New Scope, what can i do with it!?

[AJSullivan]

Hey guys

Brand new here so Hi to everyone!

I just bought my first telescope after wanting one for years. I bought this one: http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-orion-starblast-4-5-eq-astronomical-telescope.htm

After three frustratingly cloudy nights I managed to get another cloud break to get some cracking views of the moon. Now this scope comes with two lenses, a 15mm and a 6mm. It’s a 4.5" reflector if you haven’t checked the link.

Any who, to my question, like most beginners I really want to see the planets. Firstly with the scope and the lenses I currently have, will I get good views of them? If not, can I buy new lenses that will help? I don’t mind spending a few quid if it will mean really excellent views of the planets. Apparently the moon will pass just below Jupiter in three days time and weather permitting I REALLY hope to see it.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Alex

[peeceeTal2M]

Hi Alex, you'll be able to have good views of the moon, and you'll also be able to see saturn and jupiter with its moons and quite a few of the brighter galaxies. I highly recommend getting a copy of "Turn Left at Orion" as this book lists 100 objects that can be viewed with a small telescope. You should be able to see cloud bands on jupiter along with its 4 Galilean moons and saturns rings( although not in a favourable position for a few more years) and its largest moon titan.

Phill

[timetraveller]

hi Alex that's a nice little scope to start out with and as previously mentioned you should get some good views of the plannets and some of the brighter objects in the night sky weather permitting of coarse may i suggest you also purchase a decent wide angle lens for it try looking on first Light Optics our sponsors they are brill i got my new big 8" from them they give excellent service and first class advice also just as an advisory don't expect too much from your scope that's the worse mistake people new to astronomy make they see all these wonderful images on the net and in books and mags then get all disappointed when the views from there scope don't match up I'm not trying to be patronising but you have to learn how to see when using a scope for example try to look indirectly at objects IE not dead centre of the tube with time and practise off set viewing will enable you to see a lot more detail as your periphery vision is much more sensitive to light also you need time to get dark accustomed it can take quite a long time up to an hour for your eyes to become accustomed to the dark just be patient and your scope will take you on an amazing journey so enjoy regards Pete

[AJSullivan]

Thanks for the reply so far. Yeah I understand that spending £100 on a scope isn't going to show me complex deep sky objects etc. The things I’m firstly interested in are the planets, so I am pleased you mentioned I should be able to see them. Could you perhaps link me a great eyepiece that give the most out of my scope? Some lenses are more money than my scope, and while I don't mind spending cash on it (the scope was actually a present), I don’t want to waste my money on a lens that I won’t be able to really use until I upgrade my scope.

Thanks again.

Alex

[peeceeTal2M]

Hi Alex, your scope is quite fast at f4.0 so you will need be careful as to what eyepieces you get for it as generally speaking the faster the scope the more fussy it will be. Your best option would be to speak with steve at first light optics (our sponsor) He'll be able to give you good advice as to your eyepiece options.

Phill

[scotastro]

A scope like yours is capable of a wide field of view, but to do so you would need a much lower power Plossl eyepiece such as 25mm (18x magnification) or 32mm (14x mag). Either of these would allow sweeping the Milky Way for star clusters or also it makes finding other objects a little easier.

With a scope of short focal length (fast) and small aperture it is necessary to make sure the optics are collimated properly as any misalignment means you can lose a lot of light and the image will be less sharp.

The scope comes with a collimation cap - hopefully it also has the instructions for collimation - if not a search on SGL forum or Google will come up with the info. People dread collimation, but it is quite straight forward once you understand the principles.

Enjoy using your scope.

Mike

GAC

Galloway Astronomy Centre

www.gallowayastro.com

[AJSullivan]

I looked up plossl eyepieces and found this site: http://www.astronomica.co.uk/SuperPlossl.php

Would the 30mm be the best for me? The price seems very reasonable. I am happy to use the First Light Optics site if they have something similar but I couldn't find it. Perhaps you could link me it? Do other people agree with scotastro?

Alex

[Doc]

Alex how about the celestron set.

Five Superior Grade Plössl Eyepieces - 1.25” — 4-element design with a 52° AFOV (32mm has 44° ) — Superb colour resolution, edge sharpness and clarity. All eyepieces are fully multi-coated for maximum contrast and resolution. Supplied are a 4mm,6mm, 9mm, 15mm, and 32mm.

