New to Astronomy, Could use some help

[cloudsweeper]

22 hours ago, Comets said:

Just purchased my first 2x barlow lens, should have it in a few days, But In the mean time I am wondering if my Saxon 8 inch dobsonian can see the andromeda, Neptune, and Uranus. Havnt had any luck so far

I'm fairly new to this too, but managed to capture Uranus a week or two ago with my 127mm (5 inch) Mak.  I aligned it on a known star (Algenib), then set GoTo to Uranus which was nearby.  

Through the EP I saw an arrangement of 6 stars resembling the cup of a spoon and a handle (a bit like the Plough).  The objects at each end were brighter.  One was slightly blue/green, so I figured that was Uranus.

I then zoomed in on the region using Stellarium on my PC, and the pattern of objects was exactly what I had in the EP (low magnification).  A very pleasing result!

(The 'scope had inverted the objects left/right, of course.)

Neptune's next.

 

[Linda]

15 hours ago, Comets said:

 My biggest dissapointment though is not seeing anything but bright light with mars and venus, They just look to be stars. Hoping a barlow will really increase some views

Venus is usually seen as just a cloudy object and that is what it is. The nice thing about Venus is watching the phases. I have also only seen Mars as a red star, but I have understood that you can start seeing some surface detail when it is in opposition. That happens this spring. Don't expect too much of it at this moment. You'd better use your time on Jupiter, when it is a bit high above the horizon. That is the planet where you can see most detail on at this moment. 

[cloudsweeper]

On 03/02/2016 at 09:51, Comets said:

 

Mars can be a little disappointing after Jupiter.  As Linda says, it should be better at higher magnification in May when it is in opposition.

For a real thrill, take a look at Saturn!  It's quite low in the sky, but is showing its rings to good advantage at present.

[Comets]

Just got my first acrhomatic 2x barlow lens! No planets visible tonight, What would you guys reccomend I try it on with 8" dobsonian. Also, southern hemisphere and only a small amount of light pollution

[Dave In Vermont]

Have you tried splitting double-stars before? A Barlow is great for boosting your magnification for reasons of seeing finer details on planets, and resolving close double-stars as well - among other things. Here's an article to get you going:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/southern-double-star-gems/

Enjoy your Southern skies!

Dave

[Comets]

Took my telescope out last night, But I was slightly dissapointed, I was mainly looking for nebulae and clusters But I wasn't able to see much. The only nebula I found was the m42 and it was a slightly green cloud and nothing else really, I also tried mars with a 10mm plossl and a 2x barlow and didnt get anything but a bright ball again, Mars is the top planet on my list to see. Any tips? Also can anyone clarify if a Saxon 8" dobsonian reflector can see any galaxies? if so could you list them

[brantuk]

An  8" dob should pick out M31 with ease - but you need to know where it is. Google "finding andromeda" and you'll get many ways of locating it - and use a low power wide angle eyepiece for best results.

"The only nebula I found was the m42 and it was a slightly green cloud and nothing else really"

Not sure if you realise how lucky you are here - many folks have spent thousands on larger apertures (20" plus) in the hope of seeing some colour in M42. Green is the shade usually reported - you did well there lol.

Mars is very small in the eye piece - but you can get some reasonable detail (redness and white polar cap) when it's nearest Earth each year. It's also interesting to track Mars's retrograde motion through the sky and plot on a graph each year.

[Comets]

41 minutes ago, brantuk said:

An  8" dob should pick out M31 with ease - but you need to know where it is. Google "finding andromeda" and you'll get many ways of locating it - and use a low power wide angle eyepiece for best results.

"The only nebula I found was the m42 and it was a slightly green cloud and nothing else really"

Not sure if you realise how lucky you are here - many folks have spent thousands on larger apertures (20" plus) in the hope of seeing some colour in M42. Green is the shade usually reported - you did well there lol.

Mars is very small in the eye piece - but you can get some reasonable detail (redness and white polar cap) when it's nearest Earth each year. It's also interesting to track Mars's retrograde motion through the sky and plot on a graph each year.

