Kris from Essex

[Krisbo]

Hi All, I’ve just joined and recently bought my first telescope. It’s a Newtonian Skywatcher Explorer 130 EQ2. I don’t know anything about telescopes but it seemed to get good reviews. I’m looking forward to learning and picking up tips from you all.

Kris

[sloz1664]

Hi Kris and a very warm welcome to the Lounge

Steve

[banjaxed]

Hi Kris, welcome to SGL.

[Floater]

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun with your new scope. 🙂

[JoshHopk]

Hi Kris, welcome to SGL 

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[cletrac1922]

Kris

Welcome from Land Down Under

Scope and mount seem popular on here

Long term what you intend using scope for

Been EQ2, does not have GoTo function for imaging

John

 

 

[PeterCPC]

Hello Kris and welcome.

Peter

[Neil H]

Hi Kris welcome . I hope you was careful not to let the clouds out of the box , normally if you buy anything astro it comes with clouds for about 2 weeks lol 

[knobby]

Hi Kris, welcome to SGL

[Mr Spock]

Hi Kriss, welcome to SGL 

[Nigella Bryant]

Hi kris, welcome, great peps and advice on this forum. Best around. Have fun with your new hobby. Word of warning, don't fall in the black hole of aperture feaver and astrophotography like some os us do, myself included, lol. 

Edited May 25, 2020 by Nigella Bryant
More comments

[richard ashbee]

Welcome to the group Kris, lots of good information on here

[Dr Strange]

Welcome aboard Kris! Just as an FYI there is a nice comet that is visible from the UK right now. It is in Ursa Major. Start by finding the Big Dipper, one of the most recognizable star patterns in the sky. It is part of the constellation Ursa Major, the big bear. Visualize a diagonal line across the bowl of the Big Dipper, and extend this line a slighty longer distance outside the bowl, as shown below. This will bring you to the general vicinity of M81 and M82. Next find Dubhe (α UMa - mag. +1.8), the northwest corner star of the bowl.  M81 / M82 pair is located 10 degrees to the northwest of this star with M82 positioned 38 arc minutes directly north of M81. These are two galaxies so you can bag your first galaxies too. They will look like faint puff balls of smoke. Go to M82 which is the one that is going to look like a faint line instead of a disk.  Once you have it centered move the telescope first to the left and the comet will also look like a ball and puff of smoke. If it isn't to the left then center M82 again and move to the right. Here is a simple chart of where the comet is and a chart for how to find the galaxies:

 

M81_Finder_Chart.pdf

[Krisbo]

9 hours ago, cletrac1922 said:

Kris

Welcome from Land Down Under

Scope and mount seem popular on here

Long term what you intend using scope for

Been EQ2, does not have GoTo function for imaging

John

 

 

Hi John,

Thanks for the welcome.

I bought the scope because I’ve had a long term fascination with anything space related and find it all amazing and engrossing. I really just wanted to get a look at some of the planets and amazing colours that are out there. As I said though I am new to it all.

I don’t want to ask an obvious question but by imaging do you mean photography of what I see?

Thanks, 
Kris

[Krisbo]

9 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Hi kris, welcome, great peps and advice on this forum. Best around. Have fun with your new hobby. Word of warning, don't fall in the black hole of aperture feaver and astrophotography like some os us do, myself included, lol. 

I think this may become an obsession but I can’t say you didn’t warn me! 😀

[Krisbo]

1 hour ago, Dr Strange said:

Welcome aboard Kris! Just as an FYI there is a nice comet that is visible from the UK right now. It is in Ursa Major. Start by finding the Big Dipper, one of the most recognizable star patterns in the sky. It is part of the constellation Ursa Major, the big bear. Visualize a diagonal line across the bowl of the Big Dipper, and extend this line a slighty longer distance outside the bowl, as shown below. This will bring you to the general vicinity of M81 and M82. Next find Dubhe (α UMa - mag. +1.8), the northwest corner star of the bowl.  M81 / M82 pair is located 10 degrees to the northwest of this star with M82 positioned 38 arc minutes directly north of M81. These are two galaxies so you can bag your first galaxies too. They will look like faint puff balls of smoke. Go to M82 which is the one that is going to look like a faint line instead of a disk.  Once you have it centered move the telescope first to the left and the comet will also look like a ball and puff of smoke. If it isn't to the left then center M82 again and move to the right. Here is a simple chart of where the comet is and a chart for how to find the galaxies:

 

M81_Finder_Chart.pdf 141.48 kB · 1 download

Thank you so much! I will definitely have a go at finding these! That’s really helpful. 👍

[Krisbo]

Thank you all for your welcomes. One thing i just wanted to ask you all is what size lens do I need to be able to see the planets in ideal conditions? I understand it more than likely varies depending on what I’m hoping to see but what’s the minimum I should be using? 

Thank you.

[des anderson]

A warm welcome from Essex. Des

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂

[ronl]

Hello and welcome to the community, hope you enjoy your time with us,

see you around the forums.

Clear Sky's.

[NGC 1502]

Hi Kris, welcome to SGL.  If you are in south Essex you may want to try coming to Castle Point Astronomy Club when the regulations allow that.  You don’t have to be expert or none of us would turn up...

There are other astronomy clubs in Essex but we’re the BEST by a BIG margin 😁

Ed.

 

[Jonny_H]

Hello mate,

Good to see you signed-up 🙂

As mentioned there is a wealth of knowledge available on here so let the learning curve begin for us both!

Edited May 26, 2020 by Jonny_H

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Kris, welcome. 

[cletrac1922]

On 26/05/2020 at 04:10, Krisbo said:

Hi John,

Thanks for the welcome.

I bought the scope because I’ve had a long term fascination with anything space related and find it all amazing and engrossing. I really just wanted to get a look at some of the planets and amazing colours that are out there. As I said though I am new to it all.

I don’t want to ask an obvious question but by imaging do you mean photography of what I see?

Thanks, 
Kris

 

Kris

Yes I was referring to photography

Through a scope, you will not see things in color either, as the human eye cannot detect color due to the rods cells in our eyes not been able to process low light

These cells are open to seeing small amounts of photons at the expense of seeing detail or color

Camera on the other hand, especially images using time exposure and stacked, show the vibrant colors of nebula's, galaxies and planets

Hope I have explained it enough, as others will have a better explanation what trying to say

John