Disappointed, feel like giving up!

[craigfoot]

Just back in. . . During my time away plenty of condensation had landed on the scope and eye piece.

Should I have put the cap's on the ep and finder scope and put the end cover on the tube whilst I was in?

Managed to successfully star hop around lyra and I'm very certain I was in the right location for m57 but no luck. . Not sure if my session was affected by the condensation?

Saw a good dozen meteors whilst out though so all in all a good night :-)

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[Dom1961]

Haha, I'm just over the bridge from you and all of my equipment is dripping with water as well

[craigfoot]

Should I have done anything to prevent it?

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[Dom1961]

I know you can get dew bands and dew Shields for the scope. I don't know how to prevent them on eps and filters, so I'm kinda in the same boat as you. I've been assured in another thread that it won't cause damage though

[craigfoot]

Cheers. . Well left the scope pointing down and brought the finder and eps inside now to dry off. . Time for some sleep I think.

Been a better night, but still no success with finding anything.

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[jetstream]

M57 is easy if you're pointing in between those 2 bright wide spaced stars (Beta and Gamma Lyrae) below Vega, can't miss them. Once there crank up the mag...its very small at low power and comes alive with magnification. With the SW120ED I crank it up to 100x- 150x.

Another name for these two finder stars are Sheliak and Sulafat.

[Pig]

Craig,

I know you have a new baby and from experience I know money is not so plentiful during these times, but have you considered purchasing a second hand go to mount. I used to own one and it was very useful. However, this option did get a bit mundane for me and I have ended up using manual AZ mount as I find the challenge of finding targets adds to my overall enjoyment.

Something else I did to help me identify targets was to reverse my thinking. For example, instead of looking for known targets I would look around the night sky using a 20 -25mm eyepiece until I found something of interest to me, I would then find out what it was I was looking at using star maps or Stellarium.

It is very surprising to find that the targets you stop and ponder over are indeed one of the targets you wanted to find in the first place !!!!  Just not in the same order as you wanted. By doing this not only will you have the enjoyment of looking at some wonderful views but you will also start to remember a few select objects that will act as a future reference point. You can then start to look for targets close to these reference points....and so on.

And in a bout 5 years time you will have a pretty good understanding of where the Moon is and be able to find it 

[stadaik]

Something else I did to help me identify targets was to reverse my thinking. For example, instead of looking for known targets I would look around the night sky using a 20 -25mm eyepiece until I found something of interest to me, I would then find out what it was I was looking at using star maps or Stellarium.

I think what Pig said is really helpful for the beginners. 

Also say welcome to your new family member from me.

[Jimtheslim]

M57 is one I would like to look for, given that it's in an area of sky not too badly affected by LP from my position. Is Andromeda worth looking for with a 90mm refractor?

[NGC 1502]

M57 is one I would like to look for, given that it's in an area of sky not too badly affected by LP from my position. Is Andromeda worth looking for with a 90mm refractor?

Definitely worth looking at the Andromeda galaxy (M31) with almost any scope or binocs.  Just a fuzzy blob of course with modest aperture, but satisfying knowing that the light has been travelling at 186,000 miles per second for over 2 million years......and has just made it to your eyes

Regards, Ed.

[craigfoot]

M57 is easy if you're pointing in between those 2 bright wide spaced stars (Beta and Gamma Lyrae) below Vega, can't miss them. Once there crank up the mag...its very small at low power and comes alive with magnification. With the SW120ED I crank it up to 100x- 150x.

Another name for these two finder stars are Sheliak and Sulafat.

Was definatey in the right place. Could see the 2 wider stars and the other bright one about a third of the way in from the left.

Maybe just more power or less condensation needed :-)

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[craigfoot]

M57 is one I would like to look for, given that it's in an area of sky not too badly affected by LP from my position. Is Andromeda worth looking for with a 90mm refractor?

I have a 130 scope and managed m31 last time I had it out.

I think this is one of the biggest objects so easier to find??

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[simonperks]

Hang on in there, Craig. I struggle with my equatorial mount all the time, and I've had it for several years. If you find that the eyepiece is at a massively inconvenient angle once you've positioned the tube with the controls, just loosen the rings holding the tube to the mount and twist the tube around a little. It mucks up the alignment a little bit, but is easy enough to correct. I agree with the various comments about alt-az being easier (I generally use a dobsonian, for this very reason), but the feeling you get when you can follow something in the sky on a nicely-tuned EQ mount just by twiddling one of the slow-mo controls is difficult to beat...