• Barlow Lens - 2x 1.25”— Compliments the Plössl eyepieces in this kit and gives you a total of ten power combinations. High grade glass optics with fully multicoated lenses are used so there is no degradation of image.

• Six Coloured (Lunar & Planetary) Filters - 1.25” — Included are Kodak Wratten #12, #21, #25, #56, #58A, and #80A. Since you have all the eyepieces necessary to study the planets and moon in detail, these filters will greatly enhance your enjoyment of our solar system.

• Moon Filter - 1.25” — A neutral density filter which allows you maximum enjoyment of the moon especially during the brighter phases.

• Aluminum Carrying Case — This sturdy and well-built case fits all of the above items in the die-cut foam interior and has room for additional accessories.

And all for £129.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=CelestronEPkit

And from FLO as well

[AJSullivan]

I'm not against spending cash, but being that my scope only cost £100 (only had it 4 days - its my birthday today actually!), it seems a VERY quick outlay. I would rather by one new lens at the moment and maybe buy another in a month or two. Thanks for the replies so far, keep em up!

Alex

[wingman]

Have to agree with Phill, I think "Turn Left at Orion" has been the single best thing I've bought, I absolutely love the book!

[lunator]

Hi Alex

Your scope should be good for the brighter objects like the Moon, planets and the brighter star clusters.

I started with a 4.5" reflector and it gave me my first good view of the night sky.

Cheers

Ian

[dogfish]

Hi Alex

The eyepiece you asked about is absolutely fine at it's price point. Astronomica do reasonably priced generic eyepieces and many think that you get a bit more value as you're not paying for the brand. However, you will notice that the stars at the very edge get a bit stretched into a seagull shape. This doesn't bother some people, but as people pay more for their scopes they demand higher and higher performance from their eyepieces as well.

At your stage, I'd say you'd get on fine with that eyepiece. Be warned though, it will only give low magnification. This type is best for finding galaxies and clusters, but won't give you a good planetary view as the image will be too small. Personally, I love finding the fainter stuff with my 3 inch travel scope, so you should manage to find some of these things with your scope. Turn left at Orion will help a lot.

Hope that helped, Martin

[AJSullivan]

Great advice so far guys. So that plossl i linked would be good for clusters and galaxies, thats interesting..

Which lens is needed for good planetery views then?

[scotastro]

Alex

Only just got back on SGL. The Astronomica 30mm Plossl would be fine. I know Richard who runs it and the kit if good for the price.

Regarding the Celestron set - don't buy it (sorry Doc). You already have two of the same size EPs (6mm and 15mm). The coloured filters will not do a whole lot for the planet images with a scope your size. Save the money, buy the 30mm EP and their Moon filter - 0.9 density (£7.50) it gets rid of the glare and "Turn Left at Orion". Total cost for the lot about £54 and you will be kept busy viewing for a good while.

Mike

[AJSullivan]

Top man Mike. I already have a moon filter. Will buy the 30mm Plossl then. Will let you know how it goes!

Alex

[FLO]

Alex how about the celestron set.

Or the Revelation eyepiece set? Six Plossls from the GSO factory in Taiwan. At £89 they work out at less than £15 each. Or, put a wanted ad in SGL's Buy/Sell section for some secondhand Meade Series 4000 Super Plossls. They often appear secondhand and are better than your average Plossl (be a bit careful though as there were some fakes sold on Ebay for a while!). The 9.7, 15, 26 and 32mm are more desirable and sell secondhand for around £20-30 each.

HTH

[Periscope]

:hello1: Alex on getting your scope. Orion optics are reputed to be quite good. Regarding eyepieces, if you want good quality, one can cost you more than what you paid for for your scope. In fact you can pay just as much for a good filter. Those Plossl eyepieces you looked at will suffice, I'm sure, it the old old story, you get what you pay for, but that doesn't mean you have to have the best. The differences can be quite miminal really.

The Revelation Eyepiece set will suffice and for the price, you get six good eyepieces, barlow and colur filters, which is good value. I have this set and they are very good

Geoff

[AJSullivan]

Ok took the plunge and bought this one: http://www.telescopesplus.co.uk/moreinfo.php/Accessories/Eyepieces/Celestron_Omni_Series_1.25_in_-_25mm/3192

Very similar to the first one i found, but had a brand I recognised. I thought that would be a safer bet. Any who, that lens will allow me to perhaps pick up some of the more deep sky object correct?

