The Eagle has landed!

[Eyeball]

Well gentleman (and ladies) I have just made my first astronomical observation, and I loved it.

Spent a cold two hours in the back garden studying the moon. A large crater, at 8 o'clock, would this have been Capernicus? Or perhaps it was the one at 11 o'clock?

I also noticed a very bright (object?) at 2 o'clock, with what appeared to be light radiating out from the top-left of it. What could this have been?

The moon is certainly bright, isn't it? I will probably have to change my username again - to scorched retina! Must get a filter.

Now I need to purchase some decent eyepieces and barlow! The ones that come with the scope have their limitations.

None-the-less, a wonderful experience to have had my own personal window on the universe - this eagle has landed!

[Eyeball]

Had a slight problem with the tube dipping down while observing, had to slide the tube down the support arm a bit to stop this. But very pleased with how the scope performed.

[LukeSkywatcher]

The moon is certainly bright, isn't it? I will probably have to change my username again - to scorched retina! Must get a filter.

Now I need to purchase some decent eyepieces and barlow! The ones that come with the scope have their limitations.

A couple of yrs ago i bought a Celestron EP kit. It includes: 4mm,6mm,9mm,15mm,32mm (Plossel EPs) and a 2X Barlow. PLUS a full range of coloured filters and a moon filter.

They are MUCH better then then the 10mm and 25mm EP's that came with my 90mm Celestron scope.

I have observed with the standard EPs that come with the Heritage and they are MUCH better then the standard ones i got with my 90EQ.

The Heritage allows me now to use the Celestron EPs (even less then 10mm) with or without the 2X barlow.

On a budget...........i would highly recommend getting your hands on one of these EP/filter kits. Seasoned astronomers scoff at them but for newbies they really are worth their weight in gold.

I am TOTALLY in love with my 32mm "widefield" Celestron EP.

Now i have the Heritage i am sure that my 2x Barlow and/or 6mm EP will play a HUGE part in my planetary observations.

Also now i have more apeture those filters should drag out more subtle detail then i have seen with my 3.5" scope.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Had a slight problem with the tube dipping down while observing, had to slide the tube down the support arm a bit to stop this. But very pleased with how the scope performed.

Sounds like you didnt have it completely locked off. I have tested this scope at every degree of elevation/declination along the dovetail rail and it sat exactly where i put it.

[brianb]

A large crater, at 8 o'clock, would this have been Capernicus?

Suggest you download the Virtual Moon Atlas http://www.ap-i.net/avl/en/download

It's free!!! and very good at helping you identify lunar features.

[Eyeball]

The moon is certainly bright, isn't it? I will probably have to change my username again - to scorched retina! Must get a filter.

Now I need to purchase some decent eyepieces and barlow! The ones that come with the scope have their limitations.

A couple of yrs ago i bought a Celestron EP kit. It includes: 4mm,6mm,9mm,15mm,32mm (Plossel EPs) and a 2X Barlow. PLUS a full range of coloured filters and a moon filter.

They are MUCH better then then the 10mm and 25mm EP's that came with my 90mm Celestron scope.

I have observed with the standard EPs that come with the Heritage and they are MUCH better then the standard ones i got with my 90EQ.

The Heritage allows me now to use the Celestron EPs (even less then 10mm) with or without the 2X barlow.

On a budget...........i would highly recommend getting your hands on one of these EP/filter kits. Seasoned astronomers scoff at them but for newbies they really are worth their weight in gold.

I am TOTALLY in love with my 32mm "widefield" Celestron EP.

Now i have the Heritage i am sure that my 2x Barlow and/or 6mm EP will play a HUGE part in my planetary observations.

Also now i have more apeture those filters should drag out more subtle detail then i have seen with my 3.5" scope.

The eyepiece kit sounds a good idea, and one that I will look into.

I suppose the 6mm would give you the maximum magnification for the Heritage (x230) would it?

[Eyeball]

Suggest you download the Virtual Moon Atlas en:download [Virtual Moon Atlas]

It's free!!! and very good at helping you identify lunar features.

Excellent, just what I needed. Thanks very much.

