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Geoffrey

By Geoffrey
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Geoffrey

Geoffrey

Posted
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:)Hello to everybody

my name is Geoff mariner i live in worksop notts near to Robin Hoods tree in England i have just got my self a 6" short tube newtonian equatorial reflector teleschope D=150MM F=750MM & F=1400MM

it came with diffrent eyepices 1.5x erecting eyepiece 2x Barlow plossl 25mm af 40 ' plossl 6.5 mm af 50' eyepices

the trouble i have not got a clue what it all means

all i have seen at the moment is some leaves on a tree about 300 yards a way i can not wait to start to look at the moon when it gets dark so as you can see i need all the help i can get p.s. i have got my self a star chart :) thanking you all Geoff

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Sam

Sam

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Hi Geoff, welcome to SGL. You've made a good start by getting some stuff in focus and that's probably the best thing to do initially. The thing to watch during the day is that you don't point the telescope at the sun - apologies if that sounded patonising but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Your reflector is a good sized scope that'll give you some very good veiws. Having a star map is a good start. There's some great software on the internet like Stellarium and Cartes du Ceil which will help you learn the night sky.

Welcome to SGL and fire in your questions, there's a load of people that are ready to help.:)

Sam

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blinky

blinky

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Hi Geoff, welcome to SGL! You will find the asnwers to all things astronomy in here!!

Your new scope, do you know what make it is?

Anyway the errecting Eyepiece you wont need for astronomy, when you look through a Newtonian the image will be upside down and the errecting eyepiece turns it the right was up - as there is really no right and wrong way up in space people generally dont use the errecting eyepieces.

The eyepieces themselves are what gives you the magnification in a telescope, the telescope gathers and focuses the light and the eyepiece will magnify the image. The 25mm Plossl (Plossl is a design of eyepiece, it's a pretty decent and common design) will give nice low magnification views at a magnification of.... Oh wait I see from your original post that you quote to F numbers? Usually the F is the focal length of the scope and should only be one number! I wonder if it is F 750mm without the Barlow lens (See below for an explanation of what a Barlow lens does)... Anyway to work out the magnification of an Eypiece you divide the focal length of the scope (lets assume the 750mm is the correct one for now) by the focal length of the eyepiece - this gives X30 for the 25mm lens and 115 for the 6.5mm lens. The 6.5mm lens will be good for closups of the moon and also for looking at the planets

The Barlow lens will effectivly double the magnification of whatever eyepiece you are using. It will give X60 for the 25mm Eyepiece and 230 for the 6.5mm lens.

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Castor

Castor

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Hello Geoffrey! :)

"D" stands for the diameter of your telescopes' primary mirror, in your case it's 6 inch. (Meaning you get 33% more light gathering than from a 5" - which has about 340% more light gathering than a 70mm diameter 'scope) :)

"F" stands for focal length, and it can't be 750mm and 1400mm at the same time, but if you've got a short tube as you said, it would probably be the 750mm. Focal length helps you calculate the magnification of your telescope. For example, if you had a 25mm eyepiece, and using it with a 750mm FL telescope, it would be your focal length divided by the size of your eyepiece (in mm's).

Let's try: 750 divided by 25 = 30. So with a 25mm eyepiece, you would get 30 magnification. A Barlow lens will double your magnification, so if you are planning to observe planets a lot, you should get one of these.

And get "Turn Left at Orion" it's a great book :headbang: You should also download the program Stellarium. (Remember to set time, date & location!)

Hope this helped,

Regards

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MikeP

MikeP

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Hello Geoff, welcome to SGL.

Lightbucket has given you good advice about not pointing your scope at the sun - you will be blinded. However, the moon through a telescope is pretty bright and although you won't be blinded, you'll find it much more comfortable to view with a moon filter to make the image darker.

Mike

PS It would help us give you good advice if you posted the make and model of your scope

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Jarndyce

Jarndyce

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Hello Geoffrey! :)

And get "Turn Left at Orion" it's a great book :) You should also download the program Stellarium. (Remember to set time, date & location!)

Hi Geoff. Welcome to SGL.

This is excellent advice! Turn Left is a superb introduction to star-hopping.

Enjoy!

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ron.s.g

ron.s.g

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Hi Geoff and welcome,you will get sound advice on here so just post the questions and you will get answers,you already have some answers and lots of tutorials and primers you could read through,enjoy the scope and be patient all will become clear in time.regards ron.s.g

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mike.brightmore

mike.brightmore

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Hello Geoff

Welcome to the forum. Some good advice here - all I would add is that a pair of binoculars (nothing fancy) is a great way of getting yourself orientated. Remember that no-one has said that astronomy is easy. Wonderful, fascinating, addictive yes, but not easy. Well worth the effort though.

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mdstuart

mdstuart

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When it is next clear tr out some simple tests on the scope. Point it at the pole star which is due North and about half way up. You should be able to see a sharp point of light when you are in focus. Then look carefully to see if you can see the poles stars companion star. It will be close to the main star and much fainter. You may be able to pick it out with the 25mm lens but you may need the 6.5mm.

Tell us how you get on...

Enjoy.

Mark

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Geoffrey

Geoffrey

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Hello to everybody

just to let you all know that i have tried out my fantastic new hobby i started to look at the stars and just tried most of the lenes out and played abot with my telescope

to see how things work its BRILLLLLLLL i can under stand why people get hooked on star gazing look at loads of stars some sharp some fuzzy BUT THE BEST PART WAS AT 11-45 PM I SORE A SHOTING STAR came right through the centure of the scope thats when i whent WOW finley whent to bed at 2 ish so a big thanks to all of you for making my day all the best Geoff

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