Unfortunately I've just come in because of the cloud, but I managed to get a fantastic view of Jupiter through the basic 10mm provided. At this time of year for me at least in the UK, I'm going to have a hard time viewing Orion, but are there any other deep sky objects I could try my hand at? I'm interested in finding the beehive cluster, and I really want to see the pinwheel galaxy, but I hear the latter is quite difficult.

Loving the scope, my necks in agony at the moment, but it's all worth it imo. My 2x Barlow is coming tomorrow, was delayed, but yeah. If anyone could recommend me some deep sky objects to try and find, it would be greatly appreciated. Are all the messiers viewable in some regard with this scope? Or are some of them simply too far away?

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astromackem

astromackem

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@twofatslugs

Congrats on the new scope. I have the 200p.. its a beauty isn't it? I collimated just fine with just the cap. I use my 10mm a lot on Jupiter but would be interested to see what you think of the 6mm- let me know how you get on as i'm considering getting one (or a 7mm)

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kalasinman

kalasinman

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If you download Stellarium (free) you'll have hours of fun searching the sky to see what's visible at any time and date. Be sure you enter your location properly. If you follow the instructions here  http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/237534-stellarium-fov-preview/#entry2573623  you can preview your actual field of view for your scope and eyepiece while relaxing inside.

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kens

kens

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All the Messiers should be within reach of that scope, The only thing stopping you is the weather and light pollution. Charles Messier used only a 100mm refractor with worse optics than you have.

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twofatslugs

twofatslugs

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Just been out again, got the beehive cluster this time and it looked fantastic. Spent the rest of my time out trying to find the pinwheel, I live in a very dark area, but I'm still getting used to moving the dobsonian around. Trying to track the 3 main stars of the big dipper is a challenge for me, but I assume this will get better in time.

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astromackem

astromackem

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Just been out again, got the beehive cluster this time and it looked fantastic. Spent the rest of my time out trying to find the pinwheel, I live in a very dark area, but I'm still getting used to moving the dobsonian around. Trying to track the 3 main stars of the big dipper is a challenge for me, but I assume this will get better in time.

The Dipper is so high up I find it impossible to focus on anything

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twofatslugs

twofatslugs

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The Dipper is so high up I find it impossible to focus on anything

Yeah, it's almost directly upwards so it gives me terrible neck ache having to bend that much, but I can get the stars of the big dipper in focus individually it's just tracking from one to the other, going from the double star to the end is diagonal, and that's what I'm having trouble with at the moment. Any tips on diagonal movement with the dob would be massively appreciated, but this probably comes with time :)

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astromackem

astromackem

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Yeah, it's almost directly upwards so it gives me terrible neck ache having to bend that much, but I can get the stars of the big dipper in focus individually it's just tracking from one to the other, going from the double star to the end is diagonal, and that's what I'm having trouble with at the moment. Any tips on diagonal movement with the dob would be massively appreciated, but this probably comes with time :)

I think i'd find this impossible unless I got a right angled finder- but even then I think i'd struggle

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twofatslugs

twofatslugs

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I think i'd find this impossible unless I got a right angled finder- but even then I think i'd struggle

The diagonal movement? Or the bending the neck to look vertically up? With regards to the latter, it is very difficult, but I can just about do it.

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twofatslugs

twofatslugs

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The bending the neck. I'm getting too old for that

Haha, yeah, it is painful, but it'll be worth it if I find it ^^ Do you have any tips on moving the dob diagonally when tracking stars? Or is it something you learnt with time?

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astromackem

astromackem

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Haha, yeah, it is painful, but it'll be worth it if I find it ^^ Do you have any tips on moving the dob diagonally when tracking stars? Or is it something you learnt with time?

It's just something I got used to pretty quickly- I'm not perfect at it, I just sort of swivel the base slightly then tilt slightly.

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Coastliner

Coastliner

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This is a link to a 1.5 hour documentary where you see John Dobson build a telescope from scratch, including the grinding of the mirror by hand. At the end he shows the Dob being swung diagonally, so you will get the general idea of the movement involved. Ok, the 200p is a lot smaller and will be harder to manouver in this way. I reckon it could be done if the Dob bearings were smoother and easier to push?

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twofatslugs

twofatslugs

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Just thought I'd pop in with another update, thanks to coastliner with the video I've managed to get movement down far better than I had. My telrad arrived today and managed to get a go with it tonight, It definitely helps me with finding objects close to stars that are visible to the naked eye, but I've noticed on some star charts ie the whirlpool galaxy, the star used to help with lining up is near impossible to see with the eye alone,  is this case, would I find the star in the finderscope and try to adjust as to where I think the bullseye would be?

As an update regarding the scope, I'm absolutely loving it, one of the best purchases I've made in a long time. I didn't expect to be excited about clouds clearing after a day of rain!

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twofatslugs

twofatslugs

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Final update for now, went out tonight with clear skies to try and find m81 and m82, took an hour or so, but managed to get what appeared to be them, over the moon at my first galaxy view. They both appeared as a hazy patch, with m82 on the left as a more elongated shape. My area now I've done some research on light pollution is a lot more polluted than I first thought so I'd like to get out to a dark field at some point to do some viewing. Nevertheless, extremely happy with being able to see them both at the same time.

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