help needed please

[Claypole55]

hello folks

im new to this site, only just had my 1st telescope  Skywatcher BK 1309 EQ2 , i have no clue in what i have to do, i have set it up (building it via instructions) and thats about it, i have  tried viewing the sky at night but i'm not sure if i was expecting more than my scope can do but i think i can see the stars etc better with my own eyes than thru the lens, struggling to see more, tried in day light hours and everything seems upside down.................... PLEASE HELP ME before i give up on it!!!!!!

Claypole55

[nightfisher]

make sure you use the lowest power eyepiece to start this will be a 20mm or 25mm and take time to focus it correctly

[steppenwolf]

Quote

tried in day light hours and everything seems upside down

This is quite normal, telescopes designed for astronomy keep the number of lenses and mirrors to the minimum to keep the quality of the view as high as possible so most designs result in an inverted image.

[SkyBound]

Everything will be upside down without a correct image diagonal, which I doubt you have, the thing is it's makes no difference for night time viewing....  whether upside down or not, also ignore any pictures of planets and deep sky objects, on the box your telescope came in, as you will never see views like them through the scope, they are for selling purposes only, and in my opinion very very misleading and misrepresentation of the product.

but as said above start with a low powered eyepiece till you build up a little skill and confidence, look at the moon as you will get nice views of that and it will greatly encourage you.....good luck

[ronin]

First stars will always be point of light, they basically never get bigger then a point. Say basically as if you had the EELT and aimed at Betelguese you might get a disk. However as they have not built it yet and theyare not going to let you or me stick an eyepiece in it less settle for "will always".

As you are seeing stars that is good, you have managed to get it to focus an image.

What you need to do now is pick out things that are simply "not stars". The Orion nebula under Orions belt is at present the obvious.

You can observe stars, however this often means a bit sort of selective. Up in the constellation Andromeda is the star Almaak, it is actually a double and the 2 stars are contrasting colours. Another is Albireo but that is likely too low. There are quite a lot and in honesty they are nice and easy,

The standard list of extended objects is the Messier List (search for the wiki entry). That is a list of 110 objects and many people work through finding them all. Takes generally a couple of years. The Caldwell Catalogue is another.

You could, in the idea of stars, go searching out red stars, Betelguese, Arcturus etc, the red super giants. You will have to make uyour own list as I cannot recall a link specifically for these but there will be.

Yes it is all upside down, sometimes a bit extra is added in, just to add confusion. You will get used to it.

If not already get Stellarium, then you can set the time and see what is visible in as extended objects to try find.

Expect to want additional eyepiece very soon, usually it is use the ones you were supplied with but they are getting worse, so I tend to just say expect to buy one or two in the not distant future. A reasonable eyepiece makes it all more enjoyable.

Initially keep it simple, just go finding stars: Betelguese, Aldebaren, Capella. With Betelguese you can view Rigel, the belt stars and M42 (Orion Nebula). With Capella you can try for M36, M37, M38 - 3 open clusters in the constellation Auriga of which Capella is the main star. Aldebaren sits "in" a star cluster called the Hyades - so 2 for 1 there. The belt stars in Orion point towards Aldebaren, and further out still is a cluster called The Pleiades. That should take enough time.

[Claypole55]

1 hour ago, nightfisher said:

make sure you use the lowest power eyepiece to start this will be a 20mm or 25mm and take time to focus it correctly

my smallest is 10mm then 25 wide & barlow came with the scope

[nightfisher]

start with the 25 and no barlow

[Claypole55]

25 minutes ago, ronin said:

First stars will always be point of light, they basically never get bigger then a point. Say basically as if you had the EELT and aimed at Betelguese you might get a disk. However as they have not built it yet and theyare not going to let you or me stick an eyepiece in it less settle for "will always".

As you are seeing stars that is good, you have managed to get it to focus an image.

What you need to do now is pick out things that are simply "not stars". The Orion nebula under Orions belt is at present the obvious.

You can observe stars, however this often means a bit sort of selective. Up in the constellation Andromeda is the star Almaak, it is actually a double and the 2 stars are contrasting colours. Another is Albireo but that is likely too low. There are quite a lot and in honesty they are nice and easy,

The standard list of extended objects is the Messier List (search for the wiki entry). That is a list of 110 objects and many people work through finding them all. Takes generally a couple of years. The Caldwell Catalogue is another.

You could, in the idea of stars, go searching out red stars, Betelguese, Arcturus etc, the red super giants. You will have to make uyour own list as I cannot recall a link specifically for these but there will be.

Yes it is all upside down, sometimes a bit extra is added in, just to add confusion. You will get used to it.

If not already get Stellarium, then you can set the time and see what is visible in as extended objects to try find.

Expect to want additional eyepiece very soon, usually it is use the ones you were supplied with but they are getting worse, so I tend to just say expect to buy one or two in the not distant future. A reasonable eyepiece makes it all more enjoyable.

