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Excitable Newbie Alert

MarshallDavies

By MarshallDavies
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MarshallDavies

MarshallDavies

Posted
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Morning all!

Just thought i'd say hi. I've been captivated (and more than slightly intimidated) by all that up there for as long as i can remember. And being of shoddy natural eyesight i've only ever been able to see anything with my near antique 10x50's. But this year, hopefully, everything changes - i've just ordered a 130mm reflector. I know it's not much, but it's a start (and all my budget can currently stretch to!) So any suggestions at what would be good to point it at this time of year? When it turns up that is... :icon_eek:

Cheers,

Marshall

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Scott Tilley

Scott Tilley

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Hi Marshall, and welcome to the forum. Pleides (M45) and loads of stuff around the Orion Nebula (M42) are great at this time of year! Also look out for the Geminids meteor shower this month, the peak is around the 14th. Lets just hope for loads of clear skies.:icon_eek:

Scott

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russ

russ

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Hi Marshall,

Welcome to the forum. The 130 is very popular scope and a capable one too. It will serve you well.

The moon and planets are always a good start.....can't fail to impress. And will give you a chance to figure out using the scope best.

Jupiter is fading now but Mars and Saturn are returning to the evening sky soon.

Regards

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MarshallDavies

MarshallDavies

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Cheers guys! And i'm glad you hold the 130 in regard Russ, because after the 42nd contridictary review i wasn't quite so confident about parting from my hard earned moola (and believe me its hard earned)! It would have been all too easy to spend a little less, say settle for the 114 or even a refractor. But you get what you pay for, this i know! Now, i'm quietly confident i'll find the moon and perhaps even mars. But the real question is; what are my chances of getting a decent look at M31?

Adieu,

Marshall

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russ

russ

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Hi Marshall,

I know the Skywatcher/Celestron 130's all get good reviews from the press. There will be some who say it's not enough aperture for a reflector but i disagree, it's a good starting point. I've looked through two 130's and both gave knockout views of the moon and really surprising views of Jupiter. One of the scopes was a Seben 130 from Ebay and i had to double take the view.

Mars will be well placed in the late evening come January. Your scope shouldn't have any problems showing the polar cap and some dark features. I've already trained my 80mm ED on Mars and picked up plenty of detail.

M31 is one of those objects that really is better seen in a pair of binoculars or a low power rich field telescope. You'll need your lowest power eyepiece, probably a 25mm, to get the best view. Even then, it may not be that impressive. You may find the view was better in your 10x50's.

Regards

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Vega

Vega

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Hi Marshall

Welcome to SGL. You'll have no problems seeing the core of M31, its pretty bright. The thing with the Andromeda galaxy is its very difficult to see any structure (even in larger scopes). Finding it for the first time is usually a tough affair. However if you get the technique right, you'll find it first time every time. I tend to find it with the naked eye first by star hopping from the corner of Pegasus. Then use my finderscope with both eyes open to aim at it (quite a neck stretch at this time of year as Andromeda is very high up).

I too would recommend the moon and planets. They are easy targets with instantly astounding views. If you have a clear horizon in that direction, try to get a look at bright Jupiter in the South West before it disappears next year, its a fantastic sight in any scope.

Happy hunting!

Matt

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red dwalf

red dwalf

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my first scope was a Skywatcher 130p bought this time last christmas after months of head ache trying to make up my mind and get the best i could and trying to understand all the terminology, (very hard for the beginer)

but i had amazing views of M42 the Orion nebula, could see colours in it sometimes, also Sarurn was amazing, woke the wife up at 1 in the morning last March time to have a look at it and even she was very impressed,

bought a 6" sct later in the year and compaired the two scopes on Jupiter and there was hardly any differance in the two, only just slightly better contrast with the 6" sct.

also managed to view the Andromeda galazy, just a smidge with this size aperature but i had seen it and when you think about what you are looking at it`s amazing.

it`s a great scope and a good buy for the money, enjoy.

cheers Rob :icon_eek:

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Marshall,

A warm welcome to SGL, a lot of interesting things for you to look at , if you were to invest in a copy of the Sky@Night mag or other Astronomy publications they will show you star maps and provide interesting information as to what is on view each month. Download the free program Stellarium, this will help you find your way about the sky, whatever you do enjoy your scope and the forum.

John.

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Rusty Strings

Rusty Strings

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Hi Marshall, welcome to SGL

I'll second "Turn left at Orion". When I rediscovered astronomy 3 years ago, I wouldn't have called myself a newbie, but I brought said publication and I still use it now. It has diagrams to illustrate how the view will look through the finder and scope, very useful as it can be confusing to suddenly be greeted by loads more stars, the wrong way up, than you were expecting.

John

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MarshallDavies

MarshallDavies

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Now that's a response! Many thanks guys, i've made notes and i'm ready to rock and roll. (Special mention to Rich for the list.) I'll get the ole super zenith's out tonight, download stellarium and i'm on amazon as we speak! I do have a spectacularily newbie question though; what makes low-power rich-field scope? Go easy on me...

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ottUp

ottUp

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what makes low-power rich-field scope? ...

It just means a scope on which low magnifications are the norm. So a scope with a "fairly" short focal length, which usually means a scope with a "fairly" low f-ratio.

Typical small refractors (around f/6) have focal lengths like 480mm, 600mm, etc. Newtonians are usually around 1000mm. But big SCTs (around f/10) have quite long focal lengths, like 2000mm or more. So it's hard to get low magnification with a big SCT - you need an expensive and complex ultra-wide-field eyepiece. But with a short focal length refractor, a plain garden-variety eyepiece gives you a wide field.

As a working example, take a very large object like M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy) or NGC 869/884 (the Double Cluster). With my 9.25" SCT (f/10, 2350mm focal length), I can barely fit 869/884 in the field of view if I use my ultra-wide Nagler 31mm eyepiece, and I cannot fit M31 in the field of view even with that. With my 600mm f/6 refractor, both are easily viewable even with my mid-range eyepieces.

Of course, the SCT excels where high magnification is needed, like planetary viewing or small nebulae or clusters.

Regards

Richard

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MarshallDavies

MarshallDavies

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Right then, so here's the situation; i've downloaded stellarium (which is fantastic), whipped out my 10x50's and worked out where M31 should be. And now i'm stumped. I just can't make it out - is this a matter of ineptitude? Or have i just seen too many high definition photos and expect too much?

Ps. Anyone from gloucestershire?

A bein tot,

Marshall

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glowjet

glowjet

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Marshall I think you may find that although you were, no doubt, in the right ball park area for M31 your viewing site is nowhere near dark enough, find a good dark site in the country and it will make all the difference. Another program especially for bins is TUBA, colour star maps can be adjusted to suit your own requirements then printed for use outside, TUBA can be accessed through Philip S Harringtons web site.

John.

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ottUp

ottUp

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Or have i just seen too many high definition photos and expect too much?

If you have seen any photos at all then you are probably expecting too much. Galaxies aren't good beginner targets because they look nothing like what the photos have lead you to expect.

M31 will look like a barely-visible small elliptical patch of light. Really barely visible - like a slightly dirty spot on your lens. No spiral arms, no colour, no detail. From a really dark site under perfect conditions I am just able to make out a hint of some arm structure.

Start with clusters and nebulae - they look like you expect (except for the lack of colour).

- Richard

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