I want a good telescope that is not bulky and easy to move around.

[Carl]

kk thanks I nearly said thnx .

I`ve got a planisphere.And some good astronomy books.I want to join a astronomy group but i`ll have to relie on my dad to take me.And he`ll most probable won`t want to. :insects1:

[Albireo380]

Hi Moonhunter,

Lots of good people and advice on the Forum. As Daz said, just take it slow and easy, the knowledge and terminology will come. Go to your local Library and see what Astro books they have - it is free

I spent my first "Astronomy Winter" with a planisphere and a very bad 60mm second hand refractor. But, by the end of the Winter I knew my way around the constellations and had seen lots of detail on the moon + Jupiter and 4 moons, Saturn and rings + about a dozen deep sky objects (M42 (Orion nebula) just blew my mind. So it is worth persevering.

What is a "gangsta" - Oldie question I know, but ...........

Tom

[daz]

I want to join a astronomy group but i`ll have to relie on my dad to take me.And he`ll most probable won`t want to. :insects1:

Have you asked him?

Maybe you could do a deal with him. He takes you to the club once a month (the usual frequency of meetings) and you could, say, clean the car in return?

OK - so you have the planisphere, that's a good start, and the books will help as well. All you need do is get out there and start looking!!!

And remember, we are here to answer any question.

[GazOC]

Tom, you must have heard of Tupac and Biggie Smalls??

[steve1]

Hi Moonhunter...why not have a look at a zeiss telementor refractor 63/840 one for sale at Markus Ludes .....AMP TELESCOPES...go to his webb site look in the secoundhand section ,has on for sale 895 euro about £604...really nice scope to start with ...good look with your search :saturn:

[Carl]

:lol:Thanks all.I think i might sit out side tonight looking at the :stars:

I just hope it doesn`t

[Chubster]

Hi Moonhunter.....Re: scope upstairs issue.......how secure is your garden / neighbourhood ????

I had similar problem to you but mine was a space issue (no pun intended). I have had my scope outside for nearly a year now...no problems at all. It is always set up ready to go and obviously no cool down times ! I bought a heavy duty cover from homebase, the ones designed for patio table and chairs, about 20 quid which completely covers it and also has draw cords so you can stop it flapping about. The only other thing i did after some advice from here was buy a silica bag which is attached to the main tube cover.

Might be an option for you....... but please only if you have secure garden. (Mine is tucked away in a corner under a tree so not visible at all

[Carl]

Thanks chubster.Mine would`nt be trucked away under a tree .Neighbours will be able to see it.So i`ll just have to lock it tight.

[Ant]

Can't really add much to this but I've been observing for a long time - but every year I still buy the "Times Night Sky Guide"

It has maps for each month, tells you what the planets and Moon are doing that month. Also tells you about meteor showers etc... very usefull even just for planning ahead!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0007202458/ref=pe_5301_4031591_pe_ar_d10007202458 It's £4.71 plus P&P.

You'll want the 2007 version though

I normally have that for Xmas from my son.

Ant

[Carl]

Just to let you all know i`ll be living in a shed soon I mean i`ll be going shed shopping so i can get a shed and put my telescope in it.And cough some pictures of the WWE divas

[Carl]

I can`t wait I`m looking forward to getting a shed Sad or what But ha who cares at the end of the day i`ll be looking at the universe. 8)

[MartinB]

MD - keep at it matey and keep it nice and simple. Get your scope where you can get to it and don't try to be over ambitious. Enjoy observing the moon for starters. Get a moon map so that you are thinking more about what you are looking at. Helps to move you beyond the "wow that was good, what shall I look at now" stage. You should be able to pick out M31 but it will just be a bit of fuzz. M45 - the plaides will be a lovely site through your scope. You could also try looking up the double cluster between perseus and cassiopia which will be spectacular. Just take your time learning how to move and align your scope.

