total beginner

[shaunmk]

had a celestron eq130 brought me for a present, ive been keen on photographing the moon and taken some outstanding photos...always amazed me to look further and closer at the planets..so  after a lot of soul searching.. the scope was purchased for me.ive got a 3x barlow lens on route and currently have a 10mm and a 20mm .. ive never used one in my life. some good solid starter tips would be great. the attached photo was taken with mu nikon camera  in my front garden 

[domstar]

Sorry-I haven't got any tips for you. Maybe you could give me some. Outstanding photo.

Actually here's one. Get outside whenever you can. Sometimes I need to force myself a bit but I don't usually regret it.

[PeterCPC]

Tip - get a new finderscope as the supplied one is hopeless. Great image by the way.

Peter

[alanjgreen]

Spend 20 pounds on Turn Left At Orion (book), its will enable you to get the most of your scope as it gives clear directions to star hop to most of the major sky objects, it's no fun if you can't find anything!

it also has sketches of what you will see in a small scope then you KNOW when you have found it.

dont rush into loads of extras, get out for a few nights first then you have a better idea of where you want to make improvements.

Alan

[PeterCPC]

Re your PM. I would suggest a red dot finderscope but there are other options. See this thread:

Peter

[shaunmk]

thank you for all your help.. ive ordered a replacement for my finder..i read the supplied thread and went for   Telrad Finder"   in the end as it got great reviews and seemed to be the one of choice.where would be the best location on scope to place it when it arrives..

thanks

[Astro Imp]

When your Telrad arrives the position on the scope is a personal one. I would suggest you temporarily fix it with low tack masking tape and move it until you're happy with the position.

BTW you will find the Telrad a dew magnet, a quick and easy way to keep it clear is to cover it with an old piece of towelling when not in use. Not very attractive but who's going to see.

Good luck.

[shaunmk]

ok this is going to sound like a really dumb question.. bright star/planet low in sky..<jupiter> ..pointed my scope, perfect got it in sight..when i looked in eye piece and adjusted the zoom..i got a perfect image of the cross hairs on the front of scope..could this be a damage issue? 

 

[alanjgreen]

Shaun,

if you can see the front of the scope then you are way out of focus.

put your low power (20mm) eyepiece in, without any Barlow lens!

Rack the focuser all the way out by turning the knob on the focuser, you don't need to look through the eyepiece at this point.

Now, turn the focus knob all the way in SLOWLY while looking through the eyepiece, the out of focus image will get smaller and become a small point of light . STOP. you are now focused.

 

the planet you are seeing is Venus. It will look like a blurry tiny blob when focused. Start with a star instead...

 

choose a bright star OVERHEAD instead as a better test object.

[alanjgreen]

Shaun, 

the knob on the focuser is simply a focus knob, it has nothing to do with Zoom

- if you see the image getting bigger it is simply because you are DEFOCUSING it (moving out of focus)

- you adjust magnification by swapping eyepieces.

---- big number on eyepiece equals less magnification.

---- stick to the 20mm eyepiece until you get the hang of it. You just make it more complicated by changing eyepieces or adding a Barlow lens into the focuser.

 

take it step by step.

 

[Alan64]

Can you take a photograph of what you're seeing, as you did of the Moon?

The planets are very difficult to image with the afocal technique, that is if you're holding the Nikon up to the eyepiece and snapping the shots. 

In addition, with Jupiter near to the horizon, you're looking through a thick layer of the Earth's atmosphere; not quite like pea soup, of course, but enough to make viewing difficult.

 

[shaunmk]

alan, the photo of the moon i took was just done using my nikon on a tripod..didnt have a scope then.. ive taken loads of great moon photos using just my nikon camera. nikon has a 120x zoom as this image show..camera at full zoom can produce some very clear shots

[noah4x4]

Start with the Moon. Easy to find, and an easy target to practice stuff like focusing and see the impact of changing eyepieces. But generally find stuff using your lowest power EP (the highest mm number, perhaps 25mm or greater). It's much more difficult with high power. Then being more adventurous....

