New, confused, possible duplicate question..

[Tifstorey]

Hi all,

I'm not new to astronomy as i've not really started at all..

I've always liked gazing up at the stars and was lucky enough to receive a small beginners telescope for Xmas (Sky-Watcher Heritage 60mm).

I've not yet managed to get outside properly as the nights since Xmas have been cloudy (I guess this is going to be a regular occurrence from now eh? )

I managed to have a play for about 10 minutes the other night looking at the moon. I managed to see the moon so was happy about that, but unfortunately i couldn't focus at all to see any detail. I'm hoping this isn't just down to the telescope but rather me messing up with the eyepieces.

I got an instruction booklet with the sky-watcher, but unfortunately it's more of an introduction to telescopes in general rather than a specific model..

So, i've come to you folks

I have;

1x Super 25 Wide Angle Long Eye relief

1x Super 10mm.. Eyepiece

X1.5 Erecting Eyepiece

X2 Barlow

The way i had it was the x1.5 erecting eyepiece fitted with the 10mm Eyepiece. I then swapped the X1.5 with the Barlow but saw little change with lack of detail.

I tried focusing the telescope but i couldn't get any crisp detail.

Anyone have any ideas of what i could be doing wrong?

Thanks all, and apologies if there's a sticky hiding somewhere that i've missed.

[Capricorn]

First guess is condensation on the optics.

Next is use the 25mm on it's own - simply less glass in the way to go wrong.

Not familiar with the scope, if it is a reflector then the collimation (alignment) could be out. Are there instructions for this?

After that try it during the day on something like a distant tree and see if that is focussed.

If it isn't then the eyepiece could be at the wrong position. Just not sure how to "alter" that if it is.

[John]

Have you managed to get the scope focussed on something in the day time ? - if not, try something like a distant tree or a chimney - OK the image will be upside down without the erecting eyepiece (thats normal for astro scopes) but at least that will help you feel confident you can focus.

Try the 25mm (the super 25) eyepiece on it's own to start with - this gives the lowest power and will be the easiest to find things with. Move the focusser (the tube the eyepiece goes in) slowly - its easy to miss the focus point until you are used to it.

To be honest I didn't know there was a Heritage 60mm - I thought the smallest was the 76mm ?.

Anyway keep on trying and use daylight to get to know the scope (but don't look at the Sun of course).

[Cornelius Varley]

The 3 page manual for the Heritage 76 are fairly basic but covers everything you need to know about the telescope. there isn't much that can go wrong with it.

I suggest using the 25mm eyepiece first. then progress up to the 10mm eyepiece if the conditions allow. The 1.5x erecting erecting eyepiece will give you 45x magnification with the 10mm eyepiece and the 2x barlow will give you 60x magnification with the 10mm.

Try using the telescope in daylight, aiming at a distant building, rotating the focusing wheel slowly.

Peter

[Tifstorey]

Thanks for the replies folks,

I've just tried using the 25mm to focus on a tree approx 100m away and could focus clearly on a branch (albeit upside down).

So, in other words - it's working

Am i expecting too much from this telescope then? I know it's a beginners and i wasn't expecting to see any planets/nebulas but was hoping to get a clear focused view of the moons craters and what not.

Or did i just get it wrong? Will keep trying it out and i'm sure i'll get the hang of it!

I can see myself getting slowly pulled into another expensive hobby here....

[Tifstorey]

To be honest I didn't know there was a Heritage 60mm - I thought the smallest was the 76mm ?.

And yes, Sorry John - it's the 76mm.

[Eyeball]

I have just recently purchased the Heritage 130P and had the same problem as you. When I asked for help I was told to not have the eyepiece inserted 'fully' into the focuser. Lift it up slightly, and try again during daylight. If you find that you can focus on a distant object okay, leave the eyepiece in the focuser ready for night viewing.

Good luck

[Tifstorey]

I have just recently purchased the Heritage 130P and had the same problem as you. When I asked for help I was told to not have the eyepiece inserted 'fully' into the focuser. Lift it up slightly, and try again during daylight. If you find that you can focus on a distant object okay, leave the eyepiece in the focuser ready for night viewing.

