What lenses to use?

[kelem05]

OK so i`m new to this, i got a sky-watcher telescope for Christmas, it came with a 10mm and a 25mm lens. I have set it up and can see that stars, but they are just like looking at them through a window, can I get stronger lenses that are more powerful? I might be talking gibberish but like I say i`m new to this.

 

[LukeSkywatcher]

Stars will always just appear like single points of light, no matter what scope or eyepiece you use. You are not doing anything wrong.

[kelem05]

Thank you that makes me feel better. So what is my next step? are my lenses ok to look at the moon? will i see much detail? sorry for so many questions, I think i will find more answers from people who know what they are doing rather than look on youtube

[LukeSkywatcher]

26 minutes ago, kelem05 said:

Thank you that makes me feel better. So what is my next step? are my lenses ok to look at the moon? will i see much detail? sorry for so many questions, I think i will find more answers from people who know what they are doing rather than look on youtube

Yep, both eyepieces are capable of letting you see the Moon. With the 10mm eyepiece you should see craters close up. With the 25mm, you maybe will see the whole of the Moon in one view but not see the craters as closely as with the 10mm.

[rockystar]

The eyepieces you have will do for now, but you'll probably want a couple more in the near future - but get used to what you have first.

The moon will look great in this scope (you just need to wait a week or so for it to come back to the evening sky (we're coming up to New Moon in the next day or two).

Venus is out at the moment - you should be able to see its current phase (part circle, like the moon); and mars -  neither will give up much detail, though.

The Orion Nebula is well placed at the moment, as are the Pleiades, and the Andromeda galaxy - give those a go to start with.

One thing to say though, is that it isn't good to look through windows, especially when closed, the scope will just magnify any defects in the glass, and you get warm thermals that will distort the view. Best to put on a coat and go outside

good luck and welcome to SGL

[kelem05]

Thank you so much

[Nyctimene]

Kelem 05,

download Stellarium on your pc or as smartphone app (free). Search for the open cluster Pleiades (M 45) and the Orion nebula (M 42). Pleiades are visible naked eye now as small patch of stars in the south. Point your scope, using the finder and your 25 mm eyepiece, at it, and enjoy!

Repeat this with M 42.

Good luck!

Stephan

 

[kelem05]

1 minute ago, rockystar said:

The eyepieces you have will do for now, but you'll probably want a couple more in the near future - but get used to what you have first.

The moon will look great in this scope (you just need to wait a week or so for it to come back to the evening sky (we're coming up to New Moon in the next day or two).

Venus is out at the moment - you should be able to see its current phase (part circle, like the moon); and mars -  neither will give up much detail, though.

The Orion Nebula is well placed at the moment, as are the Pleiades, and the Andromeda galaxy - give those a go to start with.

One thing to say though, is that it isn't good to look through windows, especially when closed, the scope will just magnify any defects in the glass, and you get warm thermals that will distort the view. Best to put on a coat and go outside

good luck and welcome to SGL

Thank you for your help, I was already looking for better ones, but i will stick with the ones i have for now.

So how do i know where to look?

I will try the moon when it appears and will go outside, yes its chilly and i cheated looking through a window lol.

I guess there is a lot to learn.

[kelem05]

5 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

Yep, both eyepieces are capable of letting you see the Moon. With the 10mm eyepiece you should see craters close up. With the 25mm, you maybe will see the whole of the Moon in one view but not see the craters as closely as with the 10mm.

That`s brilliant, Thank you 

[kelem05]

6 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

Kelem 05,

download Stellarium on your pc or as smartphone app (free). Search for the open cluster Pleiades (M 45) and the Orion nebula (M 42). Pleiades are visible naked eye now as small patch of stars in the south. Point your scope, using the finder and your 25 mm eyepiece, at it, and enjoy!

Repeat this with M 42.

Good luck!

Stephan

 

Lovely i`m downloading it now, will let you know how i get on :-)

[Dave In Vermont]

As stated - the view of stars won't get bigger, just brighter. And you'll be seeing stars which are invisible to our eyes. This is what a telescope excels at - revealing objects in space which are not able to be seen with our eyes alone.

A common mistake to make is to start buying all sorts of things for your new telescope. But you did it correctly in asking us here instead. And the answer you've recieved are spot on: Not yet - learn your way around first.

Enjoy and keep asking questions. We love them!

Dave

[rockystar]

3 minutes ago, kelem05 said:

So how do i know where to look?

Stellarium is your friend.

M42 is the middle "star" in the sword of Orion. Follow Orion's belt in a line until you get to a largish fuzzy patch, that's M45 (Pleiades) - use your 25 mm for both of these and then try your 10mm on M42 (it'll be no use on M45).

[kelem05]

1 minute ago, Dave In Vermont said:

As stated - the view of stars won't get bigger, just brighter. And you'll be seeing stars which are invisible to our eyes. This is what a telescope excels at - revealing objects in space with are not able to be seen with our eyes alone.

A common mistake to make is to start buying all sorts of things for your new telescope. But you did it correctly in asking us here instead. And the answer you've recieved are spot on: Not yet - learn your way around first.

Enjoy and keep asking questions. We love them!

Dave

Thanks Dave, yes i`m glad i asked on here first, everyone has been so helpful :-)

[Ruud]

It's a nice Christmas present! I looked it up: it's an f/4, 300mm focal length and 76mm aperture.
The 25mm gives 12x magnification, the 10mm gives 30x magnification.

