Any help/experience is greatly appreciated!

[JackTaylors9]

Brand new to this all. I have been a huge fan of astronomy for a long time but never knew which scope to get. Once I found out what scope to get I then became even more confused about the wide array of magnifications there are out there and what they do! I digress; after a lot of Youtube videos, countless hours of researching I have now purchased my first ever deep space scope - the Orion space probe II 76mm equatorial reflector!

I am highly interested in hunting nebula’s and deep space star clusters. I ask but only one question, which magnification is best for me? I understand a UHC/OII filter may be needed and also a wide angle eyepiece, anything from between 70 degrees to 90 I am assuming? I just don’t know what magnification to search with. I am assuming I start with low power and then work my way up?

anyway, thank you for reading. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

 

 

 

[John]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

What eyepieces, filters and other accessories does the scope come with ?

That will help us give some advice about sensible further acquisitions.

 

[JackTaylors9]

Thank you for getting back to me so fast!

It comes with the 2x Barlow, a 10mm eyepiece and a 25mm.

I understand that I need a good selection? I’m interested in a 27mm SWA 70 degree wide angle eyepiece - would that be good for nebula hunting? And then I am guessing I’d need a magnification at the lower end, 5-6mm? For focusing in?

many thanks!

[Tomatobro]

Its the other way round. 25mm is low mag and 10 mm is high mag

To be honest I would not spend a penny on eyepieces until you have had a chance to use what you have. Start with the 25mm and use it until you can master celestial navigation.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Tomatobro
more thoughts

[Tomatobro]

Here is a tip you might like to try. I think your scope has a steel tube. If it has then on Ebay you can buy a digital inclinometer (£14 ish). Get one with an illuminated display. Now download Stellarium for  your laptop or phone. Have  a play with the software and notice that when you click on an object it gives you Alt/az coordinates as well as RA/dec. If you put the magnetic inclinometer (calibrate to level first) on the scope tube and set the scopes angle to the number given in the Alt list. At least you will have one of the angles sorted. Now swing the scope to the part of the sky where the object will be and move the scope left and right till the object is found. If no luck straight away you will need to reset the angle of the scope as the Alt numbers are slowly changing all the time. Use the 25mm eyepiece at first till you find the object.

I have shown this method to newcomers and they are amazed at how much easier it is to find objects when an inclinometer is used on an alt/az mount

[John]

I would use the eyepieces that you have for now. Use the 25mm to search for the target after the red dot finder has got you to the right part of the sky. You can then use a bit more magnification with the 10mm eyepiece if needed. Using the barlow lens with the 10mm eyepiece will give you a 5mm eyepiece but this will not be much use for deep sky objects.

The big wide angle eyepieces need a 2 inch fitting on the scope and I don't think your scope has that capability. They will also cost as much as your scope has cost !

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

I think you should hold off buying any accessories till you have some experience of using the scope.  A 76 mm scope (with central obstruction) is on the small side for looking at galaxies and gaseous nebulae, and it would really be better suited for looking at bright objects like the Moon and planets, double stars and some globular clusters and star clusters.  UHC or OIII filters can be effective for looking at gaseous nebulae, but they are usually employed on telescopes of larger aperture.

In principle, a wide angle eyepiece could be useful, but such devices are relatively expensive compared with the original cost of your telescope kit.  Be aware that your telescope comes with a 1.25" focuser, which limits the maximum field of view you can achieve regardless of what eyepiece you buy.  In this case an inexpensive 32mm Plossl or a 40mm 1.25" Plossl will both give roughly the same field of view and the maximum achievable.  The focuser diameter limits the FOV of the 40mm eyepiece.

[JackTaylors9]

1 hour ago, Tomatobro said:

Here is a tip you might like to try. I think your scope has a steel tube. If it has then on Ebay you can buy a digital inclinometer (£14 ish). Get one with an illuminated display. Now download Stellarium for  your laptop or phone. Have  a play with the software and notice that when you click on an object it gives you Alt/az coordinates as well as RA/dec. If you put the magnetic inclinometer (calibrate to level first) on the scope tube and set the scopes angle to the number given in the Alt list. At least you will have one of the angles sorted. Now swing the scope to the part of the sky where the object will be and move the scope left and right till the object is found. If no luck straight away you will need to reset the angle of the scope as the Alt numbers are slowly changing all the time. Use the 25mm eyepiece at first till you find the object.

I have shown this method to newcomers and they are amazed at how much easier it is to find objects when an inclinometer is used on an alt/az mount

Amazing! I will definitely wait until the telescope arrives and play around with the eyepieces it comes with, and then make a decision.