Good luck

Cheers Colin.

I've just been practicing with the 25mm on distant trees/telegraph poles and i can manage to get it all focused now.

I'll give it a go next time i can see the moon and hope i can focus better.

I'm just hoping the scope is good enough to be able to give me a decent look at the moon.

[Cornelius Varley]

Thanks for the replies folks,

I've just tried using the 25mm to focus on a tree approx 100m away and could focus clearly on a branch (albeit upside down).

So, in other words - it's working

Am i expecting too much from this telescope then? I know it's a beginners and i wasn't expecting to see any planets/nebulas but was hoping to get a clear focused view of the moons craters and what not.

Or did i just get it wrong? Will keep trying it out and i'm sure i'll get the hang of it!

I can see myself getting slowly pulled into another expensive hobby here....

The telescope is quite small. I saw one in a shop just before Christmas and I couldn't believe how small it was. You should be able to see the moon and open star clusters with it and Jupiter and Saturn should resolve as small discs. Yes you will get sucked in but doesn't neccessarily mean expensive.

Peter

[John]

.....I'm just hoping the scope is good enough to be able to give me a decent look at the moon.

You should be fine - the moon looks great through virtually every scope

[jimhaleysscomet]

The moon will be fantastic in your scope (as with any scope). Next most folks go for the planets (Jupiter and Mars now), but they will bring out all the shortcomings in your scope. You may choose to focus instead on the brightest open clusters, galaxies, and nebula. There your scope will be SUPER!

Visit skymaps.com for a free monthly map and observing list download. Your scope really performs more like a "big binocular" that is super easy to use stably mounted, so the "naked eye" and "binocular" objects should show well in your scope.

Consider the book Nightwatch by Dickinson. It is a great introduction to the night sky and will help you get the most out of your scope.

[jimhaleysscomet]

One other thing.... If you want to see "image erect" images during the day, try the following.

Point the scope at the object (image will appear upside down). Turn around 180 degrees (just you, not the scope) so you are facing toward the back of the scope's tube. Stay offset from the scope (scope now on your left) and now look through the eyepiece. Everything will appear rightside up (but will now be behind you).

[jimhaleysscomet]

And one more thing. With the Heritage 76mm, I find the finder "almost" useless unless the scope is mounted way up high (like on a tripod). However, it has such a wide field of view that you really don't need the finder. To find objects, I first find them in my 8x40 binoculars. Then I point the scope in the general direction of the object and then just sweep up from the horizon with my lowest power eyepiece (25mm for you I believe). You should then be able to locate the object because the H76 has such a much wider field of view than the typical scope (again, more like big binoculars than your typical telescope).

[Tifstorey]

Thanks alot for the info!

The moon is out and so i've just ran out up behind my house to have a look. I'm seeing a much more detailed image through just the 25mm now

So, if i get this right, 25mm is lower power than my 10mm? So, if i swapped to the 10mm, i should be able to see a bigger detailed picture, or just bigger?

And lastly, what's the 'image erect'? I'm presuming my erecting eyepiece will do this...? Does it just make it stand out?

Thanks again all!

[John]

The 10mm eyepiece will give more power than the 25mm, quite a lot more power. This will also magnify the shakes through so you will need to try and keep everything even more steady.

Erect image means the right way up and left and right the correct way round. Astro scopes (reflectors anyway) give an upsidedown image as standard - which is fine for astro use.

[jimhaleysscomet]

The 10 mm will give more magnification but the field of view will be smaller. As you magnify, the image will get slightly dimmer (not a problem on the moon), vibrations become worse, the eyepieces have less eye relief, and focus becomes more touchy. Stars in the outer 1/3 of the image are usually blurry in your eyepieces.

The moon is about 1/2 degree across.

Standard binoculars (about 7x50 or 10x50) give about a 5 degree field of view (3 fingers held up at arms length)

The 25mm with the H76 gives about 12X magnification with about 3 degree field of view (similar to big binoculars).

The 10mm gives about 30X magnfication with about 1.3 degree field of view.

Especially if you want to view planets, you might consider adding a 3x barlow which triples the magnification of your two eyepiecs for 36X and 90x.