Problems with new reflector telescope, please help

[Danny Russell]

I recently purchased an Orion 09007 130ST space probe equatorial telescope and the first thing I did was try to view Venus, when I did all I saw was a big white object(Venus) and for some reason I can see the spyderpiece of the telescope, so all I see is a big white circle with a smaller black circle in the middle of it. I don't know what to do and I could really use help, so please, anything is appreciated.

[BeanerSA]

It doesn't sound like you have it focussed properly. The focuser has a fair bit of travel in each direction. It is also possible that you don't have the eyepiece seated all the way in the focuser.

[Gutross]

that is a focusing issue, make sure the ep is in correctly and just move the focus till it sharpens

[ronin]

Easy answer is the focuser is too far out, that would/may start to get the spider into a fuzzy viewing position.

Wind the focuser in and hopefully things will reduce in size and sharpen - Venus is cloud covered so to an extent it will always remain a bit fuzzy, it will also be a cresent not a nice round ball/planet. Once you have got Venus try for Jupiter and then Saturn.

Check that the eyepiece is fully inserted into the focus tube, just in case it is not seating itself for some reason.

I do not think that those scopes have a 2" adaptor on the focuser, however check.

If there is one then remove the 2" and put only the 1.25" adaptor in - this is common on the 200mm reflectors and what happens is the 2 adaptors fit nicely inside each other for transport/shipping however in use it should be one adaptor or the other but not both.

[Steve Ward]

http://www.telescope.com/assets/product_files/instructions/29153_02-09.pdf

[barkis]

Practice focusing on terrestrial targets with your various eyepieces.

Try targets a fair distance away, such as street lamp, a TV aerial etc.

With your  highest power Eyepiece, the  smaller numbers, you will need to rack your focuser in towards the tube to focus.

The higher numbered eyepieces, you have to rack out towards you.

Objects in the night sky will not have the same focus distances though, each one will require focusing a little further in.

Use a distant daylight target to align your finder with the main telescope too.

Just a warning about Venus since you mentioned the planet.

Some folks attempt to observe the planet in daylight, which can be quite rewarding, but since Venus may in close proximity to the Sun, depending upon

it's orbit at the time you attempt to view it, there is a danger you may catch the sun in your eyepiece, and that is very dangerous indeed,

so be very careful. Until you gain more experience, you should make daylight viewing of Venus off limits to yourself.

It won't take you long to get to grips with your telescope, it just takes a little time.

Ron.

[John]

As said above, the scope is not focused properly on Venus.

What sometimes confuses 1st time scope users is that, at the point of sharp focus, the target object looks the smallest in the eyepiece. Either side of sharp focus the object will seem to get larger although also indistinct. I think sometimes folks think that they are "zooming" in because of this and keep on going but actually they are going further out of focus.

Planets often seem much smaller in the eyepiece, when they are sharply focussed, than newcomers to observing are expecting which contributes to the above confusion.