Need help please

[Kraiden]

Hey guys this is my first time on this website. I bought a Celestron 50az and I am able to observe the moon very clearly, but I'm having problems observing planets can someone explain to me step by step how to observe planets with this telescope. Also can I view nebulas, galxy, clusters with this? ( I think not, right?) Thanks!!!

[Stu]

Can you explain what you have tried and why it has not worked?

Best placed planets at the moment are Jupiter and Mars but they are visible in the hours before dawn currently.

You will be able to see the brighter objects such as M42 (the Great Orion Nebula) and the Double Cluster.

[swamp thing]

Hi 

Most larger scopes have a 50mm finder scope attached and TBH they show many nebulae, galaxies, clusters etc. In fact they show some of the larger objects very nicely 

Have fun out there  

 

 

[Bino Pete]

If you haven’t already, download the free software ‘Stellarium’. This will at least show you what’s visible every night and help you find them.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/stellarium/

[Mr niall]

What’s the problem? Yes most of the larger fuzzy’s are easily achievable - M31, M42, M45, M13 should all be easily achievable.

[Sunshine]

i would probably start by making sure your finderscope is aligned well otherwise you'll be frustrated trying to aim your scope at a tiny dot of a planet, the moon is easy enough, during the day aim your scope at a feature like a streetlight in the distance

through the eyepiece. Once you've done that then carefully adjust your finderscope to point at the exact spot you've seen through the eyepiece then leave it alone, then at night just aim your finder at a planet and your scope should be looking at the same thing. 

You may want to keep your tripod as collapsed as possible, as low as possible, it is very thin and will shake a lot the more you extend it, i like to keep my tripods as low as i can manage, looking up this scope on Celestron webpage it says 

"slow motion controls" yet i see no such controls, those would help.

[JoeP]

1. In the day, point your telescope at something far away, like the corner of a rooftop, or a church steeple. Make sure whatever you're using is right in the middle of the eyepiece. Then look through the finder scope, and carefully use the adjustment screws to get the point you're using in the center of the finder. Double check that the point is still in the eyepiece, then make sure the scope doesn't get knocked.
2. Get a star map of the object you want to see. Planets are difficult at the moment, I would recommend M42, M31, the double cluster in Perseus, and pleiades, all visible now. Google them and you should find a rough star chart. The other alternative would be to use stellarium
3. Use an app on your phone/stellarium to identify the constellations on the star map in the night sky. Work out the direction (N, E, S, W) then spend a good 10 minutes recognizing constellations. They should be a perfect fit to what you see on the map, it's easy to get constellations wrong.
4. Now work out where the object you are looking for is in relation to the constellations. I find the best thing to do is make a geometrical pattern in your mind, usually an equilateral triangle, an isosceles triangle or a right angle triangle, but others prefer other methods. Having said that, your scope will have a wide field of view, so you should be able to spot it from a little way off.
5. Looking through the finder scope, point towards where the object should be. Get that point in the middle of the finder scope. Then move on to the telescope eyepiece. Start with the lowest possible magnification (highest value eyepiece in mm, although don't worry about it if you've only got one eyepiece), then once you've centered the object you can move on to a higher magnification.
6. Focus the view. There will be a focuser knob, turn this until all the stars are as small and focused as possible. Hopefully you will be able to see something cool!

One point worth mentioning - know what to expect. You have a small telescope, so don't expect anything brilliant. You can get a good idea by searching google images for 'M42 nebula (or another object) sketch', then finding the most unimpressive of the results and looking at it from the other end of the room. That said, you'll still be able to see some amazing things.

[cletrac1922]

Welcome from land down under

Is your scope correctly collimated?

If not, then things will appear blurry

Another little trick to finding objects, such as Orion Nebula, planets, is to lay a laser pointer along the dovetail of the spotting scope, and then align the scope to where you want to observe

I am not sure about the UK, there is very strict legislation in Australia to owning a laser pointer

With us, only people who are members of an astronomy club allowed to own or operate a laser pointer, and for public displays, which our club does

Smaller scopes such as the Celestron 50az, are harder to Collimate, as do not have a dot on the primary mirror

Last Saturday night, had a new member come along with a 6" solid tube Skywatcher dob

When used laser collimator, was not able to align

Check the vanes of the secondary mirror, and was way out

He had brought the dob second hand from EBay, and appears someone had tried to collimate, and moved the adjustors of the vanes

Onced centred secondary mirror, was then able to collimate

Cheers

John

[JOC]

We are not keen on laser pointers in the UK, there is much bad press at the moment and you are liable to end up being arrested if they encounter aircraft in use. 

Look at the pictures on the first page of this thread

The smaller images on that thread are being viewed in a telescope with a mirror 4 times as large as yours, so you will see planets, but rein in your expectations.  Don't try the Barlow that comes with the kit until you are sure on the planet, you might even find that it gives too much magnification to be useful in the UK, but have a play once you've found your object.  Start with the 20mm in the kit and move up when you have the planet in the centre of the eyepiece.  They will probably look like small dots with 'substance' rather than the pinpoint dots of light that the stars are.  If possible (though looking at the pics it might not be) try a red dot finder either with or instead of the finder on the telescope it might make life easier.  Def. use Stellarium (or similar) as is suggested to find things.  Also, as has been mentioned the planets are not always up there.  I like this site https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/uk/london if you click on the planets it will show when is best to see them.  Have fun.

[LukeSkywatcher]

A 50mm scope just doesnt have the aperture to show planets.

Sorry to say this.

[happy-kat]

You have a nice new refractor so don't worry about collimation it isn't something you do with your telescope.

You will be able see Jupiter as a small very bright large star and the 4 main juvian moons and watch their position change around Jupiter. Mars and Venus are both visible by eye so I expect Mars will look a stronger colour when viewed through your telescope. Venus may be too bright to see the phases.

The pilades m45 and the bee hive cluster m44 are two DSO you could find. There will be others. Getting to a dark site will reveal more.