Highest usable magnification will come from a 2mm eyepiece: 150x
Personally, once I got used to the telescope and decided that stargazing was a thing for me, I'd probably buy a  2x barlow (first) and a 6mm eyepiece (later), to get

• 100x and 50x from the 6mm
• 60x and 30x from the 10mm
• 24x and 12x from the 25mm eyepiece.

The higher magnifications would come from using the Barlow.

A 4mm eyepiece with 2x Barlow (or a 2mm eyepiece without) would give you the maximum usable magnification of 150x, but I'm afraid you'd find the images quite dim and maybe not as crisp as you'd want them.

And yes, get Stellarium!

 

[cjdawson]

Hi @kelen05

Welcome to SGL.

Star's are point sources.  No matter how powerful and eyepiece that you use, they will always be dots.

Where things get exciting is find the objects that are out there to find.

It's worth getting a book like "Turn left at orion" this will give you a great head start on things to look for.

[Putaendo Patrick]

For me, at least, the great thing about amateur astronomy is that there are no rules, no right or wrong. If you're enjoying what you're seeing then you've got it right. Maybe sooner or later you want to see more, and then is the time to upgrade your eyepieces or your telescope - but there's no hurry or need.

Stellarium will certainly help to locate targets. For lunar observing you can also download the free Virtual Moon Atlas - it's a powerful tool. Most of the popular astronomy magazines will also give you a monthly review of astronomical activity and interesting objects to view.

 

[dannybgoode]

One of the magic things that happens though when looking at 'just stars' is when you look at what you think is just two or three stars because that's ask you can see but when you look at them through the telescope there's suddenly hundreds because you've hit up on a cluster. 

At first you can't quite believe your eyes! Yes they're still just points of light but so many more than you thought possible. 

Also think about what you're seeing-light many millions of years old in some cases, light that left it's star around the time of the dinosaurs or before. That's what gets me every time

[Dave In Vermont]

dannybgoode has nailed a universal () truth - above. With a telescope, we truly begin to realise the immensity of our own galaxy - and the entire Cosmos that surrounds us.

But in terms of our local (!) stellar-neighborhood, one neat trick with the telescope is to note the colour of the stars. Red, orange blue-violet, yellow - etc. Then focus the telescope so the star you're observing goes somewhat out-of-focus so it becomes a fuzzy ball. And then look at the colour of the star. It should be quite apparent this way. Maybe try this with some stars that are obviously quite colorful - like Betelgeuse (red-orange to my eyes) and Rigel (violet-blue). You'll do well in understanding that other people will not see the exact same colours that you do. Our eyes & eyesight tend to be unique! Who'd a thunk it?

And this is just for starts with your telescope. So buckle your seat-belt - you'll be going on a long journey in a time-machine!

Dave

[jetstream]

One note- make sure your scope has time to cool down when taken outside, this is a very good habit to get into. Have fun!

[kilix]

9 hours ago, Ruud said:

It's a nice Christmas present! I looked it up: it's an f/4, 300mm focal length and 76mm aperture.
The 25mm gives 12x magnification, the 10mm gives 30x magnification.

Highest usable magnification will come from a 2mm eyepiece: 150x
Personally, once I got used to the telescope and decided that stargazing was a thing for me, I'd probably buy a  2x barlow (first) and a 6mm eyepiece (later), to get

• 100x and 50x from the 6mm
• 60x and 30x from the 10mm
• 24x and 12x from the 25mm eyepiece.

The higher magnifications would come from using the Barlow.

A 4mm eyepiece with 2x Barlow (or a 2mm eyepiece without) would give you the maximum usable magnification of 150x, but I'm afraid you'd find the images quite dim and maybe not as crisp as you'd want them.

And yes, get Stellarium!

This telescope has a spherical mirror, which is quite fast at f/4. Is it really a good idea to go to higher magnifications? Say, above 50x. I believe that the image would be too soft and unfocusable with higher magnification.
I am not sure, I want to know too.

Also, one has to consider economic side of such a purchase. This scope is around 50€, buying barlow and an eyepiece, will cost probably more than the scope. Yes, the eyepiece and barlow can be used in future scopes, if kelem05 finds this hobby interesting and will keep at it, and maybe purchase some more powerful/serious scope in the future.

[Ruud]

7 hours ago, kilix said:

This telescope has a spherical mirror, which is quite fast at f/4. Is it really a good idea to go to higher magnifications? Say, above 50x. I believe that the image would be too soft and unfocusable with higher magnification.
I am not sure, I want to know too.

I'm not sure either. Still, even if this telescope can really only reach a third of the potential of a good 76mm scope, 150x, the telescope may confirm to the OP that stargazing is a great hobby for him, and then a barlow and a 6mm will not be wasted. I mean, if I were in the OP's shoes and decided that stargazing was a thing for me, I'd probably buy a  2x barlow (first) and a 6mm eyepiece (later). A bigger, better scope would be the next on my list.

The barlow by itself, btw, will probably indicate where the limits of this telescope lie.

 

[alanjgreen]

Consider buying a book. "Turn left at Orion" is a great starter book. 200+ pages of objects, ordered by season.

steps to locate them and sketches of what you will see in a small scope.

have a search on here to find others comments on this book.

Alan

 

[Louis D]

Another large, well placed object right now for your short focal length scope is Collinder 70 which is co-located with the Orion belt stars.  It's a very large (on the sky) open cluster that is nearly impossible to pick out in longer focal length telescopes because you end up looking right through it without recognizing it for what it is.