From the UK, Venus and Mars are early evening objects at present. Look South West at around 18:15. The bright crescent is Venus (n.b. the brightest object in the sky, obviously after sunset!). Tomorrow at 18:15, Mars (a reddish blob) will then be at the 10 o'clock position from Venus and also quite bright (so it too will appear to the naked eye before most stars after sunset). Then in almost a straight line extending from these two is Neptune. Uranus will then be due south.  You will struggle to make out any detail of any of these four planets  unless seeing conditions are excellent and even then you will need a big aperture scope. So don't get frustrated if all you see are white; reddish; blue & blue (respectively) tiny blobs! Your scope might also not be sufficiently powerful for very distant Neptune which cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Mercury and Saturn are currently far too close to the sun and too low on the horizon. Mercury is always challenging, but Saturn was awesome between March and August, but won't return for a while. So other than the Moon, the immediate solar system jewel is Jupiter. Jupiter can be seen South at circa 06:00am. So get to bed early to rise early. Unless you are unfortunate, clear skies should reveal some banding and it's moons.

It won't take you long to tick off all of these and you will possibly be disappointed with most except for the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn. So then get out your lowest power eyepiece and start hunting deep sky objects. Get yourself a free APP called SkyPortal and use its "Best of tonight"  feature. Find the Orion Nebula and go "wow". Then you will be hooked. It was the 'Wild Duck Cluster'  that hooked me, but that won't be visible during winter. Enjoy...

[Alan64]

"alan, the photo of the moon i took was just done using my nikon on a tripod..didnt have a scope then.. ive taken loads of great moon photos using just my nikon camera. nikon has a 120x zoom as this image show..camera at full zoom can produce some very clear shots"

...and very good they are indeed.  After having re-read your initial post, I now see that the images of the Moon were taken before the fact.

I've taken shots of various and sundry objects, and simply by holding a small point-and-shoot camera up to an eyepiece, and through a 150mm f/5 Newtonian.  Such is called "afocal photography".  You should be able to enjoy same with your kit and camera.  Motorising the RA-axis of the CG-3(EQ-2) will make that even easier.

 

[Dave In Vermont]

While you're busy looking for the best ways to spend money (), how about something for free?

You may already have this, but it's called Stellarium - which is a wonderful "Planetarium-Program" to show you any/or everything up in space at any time you tell it - from your own location. I posted links and further info in another thread already today - so this and information is available from here:

Have fun!

Dave

[Callumefc]

Cracking photo!

[iapa]

Practice focusing on a distant building, tv aerial or something - even a tree on a hill - and you will get a feel for it..

Re focusing - I would be tempted to turn the focus knob until the lens is at the closest point to the tube, the turn to bring it out gently.

With these rack and pinion focusers it is easy to too far out - and panic when it stops working. I have one of these EQ130 'scopes and did, several times. Simple solution into gently apply inward pressure on the focuser whilst turning the knob inwards again until it 'catches'.

[shaunmk]

i spent an hour sat in the kitchen ,praticing aiming and lining up on a group of birds in a tree and was very proud i sat very happily watching them up close..

[iapa]

8 minutes ago, shaunmk said:

i spent an hour sat in the kitchen ,praticing aiming and lining up on a group of birds in a tree and was very proud i sat very happily watching them up close..

practice and pleasure in one activity

 

[shaunmk]

i only have 2 lens..i found this 40mm on amazon for £20 

Solomark 40mm 1.25inch Plossl Telescope Eyepiece

 

was it a good buy ?

[Alan64]

This listing for that one...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solomark-1-25inch-Plossl-Telescope-Eyepiece/dp/B014PP1DA6

...hints at the eyepiece having at least near to a 52° actual field-of-view(AFOV).  In reality, the AFOV is closer to 43° to 45°.  A 52° AFOV is not possible with a 1.25" 40mm Plossl; 45° is the limit, with the specs from the GSO 40mm as the standard, and the widest possible in a 40mm.

My 40mm, listed within my signature, has an AFOV of 43°. 

650mm ÷ 40mm = 16x, and binocular-like.  At a 43° AFOV, the total field-of-view(TFOV) will be 2.65°.  That translates into a view of an area of the sky a little over five full Moons wide, side by side, and as seen by the naked eye; not bad at all.  Let's see what we get with a 32m... 

A 32mm Plossl has an AFOV of 52°, and a magnification of 20x, and binocular-like still.  But its TFOV is 2.56°...and less than that of the 40mm.

Therefore, for your lowest power eyepiece, and in aiding the finder in the finding of things to observe, you did quite well.