First Telescope - not a clue!

[Gem]

Hi,

Wondered if anybody would be able to help me and cheer me up! I have wanted a telescope all of my life and finally the other day decided I could afford one. I travelled to a retailers who specifically deal with scopes as I had seen lots of conflicting advice so decided it would be best to get some advice. After a discussion I decided to purchase a EXPLORER-150PL (EQ3-2) 150mm (6") f/1200 Parabolic Newtonian Reflector with the following spec -

Magnifications (with eyepieces supplied): x48, x96, x120 & x240

Highest Practical Power (Potential): x300

Diameter of Primary Mirror: 150mm

Telescope Focal Length: 1200mm (f/8)

Eyepieces Supplied (1.25"): 10mm & 25mm

X2 Deluxe Barlow Lens 1.25" (with Camera Adaptor)

Parabolic Primary Mirror

0.5mm Ultra-Thin Secondary Mirror Supports

6x30 Finderscope

Direct SLR Camera Connection

EQ3-2 Deluxe Equatorial Mount

Built-in Polar Alignment Scope Holder

Aluminium Tripod with Accessory Tray

33% more Light Gathering than 130mm

So I was extremelly excited, set it up (probably not correct as I have found the instructions incredibally difficult to get to grips with and they do not tell you anything about the lenses and which is best to use etc). Last night I decided to have a quick go at looking at the stars with my new scope and I found that the focus was not as good as I had hoped and also that the stars appeared pretty much the same to my naked eye except there were probably a few more. Now I now it was my first go and I it takes practice and that I probably had very unrealistic expectations but now I am starting to wonder if I have spent £250 on a scope that is too complex for me or that does not work properly. There is a tiny smear on the large mirror at the back of the scope but I am sure a tiny smudge will not affect it that badly. Which Lens should I be using and should I be able to see deap sky objects with real clarity. Like I said I am sure it is just that I am a beginner and need to fiddle around with it a bit more to get used to it and I suppose I expected to see everything 70 times bigger! Can anybody offer any advice or has anybody else got this scope.

I am a complete beginner and feel out of my depth.

Thanks in advance!

Gemma

[Doc]

It can be a very daunting hobby for a beginner but firstly you have bought a very good and capable telescope. The main thing to remember is don't expect those hubble type images you see on this forum or in magazines, you will not see these visually, you only see these after many many hours of pain staking photography and processing to achieve these photo's.

With a little practise you will be able to see planets, a few galaxies, some nebulas, open and globular clusters and many double stars. But as I have said do not expect to much and hopefully you will be pleased with what you do see.

Firstly you must align your finderscope or you will struggle to find anything. This is best to do in the daylight, aim your finder at a far away object, the further the better and the idea is to get the object you are looking at in both the finderscope and the main telescope, you will have to adjust the finderscope until this is achieved.

So lets say you want to look at a star, you aim your aligned finderscope at that star and centralise it in your finderscope then place your 25mm eyepiece into your focuser as this will give you a wider field of view to enable you to see a wider slice of the sky.

If your scope and finderscope are aligned then the star will be in your 25mm eyepiece. For a closer look swap your 25mm for the 10mm or stick your barlow in the focuser first then your 25mm into the barlow, this configration will give you 12.5mm eyepiece.

As for finding objects to observe download a free planetarium software package called Stellarium, just google it.

Thats it for now as I'm sure you will get loads of responses.

[coxie]

dont worry gemma 2 to 3 months ago i was in the same boat as you, a complete beginner and i had no clue how to even assemble my scope together, like you i found my expectations to be unrealistic and at 1st i was dissappointed. But now i am getting to grips with it and when you actually find something you have been searching for and actually take it all in at what you are looking at possibly thousands of years in the past it is an amazing thought. Its like fishing, you can sit there for hours and get nothing but when you do it is so rewarding. Stars wont look no different than the naked eye, but for me when i first saw saturn and could see the rings i was so pleased with myself.

So I guess im trying to say dont worry Gemma we were all new at some stage and in the same boat as you, you will get to learn more and more, each night is different, that is the beauty of it.

If you dont have it already then download Stellarium it will show you what is in the sky for you to see and where to find it

[yeti monster]

This "smear" on the primary mirror, is it right smack bang in the middle of the mirror? If so it is there for a reason, as an aid to collimating (aligning) the optics. If not, it probably isn't going to make a huge difference to the performance, so best to ignore it for 5-10 years or so.

The stars don't ever look any larger, just the gaps inbetween them seem to increase with magnification, and fainter ones will become visible.

As the others have said, stellarium is very useful, and some printed star charts to carry with you (and a red lamp with which to read them by).

Welcome to the universe, it's wonderful up there.

[barkis]

Some good advice there Gemma.

