Newbie

[rob453]

I just got a Zhumell Eclipse 114 for my birthday. Took it out today to try and find Orion's great Nebula. Couldn't find it. Am I too ambitious on my first day out or is it simply beyond telescope's capability.

[DemonicOmelette]

Hi, Dad! Happy birthday and all that!

Right, did you download Stellarium? If you've found orion, look at the left-most star in his belt (Alnitak), then move pretty much straight down. If you use the belt as a sort of ruler, the nebula is just a little more than one belt-length down. You should be able to see it with your scope pretty easily, as you can actually see it with your naked eye. It looks like a little hazy cloud with lots of stars in it!

Glad you like the scope! Are you still just using it in the back yard, or have you taken it out somewhere dark?

-e

[Doc]

Have you aligned your finder as this makes finding things much easier.

[rob453]

Thanks Doc, I have alligned finder after some long time fiddling. Will try to look for nebula again tonight. Weather permitting it was -15C last night.

[rob453]

Thanks Eli, will try again tonight if it not so blumming cold. I will try binos first. No Have not gone out yet as I am struggling with a cold and the cold. Turn left at Orion is on order. Oh yeah. the sun is really bright especially during the day. I have not been able to find my way around without bumping into things. It was a spectacular sight for as long as it lasted:)

[DemonicOmelette]

Yeah, generally it's not too smart to spend too much time looking at the sun through your scope. You remember how I used to burn stuff with a magnifying glass in the back-yard? Well, it's like that except instead of an ant, it would be your retina. So not a good idea, all in all....

[The Warthog]

Steve from FLO will have a canary when he reads that! When I had a 4.5" (114mm) scope, the Orion nebula was one of my favorite sights. It's probably just a matter of finding it. If you look a little up or down, you will ifnd a group of stars that looks like a stick figure of a man, running. Oddly, it is called The Running Man. It's always fun.

[John]

Yeah, generally it's not too smart to spend too much time looking at the sun through your scope. You remember how I used to burn stuff with a magnifying glass in the back-yard? Well, it's like that except instead of an ant, it would be your retina. So not a good idea, all in all....

I think it might be good to make this advice a little stronger:

DON'T EVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WITH ANY SORT OF OPTICAL INSTRUMENT - BLINDNESS OR PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE WILL RESULT

Ok that's done

Enjoy your new scope !.

John

[rob453]

Thanks for all encouragement and advise. I was joking about staring at the sun of course. Not that much of a newbie.

[John]

Thanks for all encouragement and advise. I was joking about staring at the sun of course. Not that much of a newbie.

No probs - it's an open forum though so I thought it would not do any harm to reinforce the message.

I have an Uncle who peeked at the sun through binoculars when he was a lad and did do some damage to one of his optical nerves which he has had to live with ever since - so I'm probably a bit over-sensitive to this.

John