I currently have a 6mm and a 15mm which came with the scope. I have looked up about Barlow’s (they just increase magnification right?). My scope is 450mm length and 114mm aperture. Reading through the guides here you shouldn’t have a magnification much higher than x200 as it starts to get fuzzy?

SO...if my maths is correct. 450mm / 6mm = 75x magnification.

With Barlow x2: 450mm / (6mm / 2) = 150x magnification.

With Barlow x3: 450mm / (6mm / 3) = 225x magnification.

Would a x3 Barlow be too big? Would having one of these Barlow’s make planetary viewing much easier!? QUESTIONS QUESTIONS! Thanks again to everyone who has helped me, and sorry for all the questions..

Alex

[Neon]

Hi Alex,

I'm still a relative newbie at this telescope lark myself, but I'd probably avoid getting a x3 barlow and instead get a x2 one.

Barlows are an excellent way of effectively doubling your eyepiece collection, and in your case it would give you a 3, 6, 7.5 and 15mm range. Sure, a x3 barlow would do the same thing, but it's a big jump in magnification, making zeroing in on targets harder.

Also one thing you'll soon come to appreciate with astronomy is 'seeing'. Due to atmospheric conditions you won't always be able to get x225 mag out of your scope (the image maybe fuzzy or wobbly), and have to go for something lower. A x3 barlow might not give you such a useful range of magnifications.

One thing I've learned with my scope is that higher magnification doesn't necessarily make things easier to see, it just makes them bigger. I can get quite a big image of Jupiter in my scope, but it becomes blurry, loses detail and contrast.

Just a few observations, hope that they're a help.

Cheers

Mark

[dogfish]

Hi Alex

I'd agree with Mark and say avoid the X3 barlow. What he says is right but I'd add the most important factor about increasing magnification is that it causes a substantial loss of light. This is ok to a point on the moon and the planets, as they're bright anyway, but even here you'll find the views are best somewhere between the moderate and high magnification ranges. You'll also lose too much light to get a decent view of anything else. You should do fine with the X2 barlow and the eyepieces you've got as this will give a reasonable range for your scope.

Cheers, Martin

[AJSullivan]

I think I have just managed to spot jupiter which is quite exciting. I can see a round spot of light, and 4 pinpricks of light to the left of it (possibly right, the mirror business confuses me) which are probably its moons. The problem is I can see NO colour or definition at all. I am using my 6mm lens. I "tried" to take a photo of it with my digital camera, through the lens. The best one I got was this:

Now obviously on the scope it wasnt as blurry, but still no definiton at all. Any ideas why?

[Neon]

Well, that might be the whole business of 'seeing' I was talking about. I was able to go out last night and conditions in my neck of the woods wasn't perfect (clouds, air turbulence etc), but I was able to get a look at Jupiter and its moons. Although I could only see two moons I was able to make out faint banding on the planet. But even that was sporadic.

To be honest I don't think conditions have been that good for the past few weeks and having the best eyepiece in the world won't change that. Optical equipment is a bit like audio equipment insomuch as it will only work with what you're given, so the most expensive Hi Fi setup will only sound as good as the media you put in it. If you've got a crackly old tape recording, it'll still sound crackly and old regardless of what you play it on.

Same with your scope, only the 'seeing' is what spoils our fun, like a dodgy old tape recording.

[algol]

nice description neon, agreed to awful dodgy old crackly weather we got here lol.

bout time we traded it in for some of that sparkly digital stuff you keep hearing about.

can't wait for dark clear crisp nights of winter.

[AJSullivan]

mm, thats a good description, I didnt think about that. It was rather small in the eyepiece though which will limit any definition I can get.

[Helen]

It might sound daft, but don't use such high magnification and you'll probably see more definition. Another way to think about it is like blowing up a photo - if you blow it up too far it just becomes blurry (or blocky if its digital). So small and perfectly formed very often applies to planets I've found. With your scope and reaonable conditions you should at least see two bands on Jupiter as well as the moons - and its a neat sight . And like others I'd stick to a x2 barlow.

Helen