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Complete newbie


Sachman

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So first post

Always interested in astronomy and had a random wave of interest again and bought a Orion xt8 plus dob and some 10x50 bins. 

My target was M31 and had to wait 2wks after buying to use it thanks to British clouds.  1st 2 clear days were a waste of time. Saw loads of stars but not my target. 

3rd day finally managed to see it with the binoculars! Saw it with my 24mm but struggled with the 10mm and Barlow. Mainly because everything was so faint and the standard eyepiece isn't good for glasses. 

Interestingly there was a point in time where I saw, what looked like a star moving quite fast across my field of view with the 24mm. It would go past the diameter in about 3-4secs. I tracked it for about 30secs and tried to change it to the 10mm but lost it. Wasn't sure what it was.

hardest thing I'm finding is tracking. Even when I found m31 with the binos it still took a while to get the telescope there even with the red dot finder. 

May get a better 10mm eyepiece for glasses  

view wasn't as good as I was hoping with this telescope but could be as I'm inner city and expecting too much lol

 

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11 minutes ago, Sachman said:

view wasn't as good as I was hoping with this telescope but could be as I'm inner city and expecting too much lol

Welcome to the SGL.

I can only just make out M31 from my garden and I live right on the edge of town, and not 500 feet away I have a great site to view from, appears to be totally shielded from stray lights, its getting the scope there that matters?

That said, an 8" telescope away from the city lights, direct lights, any lights, and you'll believe you have a different scope, such  is the difference, provided the seeing conditions allow, and the telescope is properly cooled and collimated.

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The best view of M31 with your XT8 will be with your 24mm or lower power eyepiece, the 10mm and Barlow will reduce its visibility. If you can take the telescope to a dark site the difference will amaze you. All handling difficulties with Dobsonians become easier with practice.   :icon_biggrin:

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Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. M31 is a large object in the eye piece and requires a low magnificationto see it well. With your 10 Memphis and a Barlow you will be looking straight through it. Don't worry, nudging your Dob to keep targets in view will soon become second nature to you.

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5 hours ago, Sachman said:

Interestingly there was a point in time where I saw, what looked like a star moving quite fast across my field of view with the 24mm. It would go past the diameter in about 3-4secs. I tracked it for about 30secs and tried to change it to the 10mm but lost it. Wasn't sure what it was.

Almost 100% certain what you saw was a satellite.

Have patience with the Dob and you will become expert in moving it and tracking!

And, welcome to the forums :icon_biggrin:.

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Indeed. Greetings and welcome to SGL - it's very nice to have you aboard, Sachman!

A 8" scope is a very capable instrument, one that is a "Lifetime Telescope." This as they are capable of delivering a new and interesting object direct to your eyepiece very night for the rest of your life - even if you got it when you're born. But light-pollution is a bane to a great many of us. This doesn't mean you have to be in a 'dark-site,' but you'll need to understand your limitations given your location, and choose targets effectively. I'm sure we can help you with this.

One thing that can help is a book: Turn Left at Orion - by Guy Consolmagno & Dan M. Davis. Available through Amazon, as well as many other outlets:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-Orion-Hundreds-Telescope/dp/0521153972

And an excellent 'planetarium-program' for a computer (and other instruments) will help you find the many things 'up there' as seen from your own location. Such programs can run some serious £££. But one of the truly best - Stellarium - is totally free. Here's a 'Cut & Paste' I keep about:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On this link is the main page for downloading Stellarium. Choose which version is correct for your computer. Here you go:

http://www.stellarium.org/
 
As for instructions, a full copy of them is bundled with the program that you download. But if you need another copy for some reason, these can be downloaded here:
 
https://sourceforge.net/projects/stellarium/files/Stellarium-user-guide/0.15.0-1/stellarium_user_guide-0.15.0-1.pdf/download
 
This should help you to find just about everything under the Sun.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll leave you with a screenshot of mine, which is set-up for my needs. And the first one below this which shows you how it will almost be when you first get it - before you choose what all you wish it to show you. The first thing you'll do is set it for your location and the correct time-settings to use. Then go from there.

Enjoy!

Dave

 

Stellarium Screenshot - Beginning Screen.png

 

stellarium-220.png

Click on images for full-size.

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Thanks for the replies

Ah a satellite- didn't think of that but that makes sense. 

I have downloaded stellarium but still finding my feet with it. 

Yeh I don't think I will be travelling to a dark site anytime soon as it's below freezing at the moment. 

Any recommendations for sites visible from the city in the meantime (other than the moon and sun lol) preferably south facing

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10 hours ago, Sachman said:

 

Yeh I don't think I will be travelling to a dark site anytime soon as it's below freezing at the moment. 

 

Below freezing at a dark site - conditions could not be better.

Personal comfort - mmm, best not expect to be comfortable. Invest in thermals and some winter clothing.

And of there is a better site near by - go!!!

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12 hours ago, Sachman said:

Thanks for the replies

Ah a satellite- didn't think of that but that makes sense. 

I have downloaded stellarium but still finding my feet with it. 

Yeh I don't think I will be travelling to a dark site anytime soon as it's below freezing at the moment. 

Any recommendations for sites visible from the city in the meantime (other than the moon and sun lol) preferably south facing

I hear you about it being below freezing, although not being able to feel your feet is a sign of a good session! Invest in thick socks...

