Hi people

[tom1985]

Hi all I have just bought the Celestron 114 LCM Computerised Newtonian Telescope some feed back please but be kind I'm new so I'm looking for some tips not just  negative feedback  thank you

[ronin]

Right, not all good news I think anyway.

The "bad" aspect is that the focal length is given as 1000mm whereas the scope looks a fair bit shorter. This leads me to think that it is a Bird-Jones design. They use a short focal length mirror, then put a barlow in the focuser to extend the focal length. The design is fair but Celestron do not use the best barlow and setup that is really required.

Usually this type of scope design limits the overall performance, easy way of looking at it is that too many corners have been cut.

Treat the scope as fine for low to mid power observing. I would say 60x to 100x and you may get to 120x. Just do not go expecting what I suspect they have on it of a potential 228x, the scope is not gong to manage that.

What to look at, well stars are dots/points all the time, but just locating some of the red ones is fun, Aldebaren, Arcturus, Betelguese, Antares, and there is a fifth one I forget. There are a good number of double stars, many of contrast ing colour - Albireo, Almaak, even just Mizar in the plough handle is worth looking at.

Identify and find a few open clusters - M45 being the obvious and C14 (double cluster) another. There are a fair number, 3 in Auriga M36, 37, 38 I think. Next Globular clusters - M13, M92.

Andromeda, M31, is a bit too big to fit in but don't let that stop you.

Eyepieces, evntually get a few maybe 4, I would not suggest a barlow for the scope, it already has one and another just means too much glass in the optical path.

A lot will come down to acceping the scope limitations then working within those. But as said if used as a medium power scope all should be fine. Certainly enough there to occupy you. If not already get Stellarium, set you location. Then when ready press F4, set DSO magnitude to 6 and see what is left on the screen. These will be the brighter DSO's and usually of some size. So less magnification required.

60x and abouve will be fine for Jupiter, for Saturn you will need 100x to around 120x (bit boarder line here). Mars will always be a small red disk. Seeing Martians waving back at you is not likely. If you can get to a dark place a lot more will be visible. Enjoy the alignment.

[Putaendo Patrick]

Congratulations on the new telescope. It should serve you very well to get your feet wet in the hobby.

Although it has go-to, allowing you to locate objects automatically, it's still very useful to learn your way around the sky by eye. If you don't know it, download the free planetarium program Stellarium. Configure it to your location, and it will help to identify the sky where you are and enable you to plan your observations.

Little by little try to learn the major constellations, and watch how they "move" over the night and the year as the Earth rotates.

You can also download and print out a useful monthly map and guide at http://skymaps.com/  which will explain some of the interesting features to look for each month.

If you have any technical problems or specific questions, I'm absolutely sure someone here on the SGL Forums will have the answer!

Ronin's just posted his reply, and while I agree that the Jones-Bird design of your telescope is perhaps not ideal, you shouldn't have major problems and the scope should be good enough for starting out - don't be put off! You can get a lot of mileage out of it.

[tom1985]

3 minutes ago, ronin said:

Right, not all good news I think anyway.

The "bad" aspect is that the focal length is given as 1000mm whereas the scope looks a fair bit shorter. This leads me to think that it is a Bird-Jones design. They use a short focal length mirror, then put a barlow in the focuser to extend the focal length. The design is fair but Celestron do not use the best barlow and setup that is really required.

Usually this type of scope design limits the overall performance, easy way of looking at it is that too many corners have been cut.

Treat the scope as fine for low to mid power observing. I would say 60x to 100x and you may get to 120x. Just do not go expecting what I suspect they have on it of a potential 228x, the scope is not gong to manage that.

What to look at, well stars are dots/points all the time, but just locating some of the red ones is fun, Aldebaren, Arcturus, Betelguese, Antares, and there is a fifth one I forget. There are a good number of double stars, many of contrast ing colour - Albireo, Almaak, even just Mizar in the plough handle is worth looking at.

Identify and find a few open clusters - M45 being the obvious and C14 (double cluster) another. There are a fair number, 3 in Auriga M36, 37, 38 I think. Next Globular clusters - M13, M92.

Andromeda, M31, is a bit too big to fit in but don't let that stop you.

Eyepieces, evntually get a few maybe 4, I would not suggest a barlow for the scope, it already has one and another just means too much glass in the optical path.

A lot will come down to acceping the scope limitations then working within those. But as said if used as a medium power scope all should be fine. Certainly enough there to occupy you. If not already get Stellarium, set you location. Then when ready press F4, set DSO magnitude to 6 and see what is left on the screen. These will be the brighter DSO's and usually of some size. So less magnification required.

60x and abouve will be fine for Jupiter, for Saturn you will need 100x to around 120x (bit boarder line here). Mars will always be a small red disk. Seeing Martians waving back at you is not likely. If you can get to a dark place a lot more will be visible. Enjoy the alignment.

Wow that's alot to take in :/ but thanks I think lol like i said I'm new it's just to get me started... so what objects will I be able to see... o my I don't realy no how to reply I'm reading what you said and don't realy understand sorry to come across stupid but we all start somewhere I guess all I can tell you is I recently move into the country and at night when I look up there's alot me looking back so I wanted to see it closer I will upgrade but not at that point yet... just curious thanks

[tom1985]

Hi thank you for the reply I realy don't no anything so the positive comment helps and took on board what you said and I understand lol I will take what you said and go from there so thank ?

[RayD]

Welcome on board.

As noted above, your new scope is a beginner version, and will do you fine for looking at some nice detail on our moon, you'll see Jupiter and it's 4 main moons (albeit not in great detail), and you may also make the rings out on Saturn.  With regards to stars etc. the advice to read up and try to learn the sky a bit is very sound as there is an awful lot to see, but sometimes, particularly when literally just starting out, it's good to just star hop and relate what you are seeing to star maps.

With the above noted you should have a great time with your new purchase, and will I'm sure want to upgrade at some point when the bug bites, which believe me it does pretty hard.

Enjoy 

[ronin]

Really it is just knowing what you have and then how to get the best out of it. One minor bit of information is somewhere it was asked what was typically the most used magnification that people used. Turned out to be around 80x, And you should get that fairly easy.

I tend to make a short list of say 5 globular clusters, 5 open clusters, 5 coloured doubles, 5 nebula etc, you get the idea. Then head out to track them down. Every 3 months or so there are a slightly different set of 5 whatever to go track down.

Still cannot think of that 5th red star, sure there is one. Very low in the south only visible at the right time of year, summer. ???