First light 29/08/2008 Celestron Nexstar 4SE

[ohoward]

I've had the scope for a while now but having lived in a second floor flat never really got around to using it. I have now moved and have a nice back garden with not much LP (Although fences and other houses do block out some of the sky).

Set the scope up and aligned the RDF. Took in a few bright objects using that and then decided to 'SkyAlign' the scope (I'm a father to two children and a complete newb and although I'd love to be able to find objects on my own, I simply don't have the time).

First attempt failed. Second attempt confirmed a match but something was wrong, in the object catalogue under 'Solar System' I was supposed to be able to see the Moon, Saturn and Mars...well the Moon was clearly not visible. Checked the scopes date and time settings...completely wrong! Reset the time and date, and realigned the scope, match confirmed. I then let it take me on a tour....

I've always wanted to see a galaxy 'with my own eyes' so let the scope point itself at Andromeda, I slipped in my lowest mag eyepiece, a 25mm plossl - and was instantly gratified with Andromeda, it appeared as a bluish smudge just above the centre of the view through my eyepiece.

I then slewed to the Double Cluster...already I can tell that this is going to be one of my favourite sights, it really was breathtaking, the sheer number of stars in such close proximity was an amazing sight.

After spending maybe ten to fifteen minutes looking at this I went back to Andromeda and switched to my 10mm plossl - after playing around with the focusser for what seemd to be ages I wasn't really able to resolve it and get a good view, tried cleaning the piece again but no luck. So although I am very pleased with my 'first light' I thought I would ask, why was I unable to get a good view through my higher mag eyepiece? I have a feeling my small scope may not be able to handle such a high mag?

Please advise.

[ChrisEdu]

I hope you get an answer to your question soon, as I'll be looking at those items in the sky with mine! How many more things have you looked at since?

[Casus belli]

I tend to use a 26mm ep when looking for and at galaxies. Too much magnification and you end up looking through the galaxy.

[FLO]

I then slewed to the Double Cluster...already I can tell that this is going to be one of my favourite sights, it really was breathtaking, the sheer number of stars in such close proximity was an amazing sight.

One of my favourites too. On a clear moonless night you can make out a handful of warm stars. Very nice 8)

.... I went back to Andromeda and switched to my 10mm plossl - after playing around with the focusser for what seemd to be ages I wasn't really able to resolve it and get a good view, tried cleaning the piece again but no luck. So although I am very pleased with my 'first light' I thought I would ask, why was I unable to get a good view through my higher mag eyepiece? I have a feeling my small scope may not be able to handle such a high mag?

The Andromeda galaxy is huge! About 4x the width of the Moon. Your telescope excels at high magnification (up to around 200x) narrow-field views, to view Andromeda you need a low magnification and wide field. Your telescope cannot fit the entire galaxy in the eyepiece, even a low magnification eyepiece like a 32mm.

Check out the more compact brighter objects like the Ring and Dumbell nebulas and globular clusters, they'll look great through your telescope

HTH

[The Warthog]

By all means, try some other targets, such as Jupiter if you have a good view to the south, or wait until the Moon is in a good postition for you. The Dumbbell and the Ring should be easy targets, as will M42, Try M13, too. It's not very big, and should reolve nicely in your 10mm ep.

[asteria]

Hi - with scopes like these your best targets are double stars, globular clusters, planets, Moon, small compact open clusters and some of the brighter planetary nebulas like M57. All these benefit from the higher magnifications achievable with the 4SE and the 10mm e/p. Galaxies are very hard to see in any modest scope, but especially one with a long focal length and small aperture like the 4SE.

Astronomy can be quite a steep learning curve, but it's worth persisting.

Good luck.

Ed