[Eyeball]

Sounds like you didnt have it completely locked off. I have tested this scope at every degree of elevation/declination along the dovetail rail and it sat exactly where i put it.

Maybe it was because I was sat on the end of the tube?

[Eyeball]

Suggest you download the Virtual Moon Atlas en:download [Virtual Moon Atlas]

It's free!!! and very good at helping you identify lunar features.

I have downloaded the software as suggested. What a wonderful tool to have at your desposal.

Can see now that one of the really clearly defined craters that I saw was Tycho and not Copernicus (Capernicous as I wrongly called it).

This is a wonderful piece of software - I have now given myself many targets to look for when observing. I feel I shall spend some time observing the moon and honing my observing skills.

Thank you so much for your help, it has been invaluable.

[glowjet]

Colin if you havn`t already, have a peek at Picture of The Week section, you will see images of the Moon taken by forum members which are stunning to say the least, if you want to Moon study, like me, I would recommend you invest in some Orthoscopic ep`s, although the FOV is not as good as Plossls, their clarity is superb, a good quality apo Barlow to go with them to boot.

John.

[brianb]

if you want to Moon study, like me, I would recommend you invest in some Orthoscopic ep`s

Yes. Same applies even more for planets, where a wide field of view is even less of an issue.

I turned my CPC1100 to Mars last night, using my 14mm Meade series 5000 Super Plossl which is an excellent "deep sky" eyepiece. Finding the seeing was reasonably steady, I swapped to my 12.5mm Baader Genuine Ortho, which gives a fairly similar power, but a lot more detail on Mars became visible. I was even able to step up to my 9mm BGO & see a bit more ...

Whether a Barlow is any help or not depends on your scope. With a long focus scope like a Mak or a SCT, for visual work I reckon it's better to do without. With short focus scopes you probably need a Barlow to get a decent magnification without having to use a very short focal length (uncomfortable) eyepiece; but a cheap one is a waste of money. The Celestron Ultima SV is an excellent three-element apochromatic 2x barlow (slightly more than 2x in my experience) and is a safe recommendation at "mid price" (around £80).

[Astro_Baby]

I had the Celestron set and found them really good for the money. A chance to play with better gear than I had in the past and also it helped refine what I would want when I got the puse out for more expensive kit.

They usually come up quite often on ebay and when you are done with it they usually sell quite well so yoiu dont tyake much of a hit to the pocket.

The 32mm was wonderful in my kit and the filters were also useful to learn with. I cant get on with small pinhole style EPs so it was worth finding that out alone really.

Most of them were fine but the very small EPs in the kit I found too hard to work with.

[Eyeball]

Thank you all very much for your input - it's sound advice.

I have a feeling that I shall be concentrating my efforts on lunar observations until I am sufficiently well-versed in the finer points of astronomy.

[Eyeball]

Colin if you havn`t already, have a peek at Picture of The Week section, you will see images of the Moon taken by forum members which are stunning to say the least, if you want to Moon study, like me, I would recommend you invest in some Orthoscopic ep`s, although the FOV is not as good as Plossls, their clarity is superb, a good quality apo Barlow to go with them to boot.

John.

Had a look - some stunning images there John. Has certainly whetted my appetite

[wulfrunian]

Congratulations on your first session Colin I know that lots of people don't like the Moon being up, as it drowns out DSOs, but I just like to look at whatever's up there. Anything in a clear sky is fine by me, and the Moon is one thing I don't tire of, it always looks fantastic! You'll get much more detail when it's not full, too, when you can see the shadows of sunrise or sunset bringing the craters and mountains into relief.

[Eyeball]

Congratulations on your first session Colin I know that lots of people don't like the Moon being up, as it drowns out DSOs, but I just like to look at whatever's up there. Anything in a clear sky is fine by me, and the Moon is one thing I don't tire of, it always looks fantastic! You'll get much more detail when it's not full, too, when you can see the shadows of sunrise or sunset bringing the craters and mountains into relief.

I realise that it's not just about magnification and eyepieces Michael. Too much light can be problematic for viewing clarity.