The telescope you have chosen is a fine instrument, and at f8, some 6" objectives are left spherical. Yours, having a paraboloidal mirror should perform a lot better on the moon and planets, as far as seeing details.

Of course other things come into play, such a seeing conditions, and allowing the scope to cool to ambient temperature before using it.

If I were you, I would concentrate on using you lowest power eyepieces without the Barlow lens, until you have become familiar with the telescope. As Doc. said, aligning your finder with the main scope will be a big advantage. You can do this in daylight on a far away tree, or chimney pot. Gradually increase the eyepiece power, until you are satisfied that y0u have the finder accurately lined up.

Make your first target the Moon, it is gradually getting larger now, and Ideally for showing craters and mountains in high relief.

As I said, use low power first, then gradually go higher. You can use the Barlow on lunar targets, because the moon has enough light to permit higher magnifications. Don't try to go too high though, that can sometimes make objects blurred, especially if the seeing is not good.

Above all, don't get to disheartened. This can happen, if thibngs are not as you expected. Learning to use an astronomical telescope properly take a bit of time, and it cannot be rushed.

You will soon get into the way of things, and your enjoyment will ijncrease with time.

Good luck.

Ron.

[Chris H]

Hi, you have a nice scope some might refer to it as a planet killer and once you get the hang of it you should find that you are very happy with it.

I would recommend having a few practice goes at setting it up indoors so you get the hang of things without fiddling around in the dark. Then as mentioned above align your finderscope. I did not really like the finder scope that comes with this type of scope so I bought a red dot finder a bit like this Finders - Baader 30mm Sky Surfer III In my opinion they make finding objects in the night sky much easier.

Next thing I would recommend would be to get out and on a clear dark night and if you don't already know them learn a few constellations. Then try and find Saturn (currently in Virgo) and use your x120 power eyepiece and this should blow you away.

Just one other thing when you point your scope at the night sky stars even at high power are still just dots they are too far away from us to appear as a disc.

[Gem]

Thank you all for your help. I will have a go at alligning the finderscope properly and hope that this will make a difference. To be honest I have had a bit of a panic as when putting the scope together a screw got loose inside my scope (I managed to rescue it iafter a minute or so) so I have been worried that this will have severely impaired it, the mirrors look pristine barr the slight dot or smudge and the scope is slightly scratched inside where the screw rolled down the barrell, nothing major but I was worried that this was why I did not see anything clearly. I am sure that this will not affect the performance at all. I am looking forward to having a go at looking at the moon - this should be really easy given that you dont have to look for it! The lenses still confuse me slightly - which is the strongest and weakest etc. Thanks again for all of your help.

Gemma

[coxie]

its always good to start with the moon, after that id recommend you try saturn

[Doc]

25mm = Low magnification

10mm = high magnification.

Start of with you 25mm until you find what you are looking for and then swap to 10mm for a closer look.

[Gem]

Does anybody think that the slight smudge on the refractor or the few scratches inside my scope will affect it badly. Hope not, but its been on my mind all day.

On the plus side just downloaded Stellarium and its brilliant to see where everything is!!

[coxie]

test your scope out and focus in on the moon and if theres bluryness then possibly.

I use stellarium when i want to look for something i check on my laptop then run back outside, sometimes i have to run back in and have another look, should just take the blumming thing outside with me.

[Chris H]

If the scratch or smudge are only small then (less than an inch) then I doubt they will affect your views. Also don't worry too much if you can't get a good clear view of the Moon for example it may be due to poor seeing or the scope being out of collimation.

Collimation is getting your mirrors perfectly aligned so that the image at your eyepiece is as good as possible.

As for your eyepieces to work out the magnification of an eyepiece you divide the focul length of the scope (in your case 1200mm) by the focul length of the eyepiece. So for the 25mm eyepiece it would be 1200/25 = 48 x magnification (low power)

And the 10mm eyepiece it would be 1200/10 = 120 x magnification (high power)

Hope this helps.

[Astro_Baby]

Gemm - I;d not worry about the small dink in the mirror for now. Stuff may be blurry because seeing isnt very good. You could have a lot of haze in the sky which wont help.

If your anywhere near Gatwick or Redhill (Surrey) and you want some hands on help I'd be happy to lend a hand.

Mel

ps welcome to the board by the way and dont worry about the scope - you got a good one

[Mike Hawtin]

Gemma,

Don't be discouraged, this is a wonderful hobby and you have a very capable telescope. The biggest problem for someone starting out alone is the almost vertical learning curve! Take my advice and get yourself off to your local astro club/society, you will find all the help and encouragement you need there, so much better than struggling alone with what seems at first to be overwhelming obstacles. Persevere and don't be afraid to ask what you might think are "silly" questions, we have all been exactly where you are now, even the most experienced among us.

Good luck and I really envy what you are about to feel when it all comes together and you see first hand the fantastic sights out there.

Mike H