Simon.

[craigfoot]

If you find that the eyepiece is at a massively inconvenient angle once you've positioned the tube with the controls, just loosen the rings holding the tube to the mount and twist the tube around a little. It mucks up the alignment a little bit, but is easy enough to correct.

I got a great tip off someone on here when I was first struggling with this to use an adjustable hose clip around the tube just about the top ring, this holds the scope in place whenever I loosen to rotate to tube and means I don't lose balance.

I used some plastic trunking back under the ring to protect the tube.

Works a treat.

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[Astro Imp]

Great to read that you're making progress. The more you use your gear the more comfortable you will be.  

As far as condensation goes on a bad night I put the caps on the finder scope when not in use and leave the eyepieces capped as well, same for the scope.

I was out with the bins last night and use M31 as a check on how transparent the sky is, last night it was barely visible in my 8x42 bins. On a good night it looks wonderful as does the double cluster but that again was a slight smudge.

Well done on your progress and good luck for your future observing.

[craigfoot]

I was out with the bins last night and use M31 as a check on how transparent the sky is, last night it was barely visible in my 8x42 bins. On a good night it looks wonderful as does the double cluster but that again was a slight smudge.

Good idea! Maybe I should take the binoculars out with me to have a quick check of the sky first. I have 10x50 and 15x70.

I find the larger ones a bit shaky to use though.

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[Astro Imp]

I would use the 10x50 bins hand held, you will get a wonderful view of plenty of targets with those. My bins always go out with the scope, it's part of the observing kit.

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

You can easily convert your EQ mount to Alt-az, just set the latitude adjustment to 90 degrees ( pointing straight "up" ).   You can  unclamp the two lock screws to manually slew to your target, lock 'em up, then use both the slow motion controls to track.  It may seem odd at first, but quickly becomes second nature.  All my scopes are alt-az, brill for visual observing.

And if you decide alt-az is not for you (doesn't suit everyone) it's cost you nowt  and you just reset to your latitude for EQ operation.

Regards, Ed.

Brilliant,Ed. I'll try this myself! 

[craigfoot]

Much better night tonight :-)

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php?/topic/250423-M27

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[Astrosurf]

Has anyone mentioned a red dot finder? When accurately aligned to the scope. it's excellent, and will get you close to the object. Some have both a red dot and finderscope attached.

Good luck!

[astro man]

The worst thing that you can do is give up ! You just need to stick with it and you will get results

Messier objects can be difficult to observe ..... I've been doing this for a few years and I quite often don't get the best results

Keep going and there is always someone to help out on the forums

[Ju Piter]

Has anyone mentioned a red dot finder? When accurately aligned to the scope. it's excellent, and will get you close to the object. Some have both a red dot and finderscope attached.

Good luck!

i now only ever use my red dot finder as you say when aligned properly it is so accurate thats how i have found all my objects first time. i look on stellarium to see where they are then put the red dot there and the object is always in the field of view off my 30mm vixen npl then i up the mag when needed.please dont give up when you find what is the best way for you to find objects you will look back and laugh.for about a month all i could find was jupiter saturn and the moon because i find star hopping hard(to many stars lol).i know you get in some awkward positions with a red dot finder but when aligned i think it is spot on. good luck chin up and eyes up

[craigfoot]

Has anyone mentioned a red dot finder? When accurately aligned to the scope. it's excellent, and will get you close to the object. Some have both a red dot and finderscope attached.

Good luck!

I've got a rigel quickfinder and a raci on my scope. Work well for getting me where I need to be in the sky. Hopping around to deep sky objects is proving more difficult. Though had more success few nights back.

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[Astrosurf]

I've tried a Telrad, which is similar to a Rigel, and I had difficulties because my varifocal glasses mucked up what I was seeing. I got double or blurred vision. Plus my night vision is poor (why am I an amateur astronomer?? Don't ask!) so the rings in the finder, even set on low, often prevented me from seeing the star/area. It tended to fog up horribly too! I don't get these problems with my red dot finders. But some swear by Rigels and Telrads.

[cotterless45]

I swear by mine !

So good that I've got three. Just make sure that you fit a dew shield from Astroboot and keep the adjusters tight so you don't lose alignment, hurrah !

Nick.