If you want an easy target, Venus is looking pretty good at the moment in the south-west of the sky. I also saw a lovely thin crescent moon this evening. Andromeda is best viewed with a widefield instrument somewhere very, very dark - it's always a big disappointment from London. If you're still getting used to lining up the telescope then I'd suggest something nice and bright like the Double Cluster in Perseus. Never disappoints!

Paul

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Venus seems to be quite low according to the SkyView app. Not sure if I will see it from home. Will check out the double cluster though thanks

I may venture out in the future...when it doesn't take me 2hrs to hit a target with a 24mm lol

 

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I got my 130mm scope last christmas.  It seems to be a winter hobby mostly as the summer skies here (SE UK, near Milton Keynes) are often rather hazy.

 

I also went immediately to andromeda and managed to see a hazy smudge with a definite centre.  I knew it was andromeda but it was hardly a 'hubble experience'.  I think galaxy hunting is not for me until I hook the camera up for longer exposures.  But there is more to see out there!  The key is planning and preparation.  For me this is almost as enjoyable as actually getting out there....


Stellarium on the PC - worth the time to fiddle with.  At the top left is a set of icons including 'ocular view' - what you would see in a telescope.  You can enter the details for your scope and EPs then have a pretty good idea of how things should look without even going outside.    Look at the bottom left of the screen  - turn on the Galaxy icon.  You get a sky full of new blobs if you zoom in a bit.  I'd highly recommend looking for clusters (globular or open) in stellarium with magnitude 6 to 7 or less (lower number = brighter object) that are near to blindingly obvious easy-tofind stars.  Can you see Auriga constellation above you at the moment?  Plenty to hunt for in there....  There are a few interesting ones in Cygnus too (setting in the west early evening at the moment)  If you can get out early enough, try for the Ring Nebula in Lyra (again to the west)    Look around Cassieopeia too.

 

Then after you make a plan, head out to the garden with and ipad with Stellarium iOS installed. 

It's star hopping time!

 

Give your eyes at least 10 minutes to dark-adapt.  Set stellarium to Night Mode (all red).  (Do not use any non-red torches etcs - they wreck your night vision and thus your ability to see faint stuff in the telescope)

Use the telescope to home in on a blindingly obvious 'easy-to-find' star.  Center it in stellarium.  Adjust the zoom on the ipad to match the view in your eyepiece.  You may need to turn the ipad upside-down to counter the effect of the reflector telescope....  Use a wide view EP if you have one (I have a wide view 40mm which is great for this)   Comparing the view in  the EP to Stellarum on  your ipad, you can move across the star field to reach your 'destination'  Then center it then swap for higher magnification.  Some of the mag 6 to 7 clusters look rather good on my 130mm - should be amazing on your 200mm tube!

 

Unless, your sky is really rubbish.  Can you spare £0.79 to install 'dark sky meter' if you have a recent model iphone?  It measures how dark your sky is.  Where I am, I can get 20-21 points quite easily. 

 

Try all that then report back :-)

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20 hours ago, Sachman said:

Venus seems to be quite low according to the SkyView app. Not sure if I will see it from home. Will check out the double cluster though thanks

I may venture out in the future...when it doesn't take me 2hrs to hit a target with a 24mm lol

 

you'll be surprised how high it actually it, I always think they look really low in stellarium, but when I go out and look, they are well above the houses.

Orion is well placed at the moment after 11, so check out its nebula

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So just saw orions nebula...wow. Loved to blue haze and even looked good with binoculars. Rigel and betelgeuse are also amazing. 

I am a bit underwhelmed with my 10mm and Barlow. I can never get them in focus like the 24mm and always thinking - if only. I did collimate my telescope as best I could before use and it's 4degrees with clear sky. I'm not sure if a better eye piece will help. 

Times like this I do wish I got a scope better for Astro photography but never mind it's still amazing to see

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can you get the 10mm to focus on its own and can you get the Barlow & 24mm to focus?

do you have to move the focus tube a long way to get the 10 to focus after using the 24? In or out?

and do you use an extension tube in the focuser?

lots of questions there, but let's try and at least get your kit working for you before you jump in to the never ending money pit that is astronomy (all in a good and needful way, of course) :)

 

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Thanks. No I can't get the 10mm working on its own either. Never tried the Barlow and 24mm as 24mm is 2inch and Barlow is 1.25inch so don't think they will work together. 

From 24 to 10  not sure exactly but I would guess I do have to move it about 180-270 deg of fine focus but can give you a more accurate one next time I use it. 

I don't know what an extension tube is lol. There's the 2 inch to 1.25 converter then the 10mm eyepiece. I have the xt8 plus so whatever comes standard in there

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ok, I wonder if the 2->1.25 adapter is moving the 10mm too far away from the focus point, so you can't move it far enough inwards. A common mistake with skywatchers is to use a 2" extension and the 1.25" adaptor together, but I don't know if Orion provide the same bits

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I'm not really sure if that's the problem as the focus isn't all the way in or out. I may try collimation again as I have to admit the best I could get it was still a very tiny bit out. I assumed it was just the  high magnification but reading around most people can focus well with 10mm alone so something is wrong

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