Another beginner joins the club :)

[wymkeu]

Hi guys,

So after a long time I finally jumped in and bought a telescope for my wife & I to use. after looking at what I wanted to get out of it (portability, ease of use & a quicker way of getting around the skies), I settled on the Skywatcher 127.

The instructions are a bit on the basic side, but I managed to get through setting it up failry easily & painlessly by using some common sense & a few guesses..

I've it for 2 weeks now, and tonight is only the second night I've been abe to get it out - WOW!!! what a sight of the moon. It was fantastic to say the least.

So after about 10 to 15 mins of examining ever crater I could find, I figured I'd look at something else - but was really disappointed by what I could/couldn't see. I tried looking at some stars, but the image was not great, and no amount of focussing would give me anything worthwhile. This could be due to my lack of understanding of which eyepieces I should be using etc.. I'm not letting this deterr me though & am trawling thorugh a number of links to learn what I should be doing.

I've got a 10mm, 25mm & 2x Barlow with the scope and from the looks of it, I should invest in a couple others to give me a decent range of eye pieces.

My one burning question is this - with those eye pieces (including any future purchases) & the scope I have, what kind of views of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars & DSO's can I expect, and do you know of any links to pictures from similar sized scopes for me to set (or even reset) my expectations ?

Thanks

[pvaz]

Cameras capture light in a way your eyes can't so pictures won't do to explain what you should expect. For example, the orion nebula shows in a glorious red in the pictures, when you look at it you see yellow/white light. (Some people say they see a green hue to it. I never did.)

Take a look at these skecthes . They look exactly the way I see them on my scope. 1st is a globular cluster and 2nd is Orion Nebula.

[Astro_Baby]

Hi from me too. YOu will find the 127 can show quite a bit although its more geared for planets than DSOs. With that said I have a smaller Mak type scope than yours and it still turns in a fair view of objects like Andromeda and Orion.

It sounds like you need some practice with the scope. The supplied EPs are ok(ish) but probably your firts upgrade should be some better quality EPs. Have a word with Steve at FLO and he will be able to guide you as to what is likley to work best in that scope.

[John]

As Paulo says, the visual views through a scope are much more subtle than the photos you see - drawings are about the only way to simulate what our eyes can see.

Stars will never appear as more than pin pricks no matter how big or powerful your scope is - they are simply too far away. Many are doubles, triples or even quadruples though and your scope is good at seeing those so do some research and search those out. Castor in Gemini is a nice one !.

Keep at it - astronomy needs to be worked at to get the rewards.

John

[wymkeu]

thanks guys,

I know that I didn't get the most expensive or largest scope in the the world so don't expect to see loads. I guess I just wanted to get an idea of what sorts of things I should be able to see & set my expectations accordingly.

I'm sure I'll get the hang of it, and over time will more than likely get more gear (take that as bigger & more expensive.. ) and will end up seeing some awsome sights - but like most newbies, I'm also eager & a tad impatient.. lol

no doubt I'll be asking more as time goes on, and hopefully I'll even be able to post up some sketches too.

Mark

[albedo0.39]

Welcome to the forum and I hope you have good fun with your 127. The best thing about this hobby is that almost wherever you point your scope, you'll find something. I would like to recommend the Sky and Telescope pocket atlas as it's got almost everything in it and is laminated for outdoor use.

highly recommended

Good luck

Steve

[iamjulian]

Something else worth mentioning - your view of everything that isn't the moon, will improve greatly when the moon is not visible in the sky. The moon, especially when getting towards being full, gives off enough light to wash out detail in much of the night sky. You'll be amazed at the difference once you've been out on a properly dark night. Stick with it and like the others have already said, enjoy what you can see, and don't compare it too much to what you want/expect to see.

[Dazraz]

Hi and welcome to SGL i am a newbie and thought that i would see much more but with help from this forum have realised that the appreciation is what you are looking at and not so much the visual aspect - stick at it , i did and im enjoying this wonderful hobbie

Regards Daren

[wymkeu]

hi guys,

So after some really crappy weather since we got the scope, here is my 1st Lunar pic.

