Celestron Powerseeker 70EQ Help

[Starbuddypal]

3 minutes ago, Starbuddypal said:

My GSO 1.25" SuperView Eyepiece - 20mm came in the mail today. I wasn't sure if it would work yet for what I have or lack thereof. I have not purchased a star diagonal yet. In the upper right corner you can see Jupiter as a blurry pale white dot. I was trying to look at that since it was the brightest object but I couldn't find it in my eyepiece. I use an app to find the positions of the planets and stars.

 

 

 

I need a barlow lens right?

[John]

If you can't find it in the eyepiece without a barlow lens, having one is not going to help.

You seem to have a diagonal of some sort - the eyepiece is inserted into it in your photo.

The most important thing is to get your finder scope really accurately aligned with the view in the main scope. If that is not done then finding anything is going to be very hard work even if you can see it clearly with your eyes.

 

[Alan64]

5 hours ago, Starbuddypal said:

I need a barlow lens right?

Your telescope, a 70mm f/10 achromat, has a focal-length of 700mm.  That's what you use to choose your eyepieces.  The 20mm "SuperView" has a power of...

700mm ÷ 20mm = 35x

That's a fairly-low power, and not too difficult with which to see Jupiter.  Your telescope has a finder-scope, just like this one that came with my own "PowerSeeker" kit...

I found it to be not a bad little finder.  It's a 5x25, the front lens 25mm in diameter, and the magnification at 5x.  You will need to set up the telescope during the day.  Locate a tall object towering in the distance, a half mile to a mile away.  Use the 20mm eyepiece to aim the telescope at a feature of the object, like a mast or a flag, anything.  Once you get that feature centered in the eyepiece, lock the telescope in that position so it won't move.  Then, adjust the finder-scope to aim at that same feature of the object.  To make the finder easier to adjust, shim its holder...

...and for a tighter fit.  I had to shim mine, and it's a safe be that you will need to as well.  You can use blue painter's-tape from Dollar Tree, and about two, three or four layers round.  You want the front part of the holder to hold the scope firmly, stiffly even.  That makes it so much easier to adjust with three screws at the back.

Once you get what the finder sees aligned with what the telescope sees, you're golden, and you can then use it to find most anything in the sky.  Once an object is located in the find, you look into a low-power eyepiece and you should see the object.  When aligning the two to each other, if you use a higher-power eyepiece, like a 9mm or shorter even, the finder will be that much more accurate.

If there are no objects in the distance during the day, there is one you can use at night: Polaris, the North Star.  I don't know where in Florida you live, and therefore your latitude.  Florida's latitudes vary from 25° to 31°.  I live just south of Memphis.  My latitude is 34° to 35°, therefore Polaris is 34 or so degrees up from the horizon...

0° is at the horizon, the ground, the dirt.  Straight up in the sky is the zenith, and at 90°.  Therefore, Polaris is a little over a third of the way up, between the horizon to the zenith. 

Polaris appears a bit small in the sky, but it's far larger than the Sun...

Polaris Aa is the star you can see in the sky with just the eyes.

Polaris doesn't move.  Well, it moves, but in such a tight circle that it's very difficult to tell that it's moving.  Polaris does not move across the sky like the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the stars, so you can use it to align the finder to your telescope.  You will need to align the two before you start hunting for objects.

Eventually you may want a barlow, a 2x, and to reach the higher powers where the planets become exciting to look at.  I've had my own 70mm f/13 up to 150x, and even 225x, trained on Polaris.

With a 2x-barlow, you can convert your new 20mm wide-angle eyepiece into a 10mm wide-angle, and for a power of 70x.  If you insert the barlow into the telescope first, then the diagonal and eyepiece, the 2x will simulate a 3x-barlow, and the 20mm will simulate a 6.7mm eyepiece(104x).  To reach 150x...

700mm ÷ 150x = a 4.7mm eyepiece

Combining a 2x-barlow with the 9mm = a 4.5mm(156x)

Combining a 3x-barlow(simulated) with a 12mm = a 4mm(175x), and so on and so on...

Back to the finder, if you find that you don't like the one that came with the telescope, you can get a red-dot finder and give that a whirl.  For example...

https://agenaastro.com/celestron-star-pointer-finderscope-51630.html

Edited September 9, 2020 by Alan64

[Starbuddypal]

On 09/09/2020 at 03:24, Alan64 said:

Your telescope, a 70mm f/10 achromat, has a focal-length of 700mm.  That's what you use to choose your eyepieces.  The 20mm "SuperView" has a power of...

