Hi from the UK!

[Th3Chef]

Hi all! So I am completely new at all this so please bare with my newbie questions!

For my 21st in May I got the Celestron 31045 Astromaster 130EQ Reflector Telescope. For the first time last night I was able to see the moon pretty much perfectly! I was so, so thrilled by this!!

I only have a 10mm and 20mm eyepieces that came with the telescope so I need some help with how to use them correctly, I did however, read an old thread on here that the 10mm should be used to look at the moon and other planets. My question to this, is it possible to get a smaller mm eyepiece to look at them much much closer? I really want to see the moon much closer! And be able to see other planets in good quality. Sorry about the essay btw. But if anyone could recommend any brilliant eyepieces that I can use to manage that, that'll be greatly appreciated.

 Also obviously I know there'll be a max to what I'll be able to see but what's the limit? I would love to know! Thank you for having the patience to read!

[Orange Smartie]

Hi and welcome.

The magnification you will get from any particular eyepiece is calculated by the focal length of the telescope divided by the focal length of the eyepiece.  So your 10mm eyepiece will give you 650/10 = 65x (650mm is the focal length of this 'scope) and the 20mm will give you 650/20 = 32.5x.  You can, in theory, use a very short focal length lens to increase the magnification, but there are some practical limitations on that (how stable the atmosphere is, how wobbly your tripod, etc etc) and I personally prefer to have a better image at lower magnification rather than zooming in on a ball of fuzz. One cheap-ish solution would be to buy a Barlow lens, which will shorten the focal length of whatever eyepiece you use it with, so a 10mm behaves like a 5mm, giving you 130x.  First Light Optics sell Barlows from about £25.

A couple of things to note:

I have no experience of your telescope, but I would imagine that the supplied eyepieces are of fairly low standard.  That seems to be fairly common marketing practice.  If you look on here, you'll find loads of recommendations for upgrades.

Secondly, before you'd buy anything, you need to know the diameter of the eyepiece at the point it slots in the telescope - it's probably 1.25" but you should check first.

 

Pete

[Orange Smartie]

Also if you have clear skies to the South, you should be able to make out Jupiter and Saturn.  Jupiter looks like a very bright "star", you'll also probably see 4 of its moons strung out in a line (unless any are currently in line with the planet, in which case you'll see fewer)....it should look like a disc, rather than a point of light.  Saturn will be to the right of it as you look southish, and also will look like an elongated disc, rather than a point - I imagine you should be able to see rings.

[banjaxed]

Hi and welcome to SGL. I recommend you go to the Getting Started with Observing section and read “What can I expect to see” before you start buying more gear. Enjoy your journey.

Edited August 26, 2021 by banjaxed

[Lee_P]

Hi and welcome! I'm also in the South-West 😃

[M40]

Hello and welcome to the site 👍 I am going to echo what Orange Smartie said and recommend that before you buy anything, measure the diameter of the barrel of your eyepieces. Hopefully they will be 1.25" which is a standard size and opens the door to lots of options.

A quick look at the info on Amazon on your telescope and there are some pdf pages available for download, grab them while they are available as they give you lots of info on your telescope i.e. max useable magnification etc.

If your eyepieces are 1.25", I would go for something in the 6 - 8mm range i.e. the astro essential 7.5mm eyepiece. Can I also suggest a moon filter. Some people find they are not necessary but they are not expensive and I find the moon to be quite bright without one. A future option is always the astro essentials 1.25" eyepiece set.

Don't forget that you are not limited to solar system stuff, living in the South West, you are not too far away from some dark areas and your telescope with the 20mm will be fine for spotting M31 Andromeda. Enjoy.

[Floater]

Welcome. All good advice above. Hope you have lots of fun on the journey. 🙂

[SlimLine]

Hi 

Welcome aboard😀

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi there and welcome. As you see, plenty of advice already. 

[Th3Chef]

Thank you so so much everyone! Looks like I've got a lot of researching and amazon browsing to do 😅 it was really helpful so it was greatly appreciated 😁

[John]

Hello and welcome from me as well - another south west UK based amateur astronomer

Shorter focal length eyepieces are indeed readily available to fit your scope and will deliver higher magnifications, as would using a 2x barlow lens with your existing 10mm eyepiece.

One of my friends at the Bristol Astronomical Society has the Astromaster 130 and it delivers some nice views of the moon, planets and deep sky objects when the conditions are favourable.

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by John

[Pixies]

I'd recommend a proper astro shop (real or online) rather than Amazon. You'll get proper advice as well as support. Lot's of junk out there for the unwary!

 

 

[Sunshine]

Welcome to SGL!

[barbulo]

Hi and welcome to the Lounge!

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordhsire 🙂