Got a telescope now what...??

[Robbo2003]

Hi everyone, just dived two feet first into my new hobby and hoping to get some advice from all the veterns on here.

Been interested in the night sky since i was a young lad and my job as an engineer has me traveling around the counrty often to remote places and (especially in the winter) some beautifully open, out of the way skies.

After my most recent bindge watch of both Prof. Brain Cox series on Netflix (the chill didnt happen as the missus had fallen asleep while watching - suppose not everyone is as enthusiastic as us) i decided i wanted to view the wonders of the universe with my own eyes at my own leisure.

Since then ive bought myself a Skywatcher Evostar 90mm refractor with an EQ2 mount to get me off the blocks.

From my front window i have seen jupitar and the four gallelian moons (to much awe of the other half as she thought this would be another venture into "misplaced" money). Not going to lie i had a smile as wide as the cheshire cats and was "over the moon" with my new toy and am looking to venture out and see as much as i can from my various points in the brittish isles.

Going to be going for more astrophotography as i would like to share what i can see and hopefully bring others to the cause. Any advice on which DSLR cameras etc work well with my setup would be excellent and any general tips on how to maximise my telescopes potential wouldnt go amis either.

Look forwards to hearing from you all and cant wait to get out more on clearer skies to soak up the starlight!

[baggywrinkle]

Welcome to SGL.

As a beginner I would recommend getting a copy of 'Turn Left at Orion'

It is a good intro to what can be seen in binoculars, a small refractor or a larger reflector and it grades the targets that way. It has maps and drawings of what you are likely to see rather than long exposure images. Many folk are disappointed they do not see Hubble like images with their first scope.

[gnomus]

Q:  'Got a telescope, now what?'

A: Start saving up for a second scope for when aperture fever strikes.

On a serious note, the book recommendation is sound.  If you have an iPad, take a look at Sky Safari - it has a tonight's best feature.  Download Stellarium for PC.

It's best to get outside with the gear.  Looking through even an open window is far from ideal - something to do with thermal currents.  

Don't jump into AP.  If you feel you absolutely must try AP, then buy the book 'Making Every Photon Count' before spending another cent on gear.

Have fun.

[Robbo2003]

Thanks for the speedy responses guys, sound advice. Wont be looking to go mad with high tech equipment yet, still just getting the feel for now. I will look into that book baggy and im not looking to be smashing out images of distant nebulea anytime soon, just looking to share what i can see with friends and family that arent willing to Stay up all night lol.

 

main problem i have is like i said im traveling alot in a works van and dont fancy having expensive gear in it all the time plus the nature of my work takes me on some pretty hairy back roads which means it will need to be tough and (ruling out reflectors etc) not need collimating every time i get it out.

And far from the truth i read into what to expect from my small refractor and was actually really suprised that i got a decent shot of jupitar on my second night of viewing. Only issue i have atm is slightly blurry images (could be from thermal currents indoors etc) ... Got a good deal on a set of super plossl eyepieces (so im not using the standard ones that came with the scope) but havent had a clear night to properly try them out ... Fingers crossed eh?

[Tony72]

Hi & Welcome to SGL.

Tony

[cloudsweeper]

Good advice so far on not looking through glass - refraction/distortion effects; also on saving in event of aperture fever.  I caught it big style.  On 4th 'scope already.

With what you have, you can get results on (amongst other things) planets, double stars, M42 Nebula, some clusters, and of course the good old Moon - a source of endless pleasure, esp. when not too bright.  You'll see a lot of detail along the terminator.

(Just for interest, I lived briefly in your neck of the woods - Dunfermline.)

Doug.

[JamesM]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Clear skies

[Starwiz]

Welcome to the SGL!  

John

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Robbo,  welcome.

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. I am afraid you will probably not get a clear image if you observe indoors through a window. You will have to get outside to do your observing.

[Stephen Green]

Welcome to the SGL

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi Rob and welcome to SGL. 

If planning astrophotography you will need something sturdier than an EQ2, unless you are photographing lunar or solar* you may get away with it. 

