Newbie from Scotland

[Becksh93]

Hi there, 

Came across this site as looking for help online! 
I got a telescope recently. I think it’s a beginners telescope - so nothing fancy. 

it is a Celestron 114AZ-SR reflector. 

It came with two eye pieces. I’m finding that It feels like the eyepiece is very, very narrow & one slight head movement & I can no longer see what I was looking at? 
One minute looking at the moon, next second i’ve slightly moved my head and the telescope eyepiece looks black until I find my first head position again. 
First time I’ve ever looked through a telescope so unsure if this is how they usually are?

Hope this makes sense! Just wondering if you can get wider eyepieces as I think this will likely bug me! 

[Sunshine]

Hello and welcome to SGL! 

Congrats on the scope, the issue you describe is very common and referred to as a "blackout" especially with beginners who are not yet used to using eyepieces. Don't worry, imagine looking through a straw, your eye has to be in the right spot to see through it, same with an eyepiece. Try approaching your eyepiece directly from above it and slowly get closer until you can see the full field of view, a clear circle. Looking into an eyepiece is not about placing your eye to the eyepiece and moving side to side but, its all about lowering your eye onto the eyepiece from above then stopping once you can see the full field of view.

When light comes out of the top of the eyepiece it comes to a focus at a certain distance above the eyepiece, this distance is referred to as eye relief. Different eyepieces focus light at different distances above the eyepiece  which means in one eyepiece you'll notice your eye may need to be a little closer or further than another. Does your eyepiece have an eyecup? a rubber ring around the edge which your eye can fit to and rest on? this should help keep your eye centred over the eyepiece if so. Be patient and move slowly toward the eyepiece from above and maintain that position once you see the full circle and you'll catch on quickly, there are instances where particular eyepiece/telescope combinations make it more difficult in which case i'm sure someone else will weigh in and help but for now give it another try. Once again, congratulations on the scope, maybe include a couple of images of your eyepieces and enjoy the scope.

You've come to the right place for help, this is just a minor issue, don't let it discourage you, we hope to hear about your experiences in the future. 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Sunshine

[Becksh93]

Thank you for replying! 
that does all make a lot of sense! 

I do have that little rubber bit around the eyepiece but it’s not half as raised as yours! I think it probably will just take a bit of getting used to & learning to be more steady on my feet whilst using it! 

[Sunshine]

5 minutes ago, Becksh93 said:

Thank you for replying! 
that does all make a lot of sense! 

I do have that little rubber bit around the eyepiece but it’s not half as raised as yours! I think it probably will just take a bit of getting used to & learning to be more steady on my feet whilst using it! 

Depending on the eyepiece sometimes the eyecup needs to be flipped up as they are folded down, have a look and see if that is the case.

[Ricochet]

5 hours ago, Becksh93 said:

I do have that little rubber bit around the eyepiece but it’s not half as raised as yours! I think it probably will just take a bit of getting used to & learning to be more steady on my feet whilst using it! 

Your telescope is supplied with 26 and 9.7mm Plossl eyepieces. The 9.7 will have a quite small eye relief which requires your eye to be quite close to the to of the eyepiece, hence the fact that your rubber eyecup is much shorter than the Morpheus eyepiece pictured above. If you buy any extra eyepieces shorter than your 9.7 I would recommend not buying Plossls as your eye will have to be even closer. Look for something advertised as having long eye relief, such as the BST Starguider range.

With regards to holding your head in the correct position, you are correct that it is practice that you need. The width of the circle of light that you have to look through is called the exit pupil, and this is the same for all eyepieces of the same focal length no matter the quality or expense of the eyepiece. The formula to work it out is Exit Pupil = Eyepiece Focal Length / Telescope focal ratio (5.26 for your telescope). Longer focal length eyepieces have a larger exit pupil so you may find it easier to practice with your 26mm eyepiece and then once you are comfortable with that, move onto the shorter 9.7mm eyepiece. Another thing that you can do to sit down while observing rather than stand. This will increase your stability and make it easier to hold your head in the correct position. An observing chair with an adjustable height is best for this, but in the first instance I would suggest trying any sort of chair you already own (and can take outside!) to see if you prefer this method of observing.

[Becksh93]

This is really good advice thank you! 
 

just wondering if yous know if I can get a stronger eye piece? I can see the moon & that it has different shades to it, but cant see actual craters as such?  The moon looks smooth but different colours. Maybe I would need a diff telescope to get a more detailed view? 

[John]

18 minutes ago, Becksh93 said:

This is really good advice thank you! 
 

just wondering if yous know if I can get a stronger eye piece? I can see the moon & that it has different shades to it, but cant see actual craters as such?  The moon looks smooth but different colours. Maybe I would need a diff telescope to get a more detailed view? 

You can get many different types and focal lengths of eyepiece. The focal length of the eyepiece is expressed in mm (marked on the eyepiece) and that is what dictates the magnification that the eyepiece will deliver when used with a particular scope. The larger the figure in mm, the lower the magnification you will get.

I think you get 2 eyepieces with the scope ?

One useful addition is a barlow lens. This goes between the eyepiece and the scope and has the effect of multiplying the magnification that the eyepiece provides, most often by 2x.

What eyepieces do you have at the moment ?

 

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by John

[Budgie1]

41 minutes ago, Becksh93 said:

This is really good advice thank you! 
 

just wondering if yous know if I can get a stronger eye piece? I can see the moon & that it has different shades to it, but cant see actual craters as such?  The moon looks smooth but different colours. Maybe I would need a diff telescope to get a more detailed view? 

I see you get the 20mm & 4mm eyepiece + a 3x Barlow with the scope. I would start just with the 20mm eyepiece, this will give you the widest field of view (FOV) and enable you to focus on the Moon as a starter.

It sounds like you're either a little out of focus or there's some dew/misting on the mirror of the scope. The dew or misting of the mirror can happen if you take the scope from a nice heated house and put it in a cold garden, so if you cant's get it to focus on the moon and see the craters then have a look down the end of the scope and make sure the mirror is clear.

Once you get it focused with the 20mm eyepiece, then try adding the 3x Barlow with the 20mm eyepiece and see what you get. Then move on to the 4mm.....etc.

The scope and eyepieces you have should be good enough to see the Moon in good detail and pick out some of the planets, like Mars, Jupiter & its Moons and Saturn.

[Becksh93]

1 hour ago, John said:

You can get many different types and focal lengths of eyepiece. The focal length of the eyepiece is expressed in mm (marked on the eyepiece) and that is what dictates the magnification that the eyepiece will deliver when used with a particular scope. The larger the figure in mm, the lower the magnification you will get.

I think you get 2 eyepieces with the scope ?

One useful addition is a barlow lens. This goes between the eyepiece and the scope and has the effect of multiplying the magnification that the eyepiece provides, most often by 2x.

What eyepieces do you have at the moment ?

 

 

Yes I have 2 eyepieces. They are 9.7mm & 26mm. 
 

[John]

With a 2x barlow lens you would get the equivalent of a 13mm and a 4.85mm eyepiece. The 4.85mm would be giving you a magnification of 123x (focal length of the scope divided by the focal length of the eyepiece) which is a reasonable step up in magnification over what you have now.

 

[Becksh93]

That’s great thank you. I’ll look for one!