Newbie needs advice

[BopaTom]

I've recently acquired a Celestron  8" with Plossl 6, 8, 13, 15, 25 and 32mm lenses.  My question is what lense(s) should I use while I'm getting acquainted with this instrument?  I would like to use them all eventually but for now I need to focus on just being able to locate objects with precision and efficiency.

Thanks

[cletrac1922]

Tom

Welcome first from Land Down Under

Would start out with middle of the range

Depending on what you are viewing

Moon would go 25mm, with lunar filter

I use 15mm for Mars, Jupiter and Saturn

Have fun

John

 

[PhotoGav]

Congratulations on a fine choice of telescope - you’ll get some great views of the Moon, planets, star clusters, double stars and faint fuzzies with that! The longer the focal length of the eyepiece, i.e. the bigger the number, the less magnification and wider the field of view will be. So, pretty much always start your observations of a target with the longest eyepiece you have, in your case the 32mm, then once centred up and happy, work your way up (or is that down?) the eyepieces, towards the smaller numbers, getting higher and higher magnification. It’s a bit like the gears in a car, start in first gear and work your way up. Be warned, the ‘seeing’ or quality of the atmosphere on a given night, will limit how far you can push the magnification and it is always better to look at a slightly lower magnification but better resolution view through a longer eyepiece. Take your time and enjoy the wonders up there!

[Demonperformer]

Hi, Tom, and welcome to SGL.

Totally agree with Gav. Also be aware that the image will get dimmer with higher magnification (the same amount of light is spread over a larger area) and you will always see more with a small bright image than a big faint one (similar to the way you can read much smaller print in daylight than twilight). In addition, it is as much about learning to "see" (rather than just "look at"), which is a skill that takes time to develop.

Enjoy the journey.

[BopaTom]

Thank you all, glad I asked.  I was under the impression that the longer the eyepiece the greater the magnification!  The opposite seems counterintuitive to me.  I really do have a lot to learn.  Could someone please recommend reading material?  I don't even know what I don't know, yet.

[Demonperformer]

Magnification = focal length of telescope / focal length of eyepiece.

[rwilkey]

2 hours ago, BopaTom said:

Could someone please recommend reading material?

Hi Tom, this seems a good place to start: https://www.amazon.com/Stargazing-Beginners-Royal-Observatory-Greenwich/dp/0008196273/ref=sr_1_23?crid=ZR68LK69YIKX&keywords=astronomy+books+for+adults&qid=1558965039&s=gateway&sprefix=astonom%2Caps%2C236&sr=8-23

[rwilkey]

Also, this is a good one for finding deep sky objects (DSOs): https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Left-Orion-Hundreds-Telescope/dp/1108457568/ref=sr_1_19?crid=ZR68LK69YIKX&keywords=astronomy+books+for+adults&qid=1558965480&s=gateway&sprefix=astonom%2Caps%2C236&sr=8-19

[Waldemar]

15 hours ago, BopaTom said:

I've recently acquired a Celestron  8" with Plossl 6, 8, 13, 15, 25 and 32mm lenses.  My question is what lense(s) should I use while I'm getting acquainted with this instrument?  I would like to use them all eventually but for now I need to focus on just being able to locate objects with precision and efficiency.

Thanks

Why don't you just try what you like best? 

[Demonperformer]

+1 for Turn Left at Orion.

Good variety of (type of) objects by season with good explanations of how to find them by "star-hopping" (start on an obvious star and follow a path through fainter ones until you get to your object) and drawings of what you can actually expect to see (DSOs are called "faint fuzzies" for a reason!). Of course, if you have a GOTO mount, that is a lot simpler, but (some would say) takes away half the fun.

[Fraunhoffer]

Turn Left at Orion = best astronomy book I even bought. Still working my way through it - about half way.
Good tips on how to find things and realistic things to look at and what they might actually look like (rather than coffee table Hubble pictures - which are amazing)

 

[BopaTom]

Thanks for the reading list!