What do you think ?

[Dazraz]

Hi great picture - if you run that through paint shop pro or another program simular and darken it slightly i reckon it will look even better - but great picture all the same

Regards Daren

[Scott Tilley]

Hi, a great first image (much better than my first attempts!) Welcome to the forum!

Scott

[TheThing]

Welcome and congrats! A great purchase there and a really good scope.

If you get a chance, have a look at Jupiter early pm. It's low down which makes seeing terrible, but you should see its moons and some banding on the planet.

Mars is also worth a look, but at the other end of the evening as it's rising in the east. With a 4" (102mm Mak) I could clearly make out the north polar cap at the w/end - first time I've seen it in any scope!

[russ]

Welcome to the forum

Great choice of scope, the Skymax 127 is a real belter. Just wait until you turn it on Saturn early next year (or this year if don't mind an early start). It will blow your socks off Mars is starting to get into its stride now but is also best seen in the morning. By early next year it should make a very pleasing sight in your scope.

Appreciation of what you are looking at is key with the deepsky bits. But the brighter ones are very much crowd pleasers on a good moonless night but still nothing like the photos.

A couple of good eyepieces would be a good investment for your scope. The 90deg diagonal is also of adequate quality only and it would be worth investing in a better model at some point. Again, talk to Steve/James at FLO.

Good to have you onboard.

Regards

[AlexG]

Hi, welcome to SGL. You will find reviews and tips about the Skywatcher 127 mak in the reviews section from when it first came out.

To answer your question - on a clear night I think Jupiter looks like a bright steel pea with bright flecks of glitter around it (the moons) while Saturn looks like a bright steel ball bearing!

As mentioned above - stars remain as dots.

With the 127 I find I keep using my 32mm eye piece and a 15mm - my 7mm stays mainly in the box, with light polluted sky the 15mm gives a better view.

The 127 is good for the Orion nebula and other bright objects - poorer at dim DSOs.

"Turn left at Orion" book is invaluable but for a quick free guide the Irish Fed of Astronomical Societies has a great pdf. Type "IFAS binocular certificate" into Google to find it.

AG

[Dazraz]

Hi, welcome to SGL. You will find reviews and tips about the Skywatcher 127 mak in the reviews section from when it first came out.

To answer your question - on a clear night I think Jupiter looks like a bright steel pea with bright flecks of glitter around it (the moons) while Saturn looks like a bright steel ball bearing!

As mentioned above - stars remain as dots.

With the 127 I find I keep using my 32mm eye piece and a 15mm - my 7mm stays mainly in the box, with light polluted sky the 15mm gives a better view.

The 127 is good for the Orion nebula and other bright objects - poorer at dim DSOs.

"Turn left at Orion" book is invaluable but for a quick free guide the Irish Fed of Astronomical Societies has a great pdf. Type "IFAS binocular certificate" into Google to find it.

AG

Many thanks AlexG for the link to the IFA very intresting read

[class27]

Hiya wymkeu, as I posted on a different thread we have a 127 and think it's fantastic. I don't really rate the EPs that came with it so I obtained 3 plossls. Of the 3 I love the 16mm. With that we can see quite a bit of detail on Jupiter, especially on a clear night and if you avert your eye a little off the target! I remember the first night I trained the scope on Jupiter, I couldn't believe what I saw and went screaming into the house to get my wife to have a look. Our first great wow moment, and there have been quite a few since then. If you can get some really good EPs you should be suitably impressed with your 127. Great pic by the way!

Ron

[glowjet]

Hi Mark,

A warm welcome to you and your wife, some basics to help you find your way around such as Stellarium which you can download or for the Moon the Virtual Moon Atlas, the last one is a big program but there is a shorter version I believe, enjoy the forum.

John.