700mm ÷ 20mm = 35x

That's a fairly-low power, and not too difficult with which to see Jupiter.  Your telescope has a finder-scope, just like this one that came with my own "PowerSeeker" kit...

I found it to be not a bad little finder.  It's a 5x25, the front lens 25mm in diameter, and the magnification at 5x.  You will need to set up the telescope during the day.  Locate a tall object towering in the distance, a half mile to a mile away.  Use the 20mm eyepiece to aim the telescope at a feature of the object, like a mast or a flag, anything.  Once you get that feature centered in the eyepiece, lock the telescope in that position so it won't move.  Then, adjust the finder-scope to aim at that same feature of the object.  To make the finder easier to adjust, shim its holder...

...and for a tighter fit.  I had to shim mine, and it's a safe be that you will need to as well.  You can use blue painter's-tape from Dollar Tree, and about two, three or four layers round.  You want the front part of the holder to hold the scope firmly, stiffly even.  That makes it so much easier to adjust with three screws at the back.

Once you get what the finder sees aligned with what the telescope sees, you're golden, and you can then use it to find most anything in the sky.  Once an object is located in the find, you look into a low-power eyepiece and you should see the object.  When aligning the two to each other, if you use a higher-power eyepiece, like a 9mm or shorter even, the finder will be that much more accurate.

If there are no objects in the distance during the day, there is one you can use at night: Polaris, the North Star.  I don't know where in Florida you live, and therefore your latitude.  Florida's latitudes vary from 25° to 31°.  I live just south of Memphis.  My latitude is 34° to 35°, therefore Polaris is 34 or so degrees up from the horizon...

0° is at the horizon, the ground, the dirt.  Straight up in the sky is the zenith, and at 90°.  Therefore, Polaris is a little over a third of the way up, between the horizon to the zenith. 

Polaris appears a bit small in the sky, but it's far larger than the Sun...

Polaris Aa is the star you can see in the sky with just the eyes.

Polaris doesn't move.  Well, it moves, but in such a tight circle that it's very difficult to tell that it's moving.  Polaris does not move across the sky like the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the stars, so you can use it to align the finder to your telescope.  You will need to align the two before you start hunting for objects.

Eventually you may want a barlow, a 2x, and to reach the higher powers where the planets become exciting to look at.  I've had my own 70mm f/13 up to 150x, and even 225x, trained on Polaris.

With a 2x-barlow, you can convert your new 20mm wide-angle eyepiece into a 10mm wide-angle, and for a power of 70x.  If you insert the barlow into the telescope first, then the diagonal and eyepiece, the 2x will simulate a 3x-barlow, and the 20mm will simulate a 6.7mm eyepiece(104x).  To reach 150x...

700mm ÷ 150x = a 4.7mm eyepiece

Combining a 2x-barlow with the 9mm = a 4.5mm(156x)

Combining a 3x-barlow(simulated) with a 12mm = a 4mm(175x), and so on and so on...

Back to the finder, if you find that you don't like the one that came with the telescope, you can get a red-dot finder and give that a whirl.  For example...

https://agenaastro.com/celestron-star-pointer-finderscope-51630.html

That's what I was thinking. I was trying the finder scope that night but since I'm so new to this I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing. I think I have a better idea on what to do now. It's been cloudy these passed couple of nights so I haven't been able to use it at night. I live in North Florida near Jacksonville.

[Alan64]

Yes, I'd get that holder shimmed, there at its front.  You'll be amazed at how much easier it will be to adjust.

Jacksonville is at 30°, here in the northern hemisphere.  Therefore, Polaris will appear in the north part of the sky 30° above the horizon...

When aligning your EQ-1 mount, for tracking objects, you want to set the latitude-scale to 30°...

The setting-circles, one for each axis, with numerals all round, are pretty much useless.  It is assumed that one would dial in the coordinates of object with those circles, but the ones provided with our EQ-1 mounts are not up to the task.  I have the next size up in an equatorial mount, an EQ-2.  I replaced the numbers on its setting circles with clowns...

That's about how useful they are.

Now, once you set the latitude-scale to 30°, that's it.  You'll never have to touch it again, unless you relocate a considerable distance to the north or south.  Miami is at 25°, therefore you would need to change it to that if you relocated there.

Once it's set, you take the kit outside and aim the body of the RA-axis towards Polaris...