I did appreciate the view of the nebula but I was just expecting a little more, The ones I am most interested in seeing is the Sombrero galaxy, The pinwheel galaxy, And the Andromeda. But I am still very new to astronomy so I have much to learn

[brantuk]

Just realised you're in Australia Comets. Andromeda is in the Northern hemisphere right now, but can be seen over your neck of the woods later in the year. Hth

[BeanerSA]

12 minutes ago, Comets said:

I did appreciate the view of the nebula but I was just expecting a little more, The ones I am most interested in seeing is the Sombrero galaxy, The pinwheel galaxy, And the Andromeda. But I am still very new to astronomy so I have much to learn

Sombrero (M104) is quite a sight, but if you were disappointed in with M42, you aren't going to like M104 very much. You might like the Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253) when it returns later in the year. That is nice and high and shows some detail. I've not personally seen the southern Pinwheel, but Centaurus A is coming up soon, and you should be able to make out the faint fuzz there. Andromeda is well past it's best for the year.

[Comets]

i have been doing some research and people seem to really reccomend getting color filters, and so I was looking and I came across a pair of Saxon 1.25 color filters, Red, Blue, Yellow, and Neutral. I don't know exactly weather or not this is worth the $84 AUD. Any tips?

[BeanerSA]

56 minutes ago, Comets said:

i have been doing some research and people seem to really reccomend getting color filters, and so I was looking and I came across a pair of Saxon 1.25 color filters, Red, Blue, Yellow, and Neutral. I don't know exactly weather or not this is worth the $84 AUD. Any tips?

I've got an 80A and an ND. I never use them.

[Dave In Vermont]

Do you have a copy of Stellarium yet? Stellarium is an excellent planetarium-program, which is to say a very realistic view of the nighttime sky from your own location - which you set during the set-up. It can be very simple, or very complex, depending on what you decide you wish it to show you: Galaxies, nebulae, star-clusters, comets, even artificial-satellites flying overhead. Similar programs can easily cost you $300AU. But Stellarium - which is surely one of the best - is free.

So if you wish to hunt for galaxies and nebulae, this will help you find them. And anything/everything else out there. I'll give you my 'copy & paste' which includes the links to the User's Manual on Wiki, as well as a Pdf. Here you go:

http://www.stellarium.org/
 
As for instructions, the most current one's are posted in Wiki due to there being new features & functions being created almost daily. There is also a Pdf. that's almost up-to-date, absolutely enough 'up-to-date' in all needed ways. Here's the Wiki-Link:
 
http://www.stellarium.org/wiki/index.php/Stellarium_User_Guide
 
And the Pdf. is here:
 
http://barry.sarcasmogerdes.com/stellarium/stellarium_user_guide-new.pdf

I repeat - this is totally free. I'll leave you a screen-shot of mine. Keep in mind that mine is set-up in a very full and complex way for my purposes. When you first turn it on, it will be quite bare compared to my screen-shot.

Take your time to find your way around. The stars and galaxies aren't going anywhere soon.

Dave

 

Click image for full size.

[Comets]

Im yet install stellarium but I do have a good android app, My only problem with stellarium is that its on PC so I cant take it outside to yelp me when tracking objects, But ill check stellarium out. Thanks dave

[Comets]

Took the telescope out again last night and was unable to get even the slightest glimpse of the sombrero galaxy or the pinwheel galaxy, May just be a bad time of the year to observe but so far Im not seeing much with this dobsonian

[Putaendo Patrick]

Patience....

It's frustrating but often local conditions just don't work out. You can't insist, sometimes the universe is against you. Your telescope is good, so patience! Sorry

[Linda]

I suggest you buy a paper star atlas. Those atlasses cover the whole sky, including the southern hemisfere. It will show the interesting deep sky objects in their constellations. When you are outside, you check which constellations you see, and look them up in the atlas and see whish DSOs they contain. Then you go looking for them in the sky.

 

Don't expect to much from seeing Mars until May.

[BeanerSA]

7 hours ago, Comets said:

Took the telescope out again last night and was unable to get even the slightest glimpse of the sombrero galaxy or the pinwheel galaxy, May just be a bad time of the year to observe but so far Im not seeing much with this dobsonian

Good skies, persistence, and dark adaptation are all crucial. I've seen all the things you want to see with a 6" dob. So it's all possible.