skywatcher explorer 130p HEELLPP!!!

[gorkem]

Hello ı recently bought an explorer 130p and dont know how to use ıt ıt was such a dıssappoıntment ın the fırst few nıghts ı spent tryıng to fınd out what ıts trıcks were.. ı could see the same sıze and the same amount of stars ın my eyepıece as the fınderscope.. ı saw a few shootıng stars whıch got me excıted a bıt more about ıt. but ıs thıs all?? ı mean the stars dont look any closer than fınderscope. they are such tıny lıttle dots. also ı am havıng some dıffıcultıes tryıng to alıgn the go to mount. ı was hopıng to see some nıce coloured galaxıes and deep sky objects but no !! all ı saw was a bunch of tıny lıttle dots..

well ı hope ı dnt know how to use ıt otherwıse ıt wıll be such a dıssapoıntment for me..

Thank you

Gorkem

[Doc]

Stars will always be just points of light, they are to far away to be anything else. You need to look for galaxies, nebulas, and clusters. Also there is Jupiter at the moment, you should see some detail in this as well as it's moons.

Download a freeware planetarium software program called Stellarium, just google it for address.

Set it to your position and it will tell you whats above you in the sky.

[gorkem]

hey red dwarf thanks for the reply.. ı dont have any astronomy magazınes atm so do u have any ıdea about fındıng polarıs?? and also what alıgnment do ı choose for that two star or brıghtest star?? ıts a goto mount.

Thanks

Gorkem

[Astro Adj]

Hi Gorkem,

I also have the SW 130 and love it! I'll see if I can help you out a little, but should let you know that I am a newbie myself so you may want to wait for a more seasoned observer to help you out!

Anyway, regarding the stars, to be honest they will never get much bigger, regardless of how much magnification you throw at them. The distances involved are so vast that they will never appear much bigger. However, magnification will give you better views of the planets and the moon, as well as some DSOs.

In terms of alignment, I would recommend using the scope during the day (but whatever you do, DON'T look at the sun!) and aim at the furthest distinctive object you can see. A chimney or something similar works well. Look through the RDF, then through the eyepiece. Ideally they should match up. If not, adjust the RDF until they do. Once this is done, perform the same trick on a star in the night sky. I use Polaris (as this helps with polar alignment which I do before every session) but really you can use any star. Place the RDF dot on the star, then use your lowest power eyepiece (the one with the biggest number - mine is 25mm) to view it. Ideally it should be in the centre of your field of view. If not, repeat the trick you did in the day until they match up. Once this is done, you shouldn't need to align the RDF again.

Next up is using the equatorial mount. This is trickier, and the best advice I can give is to have a look at the excellent article below - I found it extremely useful.

Setting Up an Equatorial Mount - McWiki

Finally, about those wonderful, full colour pictures of galaxies and nebulae you have probably seen in magazines etc. I'm afraid to say that, with our equipment, we will not see such colour or detail. These images are captured by very expensive cameras that can let an enormous amount of light in over a protracted period of time (something our eyes are incapable of) often in conjunction with superb scopes and mounts. You will be able to see many wonderful objects, such as the Andromeda Galaxy, but they will appear monochrome. However, when you think about what it is you are actually viewing...well, for me that alone is better than looking at a fancy colour picture on my computer screen!

Best of luck, do let us know how you get on.

[Bizibilder]

The stars will always be dots - its just that with a telescope you can see millions more of them! Don't be put off by a less than perfect first view of the heavens - it can take quite a while to learn your way around - that is all part of the fun of Astronomy. Take your time, try and look at only one or two objects in a session rather than examine the whole sky in one go!!

A good star atlas or software like stellarium will help you on your way. You (or anyone else for that matter) will NOT see "nice coloured galaxies" these ONLY reveal themselves in photographs with exposures of many minutes to several hours!! BUT you will see faint gray/white fuzzy blobs which really ARE the naked eye views of those mysterious Deep Sky Objects.

You say that you saw some shooting stars - exellent!! There are several observable meteor showers at this time of year - maybe buy "Sky at Night" magazine (Tesco's sell it) to help guide you around the night sky.

Whatever happens DON'T GIVE UP, take your time and you will be well rewarded. All of us started at some time (some of us many years ago) - Use the forum to ask questions (There is NO SUCH THING as a daft question!!) and enjoy.

Hope this helps.

[Astro Adj]

Oops sorry - I made an assumption you had an Equatorial mount not a GOTO one - my bad!

Getting Stellarium is an excellent idea - you can learn an enormous amount and it really helps to plan your night out. Once you have it finding Polaris will be much easier, but in the meantime the method I use is to face North, then look for Ursa Major - the Big Dipper. Locate the 2 stars that form the edge of the 'bowl' (furthest to the right). From there you can continue straight up to Polaris. It is the brightest star in Ursa Minor, so you can check you've found it by ensuring the star you are viewing is at the end of Ursa Minor's 'handle'.

[iamjulian]

I really hope you find something to keep your interest. Definitely have a look at the moon! I think a lot of people must come to the hobby thinking they are going to get hubble like views rather than the little grey smudges. Make sure you have a look at some planets too. Jupiter and Saturn should be near the top of your list. Keep at it, and don't be put off when you don't see the colourful images of the magazines.

[gorkem]

thanks a lot for the advıces guys.. ı wıll try and see what ı can do wıth them tonıght!! ı downloaded stellarium but ı dont thınk ıts adjusted accordıng to my place.. can ı have some advıce on that as well pls? sorry for askıng so many questıons but ı am ınterested ın fındıng out how to get my telescope work.

cheers

Gorkem

[red dwalf]

no worries mate,

load up stellarium, then on the left hand side of the screen theres a button to click on regarding location, you can add this yourself or find the nearest town to your site, it`s better to get your exact location, so google your longitude and latitude and enter it into the boxes on stellarium and a town your in then it will adjust to that location

[gorkem]

hey guys ıve just trıed to alıgn my telescope accordıng to polarıs. but ıt doesnt go to the other objects correctly ( ı dnt know ıf ı am too thıck for thıs or somethıngs wrong wıth the telescope.. do ı do two star alıgnment or brıghtest star or what??

Thanks a lot

,gorkem

[Mikea]

hi gorkem, both brightest star and two star alignment require you to identify and centre the scope on two known stars. The brightest star option just limits you to stars above a certain magnitude (can't remember what without checking). I'd go for the two star option: scan through the list until you have seen two stars that you know - use Stellarium to check if you are not sure. when you have centred your scope on the first star and selected the second one, the scope should move to the vicinity of the second star. Centre on this one - you should be rewarded with Alignment Successful. It is vital that you set the date, time, lat and long correctly. Good luck!