Initially keep it simple, just go finding stars: Betelguese, Aldebaren, Capella. With Betelguese you can view Rigel, the belt stars and M42 (Orion Nebula). With Capella you can try for M36, M37, M38 - 3 open clusters in the constellation Auriga of which Capella is the main star. Aldebaren sits "in" a star cluster called the Hyades - so 2 for 1 there. The belt stars in Orion point towards Aldebaren, and further out still is a cluster called The Pleiades. That should take enough time.

Thanks for the advice, do i need to tune anything in before i try looking for anything?? 

when i mean tuning, i watched a youtube video about balance and something about pointing 52 degrees ??

[BritAngler]

Being an equatorial mount, you will need to polarise the mount first (plenty of vids on youtube), then you only need to move the mount/telescope in one direction in order to keep the object in view. There is a very good thread on here titled What Can I Expect to See? which is invaluable to newcomers to the hobby....

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/

Most important thing though is to enjoy your new hobby, the more time you spend at the eyepiece, the more wonders you will discover

 

[Alan64]

You did quite well in choosing that one, as it's a 130mm f/7 Newtonian, which will be good for observing the Moon and planets, in addition to many deep-space objects.

At f/7, the telescope is easier to collimate, and to keep it that way.  This is a Newtonian in action, and using a shot of the Moon taken with my Newtonian...

 

The light of the Moon enters through the front opening of the telescope and strikes the large bowl-shaped mirror at the bottom of the telescope tube.  Due to the large mirror's curved shape, the light as it travels back up forms a cone which then strikes the smaller, angled flat mirror near the front.  The smaller mirror then sends the light, the image, into the eyepiece, into the eye and mind of the observer, and all in an L-shaped path as shown.

Learning the process of collimation, or the alignment of the centres of the mirrors with the centre of the focusser, is a requirement in owning and operating a Newtonian, and for best image quality.

Collimation, or alignment, instructions, and links to others within...

http://www.schlatter.org/Dad/Astronomy/collimate.htm

http://www.forumskylive.it/Public/data/serastrof/201281510358_Astro Babys Guide to Collimation.pdf

Collimating a Newtonian is, for the lack of a better analogy, akin to tuning a stringed instrument, like a guitar for example.  The tools shown in those various instructions are very helpful in getting the most out of your telescope.  For now, you can make ready use of a collimation-cap...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/other-collimation-tools/rigel-aline-collimation-cap.html

I don't know if your kit included one, but mine did, and it's been most helpful in teaching me to learn how to collimate my Newtonian.

The collimation-cap will allow you to see the entire optical system of your telescope at a glance.  Here is the scene from my own...

In this next image, what is seen I will identify, and describe...

Within the red circle, the reflective underside of the collimation-cap, and with my camera on the other side of the pinhole snapping the photograph.

Within the yellow circle, the shadow, the shape, of the smaller, flat mirror, also known as the secondary mirror.

Within the green circle, the larger, bowl-shaped mirror(albeit shallow) at the bottom of the tube, also known as the primary mirror.

The goal in collimating is simply to align the centre of the secondary mirror with the centre of the focusser, then to align the centre of the primary mirror with both the secondary mirror and the focusser.

The collimation-cap works best if the larger, primary mirror is centre-spotted.  If your primary mirror is centre-spotted already, then you're ready to go.  If not, it's quite easy to do, and described here...

http://garyseronik.com/centre-dotting-your-scopes-primary-mirror/

The round circle just around the pinhole of the collimation-cap, in the above images, is the centre-spot of the primary mirror.  It's all there, within the scene, and with nothing to hide, or to create a mystery.

The process of collimation is learned soon enough, and eventually mastered, and then to see things that few people have ever seen before.  Once well collimated, the telescope will only need slight adjustments in future, and on an occasional basis.

A 130mm telescope is of a considerable aperture.  Here it is compared to the diameter of the dark-adapted pupil of the human eye...

The human eye is weak, and among the weakest within the animal kingdom.  Telescopes are extensions of our weak eyes, therefore they are "pupils" in and of themselves.  In the understanding of that, one then understands just how powerful a telescope, no matter the size, really is.

[Dave In Vermont]

This Christmas has been a windfall for the sellers of telescopes - BIG TIME! I must have handed this link out half-a-dozen times in here! Here's yours:

And while we're at it, another useful article is entitled "Tips For Choosing..." but is also useful for helping to learn the names and uses of the telescope itself, also by Gary Seronik:

Tips For Choosing Your First Telescope.pdf

And as her website is still down, here's one of the best and easiest-to-understand guides for collimating your scope once that day arrives. So I'd suggest tucking this away until that day arrives. It's by an esteemed member of this community - Astro_Baby:

Astro Baby's Collimation Guide.pdf

(I just noted this has already been posted! Good job!)

I hope this helps you on your journey to the stars!

Dave