You will need to level the mount, with its retractable legs, then loosen the mount-head under the tripod's hub, and aim the RA-axis at Polaris.  You don't need to adjust the latitude-scale again, as it's already set to 30°.  Once the RA-axis is pointed at Polaris, tighten the mount-head's clamp, unclamp both axes, and revolve the telescope round and about the sky, like a gyroscope(for the lack of a better analogy)...

  Once you find an object, you center it in the eyepiece, lock both axes, and use the slow-motion controls to track the object.  You'll get the hang of it with practice.

[Starbuddypal]

13 hours ago, Alan64 said:

Yes, I'd get that holder shimmed, there at its front.  You'll be amazed at how much easier it will be to adjust.

Jacksonville is at 30°, here in the northern hemisphere.  Therefore, Polaris will appear in the north part of the sky 30° above the horizon...

When aligning your EQ-1 mount, for tracking objects, you want to set the latitude-scale to 30°...

The setting-circles, one for each axis, with numerals all round, are pretty much useless.  It is assumed that one would dial in the coordinates of object with those circles, but the ones provided with our EQ-1 mounts are not up to the task.  I have the next size up in an equatorial mount, an EQ-2.  I replaced the numbers on its setting circles with clowns...

That's about how useful they are.

Now, once you set the latitude-scale to 30°, that's it.  You'll never have to touch it again, unless you relocate a considerable distance to the north or south.  Miami is at 25°, therefore you would need to change it to that if you relocated there.

Once it's set, you take the kit outside and aim the body of the RA-axis towards Polaris...

You will need to level the mount, with its retractable legs, then loosen the mount-head under the tripod's hub, and aim the RA-axis at Polaris.  You don't need to adjust the latitude-scale again, as it's already set to 30°.  Once the RA-axis is pointed at Polaris, tighten the mount-head's clamp, unclamp both axes, and revolve the telescope round and about the sky, like a gyroscope(for the lack of a better analogy)...

  Once you find an object, you center it in the eyepiece, lock both axes, and use the slow-motion controls to track the object.  You'll get the hang of it with practice.

At 1:00 AM the sky was finally clear and I could see Mars with the naked eye so I tried out the telescope and I finally saw a celestial body. Mars looked great in the eyepiece.  I mean I couldn't see much detail but I could still see that it was Mars. I'm going to try Polaris and adjusting it to what you said. I think I'm getting the hang of this.

[Alan64]

Yes, I was working outside after midnight, and during a break I walked down the driveway and looked into the sky, and there was Mars rising in the east.  It had cleared the tops of the trees.  I waited until it climbed a bit higher and brought a telescope out...

I had been wanting to test that 100mm f/4 Newtonian further, as it's not really suitable for the higher powers, but since it has a 4" aperture I'm determined to push it.  I did just that, that morning, and then snapped this afocal-shot of the planet at a power of 200x...

Mars is bright, and closer to the Earth during this time.  It's going to get brighter still over the coming weeks.  Opposition of the planet will occur on October 13th, when it will be at its very brightest, and a little larger even. 

I'll be testing that star-box further still near that time, but I'll need to dim the planet down a bit with a filter, and perhaps to see its details a bit better.

[Starbuddypal]

I’m getting the hang of this. I couldn’t of done it without you guys. Here’s a photo of Saturn. The best I could do with my iPhone.

[Alan64]

7 hours ago, Starbuddypal said:

I’m getting the hang of this. I couldn’t of done it without you guys. Here’s a photo of Saturn. The best I could do with my iPhone.

I must say, that's quite impressive!  

I don't know exactly, but I suspect that you might not be able to get the full view of your new 20mm with the Amici-diagonal, the diagonal that came with your kit.  I have both, the same eyepiece and the same diagonal, here at the house, along with a 70mm refractor similar to your own.  But it's cloudy at present, so I can't test them out.  I also suspect that you'll notice a difference once you get a star-diagonal.  The 20mm with your telescope will give very close to a 2°-wide view(TFOV).  When the next full Moon is out, use the 20mm with the Amici-diagonal, and estimate how many full Moons side-by-side that you might fit into the view of the 20mm.  The 20mm should be able to fit very near to four full-Moons within its view, and with your telescope; for example...

That's the full Moon, duplicated, and courtesy of my 60mm f/15 achromat.  If you don't think four will fit, then that will probably be due to the Amici-diagonal vignetting the full view; in making the view narrower in other words.

Edited September 26, 2020 by Alan64