What's actually achievable

[peanutcol]

Hi all, total newbie here that only bought a telescope last week. Off eBay a Astrolux 76/700.  £20. The blurb on a website says this, This complete telescope package has 76mm optics that will show hundreds of lunar craters in addition to the rings of Saturn and polar ice caps on Mars. Brighter galaxies and nebulae are also well within the reach of this affordable Newtonian telescope.

IS this a truthful statement and are things like this actually visa le with this scope. I struggled and failed to see the Orion nebula last night.

Edited February 21 by Cornelius Varley
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[vlaiv]

It is actually true.

Start of with Moon to get to know the scope and learn basics of observing (maybe even watch some introductory videos on you tube on how to best observe).

Saturn and Jupiter will be very small but will show detail in good conditions. You'll need to wait for Mars to get into favorable position. Well, this is true for all the planets - you need to wait for their "season".

For galaxies and deep sky objects - dark sky is the key. Get away from the city and street lights. You also need transparent skies.

Observing is a skill and it is learned. The more you observe - better you become.

[peanutcol]

Thanks for the reassurance. My plan is to upgrade if I stick at it for a while. Just needed to know they weren't just bigging it up. I've watched loads of videos which is why I got hooked. Something I'd never thought about before but a few vids and I was like, wow. The moon looks amazing through it but like you say perhaps my back garden isn't the ideal place to view from. Thanks again.

[Naughty Neal]

If expecting to see nice expanses of colour in nebula then no, what one will see is hazy foggy nebula cloud to which one will be able to sketch.   In my bortle 6 skies , I can vaguely make out M42 in orion and Plieades/M45 in Taurus with my eyesight.

 

For true nebula results one needs astro photography, If I want to see nebula in detail I simply browse the interweb or view threads on here. 

Quality of the telescope and ep's will dicatate what you may see, as well as atomspheric conditions and light pollution (lp).

My 80mm achromat is a very  nice  quality Japanese 80mm f12.5,  I can see M42 and the trapezium's stars .   You will be limited to that which your 76/700 can cypher.  

 

 

 

 

Edited February 21 by Naughty Neal

[Naughty Neal]

The moon by far is the best target for detail, planets when in the right ascension though small ( dependant on aperature size) are visible as are their features , again what  you see will depend on the atmospheric conditions amongst other variables.

Currently Jupiters ascension is very good given a cloudless night, the first bright star in the high ssw sky as soon as dusk falls.

[JOC]

The best thing is to first look at, if not read the text as well on just the first couple of pages here 

Then remember that the scope being used for the 'actual' view shots is still much bigger than what you have.   However, as noted above, it should still be possible to get a nice clear image of the moon and although, small, some of the planets.  Start off with your highest numbered the EP, i.e. use the one marked 25mm and not the one marked 10mm.  Also, put the thing that might be marked 'barlow' or x2 or x5 etc. to the back of the box for months.   Then get the scope out during the day (pointing well away from the sun) and make sure you can get a clear image of a distant tree or chimney during the day (don't worry  if its upside down - it just needs to be clear).  Once you can do that try the moon with the same EP.  Once you can get a similar clear image of the moon you will have learned loads and be in business.

[Naughty Neal]

Above all patience and time spent on the same object is needed , don't be concerned that to much time is spent on the same object.  No use glimpsing an object for a few mins , in most cases one will likely spend at least 45 - 60 mins on an object unless of course one is just generally scouring the sky.

A good tripod is also needed for high power steady seeing.

[peanutcol]

Yes I read that the other day, very interesting. I set it up in the day and have had for 2 nights brilliant crisp images of the moon. Craters and such in detail. Managed a glimpse of Jupiter but only a slightly bigger dot than with the naked eye.  Looked at Betelgeuse last night and was trying for the Orion nebula but to no avail. I'll keep at it after all the advice on here.

[JOC]

11 minutes ago, peanutcol said:

Yes I read that the other day, very interesting. I set it up in the day and have had for 2 nights brilliant crisp images of the moon. Craters and such in detail. Managed a glimpse of Jupiter but only a slightly bigger dot than with the naked eye.  Looked at Betelgeuse last night and was trying for the Orion nebula but to no avail. I'll keep at it after all the advice on here.

If you've got the moon crisp then the Orion nebula ought to be achievable.  How much kit have you actually got - esp. what EP's do you have available?

Edited February 21 by JOC

[John]

1 hour ago, peanutcol said:

Hi all, total newbie here that only bought a telescope last week. Off eBay a Astrolux 76/700.  £20. The blurb on a website says this, This complete telescope package has 76mm optics that will show hundreds of lunar craters in addition to the rings of Saturn and polar ice caps on Mars. Brighter galaxies and nebulae are also well within the reach of this affordable Newtonian telescope.

IS this a truthful statement and are things like this actually visa le with this scope. I struggled and failed to see the Orion nebula last night.

My first scope was a 60mm refractor. It's capabilities were similar to the 76mm reflector. With some effort and practice I was able to see the targets listed. Aside from the moon, you need to work at it, learn where the targets are in the sky and which eyepieces to use. What you are seeing will seem small and faint but such things can be seen with such a scope.

I made these sketches using my 60mm refractor 40 years ago. The Sun was observed safely by projecting the image onto white card:

 

[peanutcol]

Yeah the moon was spot on. I have the 10mm the 25mm wide angle and the 2x Barlow it came with. I must try harder. The moon was very bright last night though, could have hindered my views.

[JOC]

Well you could try the Barlow under the 25mm that would give you 12.5mm and x56 magnification.  Under the 10mm you would get x140 which if the scope would take it I imagine would give you a fair view of the nebula.  Try the Barlow under the EP's during the daytime and see how the scope performs with them.  If you can get it to perform during the day then the night time should be possible too.

[JOC]

7 minutes ago, peanutcol said:

The moon was very bright last night though, could have hindered my views.

In the absence of any other filter, try a pair of sunglasses!

[peanutcol]

Really? Oh my days. 👍

[PeterStudz]

A dark sky is very important. And a bright moon can spoil things. 

I’m not sure how dark your local/garden sky is. But as an example, when I’ve been to very dark sky site (Bortle 1-2) I can see a host of DSO objects inc nebulae and a few galaxies naked eye. No need for a telescope! Things that I can’t even see (there’s nothing when I look) through my much larger 8” or 200mm Newtonian when in my light polluted back garden. In other words - you’d certainly be able to see a wonderful array of objects if you are under a dark sky with eyes adapted to the dark. 

Edited February 21 by PeterStudz

[JOC]

3 minutes ago, peanutcol said:

Really? Oh my days. 👍

I can't see any reason why not I view through my telescope with my prescription glasses.

[John]

Seeing galaxies and nebulae in the same sky as a bright moon is really, really difficult - even the brightest ones get washed out very easily by any light pollution whether man-made or moon-made.

It is important to get the finder scope lined up accurately with the view through the main scope. Otherwise finding anything becomes pure luck and it's a big sky out there !

You can do this in daylight using a distant target (100's of meters off) such as a chimney pot or top of a telegraph pole. Get the target in the middle of the view in the main scope using the 25mm eyepiece (no barlow lens). It will probably be upside down but don't worry about that. Then, lock the scope in place and use the adjustment screws on the finder scope to get the target right in the centre of the cross hairs in the finder eyepiece. As long as you don't knock the finder, it should then be aligned when you next use the scope so what you see in the finder should be visible in the main scope eyepiece.

 

Edited February 21 by John