 

* for solar photography you will need a full apature filter to cover your 'scopes objective. Baader Safety Solar Film is highly recommended. There are plenty tutorials on the i'net on how to make one.

[glowjet]

Hi Robbo and welcome to SGL, enjoy your new scope and the forum

[Robbo2003]

Thanks again chaps for the welcome posts and advice. Really appreciate the community you have here to getting newbies up and running, was out last night for the first time for a good few hours and the north of scotland sky outside of inverness is just amazing.

was getting to grips with orientation of the constelations and just trying to work my way around the sky bit by bit picking out areas of interest. Unfortunatly i was south of inverness so when looking north i got a strong light pollution but the southward sky was crystal clear and managed to get a total amatuer shot of jupitar and 3 moons on my phone through the lens (not anything to shout about). Think im going to just buy a small smartphone mount and see what sort of pics i can muster out that before going "all out" on dslr and mounts etc.

when i wasnt touching the mount directly it seemed really stable when using the slow controls smal judder but only for a few seconds and all was good again. Only thing im having issues with is the fact im using both the controls ... I was under the assumption that the german eq mounts when aligned north means you only need to move the one control to keep an object in the field of view?

 

any hints would be excellent guys cheers in advance.

[Joe12345]

Yes, you should only need to use one control once aligned. I expect you're doing it wrong, or doing it right but using the alignment adjusters to point your telescope at the target.

I expect the fuzziness will either be the window, the atmosphere, or you not focusing it well enough. Try another night from outside, and if it's not focused make small tweaks to the focuser. Some nights the atmosphere is steadier than others.

I wouldn't get started on astrophotography yet - the temptation to show everybody what you saw is a big one, but a very slippery slope also. A smartphone holder would be a good option, but don't expect miracles. With my eyes on Jupiter I can see bands, detail on the bands and sometimes the red spot. When I try to take a photo with my smartphone, I can rarely catch the bands. I would stick to visual for now if I were you, apart from perhaps the odd smartphone pic.

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire :-)

[BlabyStarGazer]

Hi and welcome to SGL -

you've had some sound advice already "+1" on the two books and also Stellarium.  With a refractor you're not restricted to using to using Baader safety film for Solar observing - you might want to consider a Herschel Wedge as an option if that aspect of the hobby will be of interest now that the summer is approaching. If so, have a look at the Lunt 1.25 inch which will suit your 'scope and is also about the cheapest.  

The issue with having to adjust both axes is a result of not having the mount level and/or correctly aligned  - if you don't have a polarscope fitted to the mount, good alignment is unlikely to be achieved.  If you do, you might want to make use of an app called "Polar Finder" which will help considerably.

As far as photography is concerned, definitely don't try to run before you can walk!  A smartphone mount for eyepiece projection is a good inexpensive way to start.  

The one thing that I've not seen anyone mention though:  find your local Astro club/society and chat to folk there, we all share the same sky!

Above all else, enjoy yourself ..

 

[hippie]

Welcome to SGL .

[Galactic Wanderer]

On 5/6/2016 at 09:17, Philip R said:

Hi Rob and welcome to SGL. 

If planning astrophotography you will need something sturdier than an EQ2, unless you are photographing lunar or solar* you may get away with it. 

 

* for solar photography you will need a full apature filter to cover your 'scopes objective. Baader Safety Solar Film is highly recommended. There are plenty tutorials on the i'net on how to make one.

Yes you will need at least an EQ3 for astrophotgraphy. For observing, try M13, and some double stars like albrieo in cygnus.

Welcome!

 

[Robbo2003]

Right guys some excellent advice and ive been studying my copy of "Turn Left At Orion" the last two days - weather forecast for tonight is quite promising so going to get out and do some serious observing.  Plus im hitching a flight tomorrow at 6am so going to pull an all nighter and sleep on the plane. Been doing sdme research into smartphone astrophotography and have also got a mount for my smartphone so will hopefully try that out in conjunction with a smartphone app called "Camer FV-5" ... Wish me luck and will report back tomorrow afternoon with my results.