Keep asking the simple questions MD. The jargon we use is a useful shorthand but can confuse people, don't be worried about getting us to explain! You've made a great contribution to the forum already. Will be nice to hear more about your progress

[Carl]

Cheers MB.Thanks to Pete Lawrence( sorry can`t remember your name on the forum ) and chris off Skyu at night i`ve decided to try and study the moon.I`ve always founded the moon interesting.But i just needed a bit of enthusisiam to get me to really see what`s on it and to study it.

As soon as i move in I`ll try and polar align the scope( can someone tell me how to do it please, all i remember is that i have to point at a bright star )

And i`ll also collimate it and do my RA circles.

I`m so looking forward to it. :D

Thanks to everyone whos helped me so far.I really appreciate you all for putting up with me.

cheers

Carl

[FLO]

Good move

You can spend a lifetime studying the Moon; like the sea, its different every time you look at it.

:moon:

[MartinB]

You can put setting circles and even collimation on hold for a short while but you do need to polar align your scope every time you use it. This is the clearest and simplest I can explain it MD but if a lose you just shout.

When you polar align it is the mount you are lining up not the telescope. You need to be able to find polaris, that is fundamental. If you can't do this just shout and one of us can tell you the way to do it.

hold the shaft which holds the counterweight and turn it on the mount (make sure you loosen the little lever that frees up this bit of the mount. You may be able to turn the mount in a cricle although in reality it will catch on the mount mechanism so you will then have to swimg it round the other way. You are now turning the mount in RA or right ascension. Remember this because it is confusing - the right ascension axis is the one which rotates the counterweight shaft.

You will see that the circle that the shaft turns through isn't horizontal. At the counterweights high and low points it will line up with the rest of the mount. For polar alignment you want the counterweight to be at its lowest point and in line with the rest of the mount. Hope this is making sense. When you have done this and tightened the lever again lift the whole mount up and point it so that the counterweight shaft is pointing north or towards polaris (although remember the shaft will actually be pointing downwards.

Next swing your telescope using the other axis of movement the mount has which is declination. Line your telesope up with the mount and the counterweight shaft so that when you look through the telescope you are looking north.

Now comes the imprortant bit. Once you have lined up the telescope with the mount and are pointing roughly north DO NOT use the RA or declination any more. You are now going to move the mount and not the telescope until when you look through the scope polaris is in the middle of the field of view. Look through your finder scope and move the mount itself including tripod until you are lined up with polaris as well as is possible. Have a look at your mount and you should find there is some way fo turning it in both altitude ie moves the scope up and down and azimuth - moves the scope east and west. It is these controls you use so that you can get to see polaris in the field of view. Once again DO NO USE RA OR DEC TO ALIGN.

Once you have polaris in the middle of you field of view with the scope lined up with the mount you have a good alignment for visual work. Make sure the alt az controls are locked so they can't move any more and then you are free to move the scope in RA and Dec. Where ever you swing the scope to your scope will be aligned and you should be able to track the movment of the stars using just your RA slow motion adjuster.

Good luck. It's on of those things it is much easier to demonstrate with a scope that to explain in writing. If you can get to your local astro soc that is the quickest way to learn otherwise you will have to make do with this rambling.

[MartinB]

MD have a look at the EQ mount in these pics. It is in its polar alignment position

http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=7411.msg79748#msg79748

[Ambermile]

Good move

You can spend a lifetime studying the Moon; like the sea, its different every time you look at it.

:moon:

Ah - the Moon. Here's something that will keep you busy for the whole month - assuming it's clear every night...

http://www.saguaroastro.org/content/SAC-110-Best-Lunar-Objects-List.htm

They even issue an award if you can confirm everything. They *will* know if you're kidding them on though!

Arthur

[Carl]

MD have a look at the EQ mount in these pics. It is in its polar alignment position

http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=7411.msg79748#msg79748

Ah!!!!.I was wandering why the telescopes look like that.Damn!!!! SO that means my isn`t aligned.Oh and i take it the best time to align is at night time.