Few questions

[joey7415963]

Hi all just got a few questions that I'm sure are going to be stupid ones but hey it's my first post I can get away with that.

My fiancee bought me a Celestron Astromaster 130eq for Christmas which came with a 20mm and a 10mm eyepiece. Now my birthday is coming up she is asking what I want and so I was wondering if any of you could make any suggestions (modestly priced) of what would be a good thing to get.

I am interested a mixture of observations at the moment and have not really found what most interests me, I think though nebulae and such would interest me. Would I be able to see nebulae through my scope? How do people get colour from nebulae? Is it long exposure or computer processing or a mixture of the two? What filters would you recommend for viewing such objects? Also if I wanted to do astrophotography on the cheap would anyone recommend universal digital camera adapter?

Any help you can provide will be greatly appriciated.

Thanks in advance

Joe

PS: I'm in cornwall so no problem with light pollution

[Doc]

Apart from the M42 the Orion nebula most nebula's are very hard to see. Dark skies help alot when tracking these down. Colour in nebulas are very hard to spot, you might see some green's and blues in certain ones but you will not see Hubble type images through amateur telescopes.

You can enhance the contrast and make it easier to see with filters such as Oxygen 111 (O111) and UHC filters but these are rather expensive.

Most plantary nebulas are very small and will need high magnification to be able you to tell them apart from stars.

It's a favourite pastime of mine, hunting these elusive nebulas but to do it correctly you need aperture, magnification and filters.

You might be able to see

M57

M27

Owl Nebula

Eskimo Neb

Blue Snowball Neb

Best of luck, keep looking and you will see a few I'm sure.

[sgazer]

if it's not got a motor drive and if it was me, I would get one of these Motor Drives for Celestron Astromaster Telescopes

That way, once you have found something, at least you can have a good gaze at it without having to manually move the scope.

Then get a cheap DSLR for £100.....no no, the road to the dark side that is!!

As for seeing colour, not a lot will help apart from HUGE apeture (or a cheap DSLR!).

[joey7415963]

Cool! Thanks for the quick reply, I might try and go hunting for those ones you suggested tonight, as long as it's clear!

[joey7415963]

if it's not got a motor drive and if it was me, I would get one of these Motor Drives for Celestron Astromaster Telescopes

That way, once you have found something, at least you can have a good gaze at it without having to manually move the scope.

Then get a cheap DSLR for £100.....no no, the road to the dark side that is!!

As for seeing colour, not a lot will help apart from HUGE apeture (or a cheap DSLR!).

Lol thanks for your reply, I was considering the motor drive. My Dad has a pretty nifty DSLR that he would let me borrow, but how do you then secure it to the scope? The 'universal' adapter that celestron sell I've heard is not that universal. Also wouldn't the lens be far too big compared with the lens of the scope?

[Doc]

You can buy a T Adapter for most DSLR's. It connects your camera to a nosepiece that slips into the focuser.

[TopHouse]

If you haven't already got it i think I'd be asking for a copy of "Turn Left At Orion"

[joey7415963]

Ah I see, thanks Doc.

Yeh TopHouse, I read that was a really good book in another thread. But I'm still only halfway through the Phillips Practical Astronomy book, might be worth considering though.

[sgazer]

what DSLR has your dad got? You can find some adapters here under 'T-rings';

Adaptors

I'm not sure how stable your mount is or how well it will track if you did get the motors, but even a 30s exposure on the Orion nebula is a bit of a WOW moment. Problem is, you'll want more and more and it all costs ££££! It's not generally the recommened route into astromomy, but I quickly got hooked into imaging !

ps. one thing to be a little careful of if you do try a DSLR is that not all reflector scopes will bring the camera to focus ie. sometimes the focuser doesn't wind in far enough. Probably best to check if you can before buying the adapters.

[Dimitris]

My fiancee bought me a Celestron Astromaster 130eq for Christmas which came with a 20mm and a 10mm eyepiece. Now my birthday is coming up she is asking what I want and so I was wondering if any of you could make any suggestions (modestly priced) of what would be a good thing to get.

Well, for one thing, I would have asked my fiancee to buy me a bigger telescope:D:D:D (just kidding)

I would suggest self restrain. Let DSLRs and such lie until you are certain that you are properly hooked with the hobby, and want to spend enough time and money.

Your telescope is good enough as an introductory instrument, but I wouldnt invest much on it exept in books (in Greece, Nightwatch is a huge sucess, a fine book for the beginer). Learn the sky, to a point that you will be able to identify at least the basics, work with you telescope until you feel both comfortable and eager for more and then we will talk again

Regards

Dimitris

[John]

Cool! Thanks for the quick reply, I might try and go hunting for those ones you suggested tonight, as long as it's clear!

Just a note that if the moon is in the sky it will wash out many nebulae making them difficult, if not impossible, to see. Even the great Orion Nebula (M42) looks a very pale shadow of itself when the moon is around.

[joey7415963]

Thanks for the advice John and Dimitris, I don't think I can afford to go much bigger at the moment but a few accessories would go down a treat. I think I might just ask for a couple more books though as previously suggested.

Sgazer: I'm not too sure what DSLR Dad's got as I'm in Manchester at the moment, it's a fairly standard size though with plenty of settings so I rekon it would do the job.

But thanks to everyone for your replies and input!