 

clear skies

[Physopto]

All good advice but try not to rush into the asto-photography side. It can be a very frustrating thing. I would maybe play at it a bit but concentrate on the "getting very familiar with the gear for visual " side first. As you found out vibration can affect the seeing as well as can the quality of the skies. Your mount will only be steady in either no wind or extremely light wind conditions. What may seem OK to you can destroy a photo, with very fuzzy results. That is when despondency and a possible inclination to "pack it in" can hit home or, just "throw more money at it" response takes hold. Then there can be the" wonderful! "start to the money pit syndrome.

Whatever you do best of luck and if things do go wrong ASK people here, don't bottle it up.

Derek

[Robbo2003]

Well sitting in Edinburgh airport waiting on a plane to spain just lamenting over the lessons learnt from last nights observation session ... One its bloody cold outside past 2am. Two astrophotography is effing hard. And three dew is a complete buzzkiller ... Got right on in there with the constalations and learning my way around the sky so looking forward to the next session. Managed to get cracking views of jupitar, mars and satyrn as well as splitting a few double stars and even a faint globular cluster ... Hurray for ne !!!

[Jimtheslim]

Hi Robbo,

Great scope choice, I got one of these as a first scope last February and it has given me a lot of pleasure. Although I have recently given into aperture fever and bought a larger reflector recently, I took the Evostar out last night to do a few comparisons on eyepieces and was pleasantly surprised by how well the Evostar continues to perform. For a quick look at the moon and Jupiter I will probably continue to favour it until I sell it. Unfortunately I need the space and the money so it will have to go soon. I have taken it to some darker sky sites and found transporting the scope pretty easy, just used an old sleeping bag. I don't recall what polystyrene packaging it came with but maybe keep some of that to put it in as well? The mount is a bit cumbersome unless you remove the eyepiece tray.

As for upgrades etc I would say the most significant that I purchased was a new 99% dialetric diagonal. 99% reflectivity represents an advantage over the 90% or so you get with the standard one. Also the inner coatings are very much matted and there is far less stray light bouncing around. I noticed the difference immediately on Venus, giving a sharper view of the disc of the planet rather than just a big bright star like light point. My diagonal may be up for sale at a reasonable price soon if I sell my Evostar so keep your eyes peeled.

Eyepieces will also likely be soon high on the agenda and this is a whole world of decision making! I made a few comparisons of my plossls over the stock 10mm that comes with the scope and even in the large reflector I must say the difference was more slight than I might have thought/remembered. If you start looking for eyepieces then a good, second hand plossl, easily acquired on ebay will get a little more out of your scope. I have a 6.4mm meade plossl which gives me good views of Jupiter when seeing is good. This gives 140x mag which is about the limit that you can expect with the scope under UK skies. 

As for lining up the mount, if you take the scope away with you then use a spirit level and a compass and just use these to get the mount level and pointing north. Don't stress about getting Polaris in the eyepiece etc. For observing I just use these to get a half decent alignment (especially as I like observing at twilight before Polaris even appears) and then you only have to give the declination slo-mo control the occasional tweak. If you don't have a compass then just keep eyeballing the line of the scope over the mount with polaris above, you'll be pretty close.

[Charon]

Welcome aboard.

[swag72]

Hi and welcome to SGL - Good to have you on board. I'm afraid I can only speak from the imaging side, as I've actually looked through my scopes less than half a dozen times.... I kid you not! 

AP is all about the mount ........ mount ...... mount and did I say that the mount is important?  If you're serious about wanting to try DSO imaging then get yourself a copy of the book 'Making Every Photon Count' from the FLO website, the book section. It is something of an imagers bible and should be read once, twice and thrice before spending a penny. Think about what you need and why and if you're still not sure read again

Have a look around the imaging section. Look at the sort of images that you think you'd be happy with and then look at the kit that is used to take it......... that will give you some more ideas about a good starting point.

Hope that helps