New To Astronomy

[liquidsn8ke]

Hello Everyone,

So I am brand new to Astronomy and my dad gave me his old Orion XT8. I'll post some pictures of some of the stuff I have with it that he gave me. I have absolutely no idea what any of this stuff does. I've done a bit of research but i think i'm too dumb to understand what does what. Is there a dumbed down version or does anyone use Discord on here my username is LiquidSn8ke #7350 that can kinda give me a rundown of what everything does. I have a Cannon T3i and I tried to take some pictures of the Moon and I tried to move it to the Andromeda Galaxy but I couldn't seem to get anything from either of them. I think I was able to see it with some of the lenses but Everytime I tried to use my camera i just got nothing but blurryness or nothing just black. It seemed like it was out of focus or in terms of deep sky objects it was just black or idk i couldn't focus in on stars or anything. Not really sure what i'm doing. Thanks! Sorry if i'm just being an uber noob as I just don't really understand any of this haha he just kinda dumped it on me and was like good luck! Atleast I found this forum but alot of the jargon just kinda confuses me. 

[Jiggy 67]

Hi and welcome to the forum. First bit of advice, forget photography, expel it from your mind....for now. I would just concentrate on getting to know your equipment, visually observing the solar system and other easy targets for now, visual observations are very satisfying and you will learn the sky over time. There are loads of experts on here (not me) so just ask

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

it is difficult to know where to start. Normally I would advise to contact a local astronomy club, but Covid has put pay to that. Have you tried to assemble the scope ? There are some very useful videos on YouTube. You have an 8 inch reflector telescope on a Dobsonian mount . Just search for that and see where it takes you. I take it you do not have a manual for the scope. They can often be found on the Internet.

Edited August 25, 2020 by laudropb

[liquidsn8ke]

Okay Yea I'll have to look up a manual for the telescope if I can. Yea cause it didn't come with one. I've assembled a couple but I have no idea what each one does like for example i kinda understand what a barlow lense does but does that somehow [removed word] up the way things look cause it zooms it in so much? like the detail becomes more fuzzled when i add that and then the uh i dont even know what its called the little adapter for the 25mm lenses i guess or if i can combine the 50mm with the barlow or then add a 10mm. They way the zoom works is the lower the number the closer the image is right? kinda like an airplane like up is down and down is up?

[John]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Here is a link to the instruction manual for the scope that you have been given which might help:

https://nimax-img.de/Produktdownloads/33297_1_Anleitung-EN.pdf

You also have a number of additional accessories which we can help with once you have the basics of how the scope is set up.

[liquidsn8ke]

Awesome Thanks guys!

 

[Dogmaticdrongo]

10 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

Hi and welcome to the forum. First bit of advice, forget photography, expel it from your mind....for now. I would just concentrate on getting to know your equipment, visually observing the solar system and other easy targets for now, visual observations are very satisfying and you will learn the sky over time. There are loads of experts on here (not me) so just ask

I agree with Jiggy 67 here, I am also new to astronomy and I have a keen interest in photography aswell. This meant I was trying to run before I could walk. The best think you can do is learn how to use the telescope first and learn what everything does. Looking at your photos it appears you have some good kit there. I am by no means an expert but I would love to have all that to play with. You are in the right place to learn, ask questions and read the other posts as there is a wealth of information on here which may answer your questions. 

I recently brought a book which I highly recommend, if you do want to get into astrophotography, but start with the basics first, learn the sky and learn how to use your setup...https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html 

Hit you tube aswell, there are some really good channels out there which run through how the eyepieces work, how to work out what eyepiece is best for your interests and just loads of general information which is great for beginners. Im living on there at the moment when not at work and while the weather here is not that great for viewing.

I wish you luck, don't get too frustrated with things, I promise, put in the research and a bit of time, it will all come together.

Dan

[AstroMuni]

13 hours ago, liquidsn8ke said:

So I am brand new to Astronomy and my dad gave me his old Orion XT8. I'll post some pictures of some of the stuff I have with it that he gave me.