I look forward to viewing it again when it is not so bright - but a wonderful introduction it was to astronomy none-the-less.

[wulfrunian]

It's not just the brightness, it's also the fact that when it's not full, you get shadows along the terminator which show up more detail. At full, the whole disc is in sunlight so you don't get that effect. But of course the full moon does have a beauty all of its own, a wonderful introduction indeed

[LukeSkywatcher]

I had a great session with the moon early this morining (4-6am) also. I used every EP i have and even my 2x barlow. Shame the moon was so full so there was not a lot of detail on the disk but around the terminator was fantastic with my 6mm+2x. I saw things i have never seen before (craters). It was like those extreme clos-up images of the moon where you feel like you are hovering just above the surface. The only real issue i had was with such high magnification, the moon appeared to be really "boiling". Then i hunted down Mars using my 32mm EP. Swapped that for a 10mm EP and could JUST make out a teeny tiny disk. Very little colour and sure as hell no detail. Once again Mars has eluded me.

[LukeSkywatcher]

The eyepiece kit sounds a good idea, and one that I will look into.

I suppose the 6mm would give you the maximum magnification for the Heritage (x230) would it?

The rule of thumb is that you divide the focal lenght of the scope by the size of the EP, so, Heritage = 650mm/6mm=x110 (give or take). If you add a 2x barlow you get x220 (give or take).

[Eyeball]

The rule of thumb is that you divide the focal lenght of the scope by the size of the EP, so, Heritage = 650mm/6mm=x110 (give or take). If you add a 2x barlow you get x220 (give or take).

Thanks for that Paul. I thought a 6mm + barlow would give me the highest practical magnification for the Heritage.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Thanks for that Paul. I thought a 6mm + barlow would give me the highest practical magnification for the Heritage.

Practical magnification...YES. Well almost. 5mm+2x would be higher and usable.

I have a 4mm EP but it has a crack on it so i cant use it which is ok because the hole you look through is ridiculuosly SMALL.

I had never used my 6mm EP or Barlow before getting the Heritage. The magnification was too much for my 3.5" scope.

[Eyeball]

Practical magnification...YES. Well almost. 5mm+2x would be higher and usable.

I have a 4mm EP but it has a crack on it so i cant use it which is ok because the hole you look through is ridiculuosly SMALL.

I had never used my 6mm EP or Barlow before getting the Heritage. The magnification was too much for my 3.5" scope.

I would be interested to know how you get on with your 6mm EP + barlow.

[John]

There is the theoretical maximum magnfication that a scope can take which is often expressed as 2 x the aperture in mm so a 130mm scope has a theoretical max of 260x. In practice however the practical max is lower - say 2/3 of the theoretical max - this is due to a variety of limiting factors external to the scope, principally the seeing conditions that prevail in the UK on most nights. That's not to say that you will never use the higher figure, but it won't be very often and will rarely show any more detail than the more moderate power already shows - sometimes less !.

I'm not expecting 250mm newtonian, through a very good scope optically and in good collimation, to ever be useful at 500x !

[Eyeball]

There is the theoretical maximum magnfication that a scope can take which is often expressed as 2 x the aperture in mm so a 130mm scope has a theoretical max of 260x. In practice however the practical max is lower - say 2/3 of the theoretical max - this is due to a variety of limiting factors external to the scope, principally the seeing conditions that prevail in the UK on most nights. That's not to say that you will never use the higher figure, but it won't be very often and will rarely show any more detail than the more moderate power already shows - sometimes less !.

I'm not expecting 250mm newtonian, through a very good scope optically and in good collimation, to ever be useful at 500x !

Point taken!

[LukeSkywatcher]

I would be interested to know how you get on with your 6mm EP + barlow.

I have to say that i was pleasantly amazed by how well i got on with that. The Heritage gathers so much more light then other scope so i could actually see some amazing craters around the terminator on an almost full moon. The seeing wasnt great....the moon at that mag looked like it was boiling but there were moments of good seeing when the boiling stopped and gave great views of very minute details. I tried to observe M42 also with this setup but the moon washed out most of the detail.