 

i will also definitely purchase the inclinometer!

 

thank you so much!

[JackTaylors9]

42 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

I think you should hold off buying any accessories till you have some experience of using the scope.  A 76 mm scope (with central obstruction) is on the small side for looking at galaxies and gaseous nebulae, and it would really be better suited for looking at bright objects like the Moon and planets, double stars and some globular clusters and star clusters.  UHC or OIII filters can be effective for looking at gaseous nebulae, but they are usually employed on telescopes of larger aperture.

In principle, a wide angle eyepiece could be useful, but such devices are relatively expensive compared with the original cost of your telescope kit.  Be aware that your telescope comes with a 1.25" focuser, which limits the maximum field of view you can achieve regardless of what eyepiece you buy.  In this case an inexpensive 32mm Plossl or a 40mm 1.25" Plossl will both give roughly the same field of view and the maximum achievable.  The focuser diameter limits the FOV of the 40mm eyepiece.

That’s great to know, so what telescopes would be the best size for galaxy hunting? Could I see the andromeda through mine?!

 

Ive been looking at wide angled pieces, I’ve found a 1.25” SWA 70 degree wide angle piece and thought that could be good for my scope. Would that suffice for ‘hunting’?

 

thank you

[Cosmic Geoff]

41 minutes ago, JackTaylors9 said:

Ive been looking at wide angled pieces, I’ve found a 1.25” SWA 70 degree wide angle piece and thought that could be good for my scope. Would that suffice for ‘hunting’?

Which eyepiece exactly, and what focal length is it?  Whatever it is, it will not give you more FOV than you can get with a 1.25" focuser barrel. It will only give you more FOV than a simpler eyepiece of the same focal length.

[John]

56 minutes ago, JackTaylors9 said:

That’s great to know, so what telescopes would be the best size for galaxy hunting? Could I see the andromeda through mine?!

 

 

 

You will be able to to the Andromeda Galaxy with your scope. It will appear as a small oval patch of light. It needs low magnification so your 25mm eyepiece. Under a dark sky you can actually just about see this galaxy with just your eyes and any binocular will certainly show it.

Ideal galaxy hunting scopes have as much aperture (ie: diameter of the main lens or mirror) as possible. Using them under dark skies is also very helpful for seeing galaxies.

I doubt that another eyepiece will enhance the abilities of your scope with regards to galaxy spotting. Using it under a dark sky would improve things though.

 

 

[JackTaylors9]

5 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Which eyepiece exactly, and what focal length is it?  Whatever it is, it will not give you more FOV than you can get with a 1.25" focuser barrel. It will only give you more FOV than a simpler eyepiece of the same focal length.

Ahh I understand now! So in order to get a greater FOV I need a larger aperture than 76mm. Preferably one that has a 2” focuser?

 

You’re a gent sir!

[Cosmic Geoff]

2 minutes ago, JackTaylors9 said:

Ahh I understand now! So in order to get a greater FOV I need a larger aperture than 76mm. Preferably one that has a 2” focuser?

No, the aperture is not relevant.  You need a telescope with a shorter focal length (faster focal ratio) and/or longer focal length eyepieces.  There are telescopes on the market with a shorter focal length than yours (700mm).  You don't necessarily need a 2" focuser as with some configurations you will hit the minimum useful magnification even with a 1.25" barrel (though faster focal ratio scopes often have a 2" focuser, eg my 102mm f5 500mm focal length Startravel refractor has one).   To understand about minimum magnification you need to read up on exit pupil.

Or if you want a really wide field, you could get a pair of binoculars.

[JackTaylors9]

7 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

No, the aperture is not relevant.  You need a telescope with a shorter focal length (faster focal ratio) and/or longer focal length eyepieces.  There are telescopes on the market with a shorter focal length than yours (700mm).  You don't necessarily need a 2" focuser as with some configurations you will hit the minimum useful magnification even with a 1.25" barrel (though faster focal ratio scopes often have a 2" focuser, eg my 102mm f5 500mm focal length Startravel refractor has one).   To understand about minimum magnification you need to read up on exit pupil.

Or if you want a really wide field, you could get a pair of binoculars.

That’s perfect! Thank you so much! Exit pupil is my next study.

 

have a great day

[John]

The largest true field of view that your scope will show is 2.3 degrees - that would be with a 32mm plossl eyepiece or a 24mm wide field. With the 25mm eyepiece that comes with the scope you should get around 1.7 degrees which is plenty for galaxy hunting. The Andromeda galaxy is a bit larger than that but the core of it (which is what you see with a small scope) will fit into that view OK.