Welcome to SGL. Wow, that looks like a good collection. You should be able to see some beautiful views of the stellar objects. Here are a few quick pointers to get you started:

- Read the manual and get to know the scope and eyepieces (ask questions here if confused 🙂 )

- Get an app on your phone (eg. skysafari) to help you quickly get around the sky

- Get out there as often as you can and start viewing the sky using the eyepiece with lowest magnification (50mm or 32mm). Enjoy the beauty of what is out there! Its a joy to see the thousands of stars in a patch of sky.

- Take a look at the planets & moon - Jupiter and Saturn are visible at night and Mars and Venus much later.

- Join a local astronomy club

- And last but not the least, you will read and hear that your scope needs to be properly collimated etc. Dont worry too much about it at this stage, unless you are seeing very blurry stars. Just enjoy!

Have fun 👍

[Starwatcher2001]

Hi and Welcome.

Looks like it's been stood a while. If you've not cleaned it yet, here's what I'd do. Firstly, leave the end cap on the main tube at the top. Unless you're outside observing, leave that on to protect the mirrors. I'd probably get a vaccum cleaner and a soft brush, and gently remove all the lose dust you can see. Whatever else you do, don't try cleaning anything glass or mirrors just yet. That includes eyepieces and the little finder scope attached to the front. Cleaning optics without having looked up how to do it properly can damage them, which would be a real shame. If you have one of those little blower things for blowing dust of camera lenses, they are okay to use on your eyepieces to get rid of any loose dust. Dusty mirrors are generally not something to worry about and shouldn't affect the performance too much.

I'd take it out during daylight and have a play. Put the 50mm eyepiece in (50mm is the focal length), and try to get focus on something a good few hundred yards away. (Obligatory warning about not looking at the sun, which will fry your eyes instantly). I use chimney pots on houses at the end of the street and know the state of their mortar intimately. Notice the image is unside down, that's due to how a Newtonion telescope works and is perfectly normal.

Leaving the scope where it is, look through the little "finder" scope and see if it's pointing at the exact same place as the main scope. If not, adjust the three silver screws on the finder until it is. That's how you're going to be finding stuff in the sky, and it's vital that the finder is aligned with the scope. It's easier to get familiar with this stuff in the daylight.

Notice how the image moves in the finder scope and the main scope as you move around. You'll soon get used to that. Get used to looking through the finder, moving the scope around, and then looking through the main eyepiece. All that builds "muscle memory" that makes it easier to use in the dark.

Try different eyepieces and notice that as you use eyepieces with a smaller focal length, the size of the image gets smaller (field of view), and the magnification goes up. You might also notice that the brightness of the images goes down with higher magnification. That happens in the sky too, so you're better off using lower magnifications when starting off. Trying to use too higher magnification often doesn't give you anything other than a blurry image.

The moon makes an excellent first object to look at, and will likely blow your socks off. Looking at the craters where the shadows meet sunlight is amazing. The planets (Jupiter on the right, and Saturn on the left) can be found low down in the south around 10pm at the moment in the UK. Being so low at the moment they are not at their best, but you should be able to see some of their features and moons.

If you're not sure what you're looking at in the sky, there's a number of apps that can help (eg: https://stellarium-web.org/) . You'll need something like that, or sky maps to help you learn the night sky and where all the cool stuff is. With that scope you'll be able to see literally thousands of objects: various types and colours of stars, star clusters, globular clusters, planetary nebular, galaxies. None of them will look remotely as grand as they do in the pictures from hubble of course, and you're unlikely to see much colour, but as your skill and patience builds you'll see more and more. Like any hobby, practice is the key.

As you look through the scope (especially at higher mag) you may see the image wobbling a bit, like looking over distance on a really hot day. It's the same reason, the atmosphere and something we have to live with. Sometimes the "seeing" is better than other times, even on the same evening. So if you watch an object for a while, now and again you might see it with more clarity - those are the times to live for!

When you know youe way around a bit and have some experience under your belt, then you might think about starting with photography - which is a whole dark art that I steer clear of.

All the best,

Mark