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im new and my telescope cant see the moon only my eyelashes

stuart hannah

By stuart hannah
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stuart hannah

stuart hannah

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Hi All, im new to this kind of thing but have always wanted to try it and as luck would have it i was walking past a charity shop yesterday and in the window was a national geographic 50mm telescope which i duly bought for £10, it looks new and unused. Howeve that evening i tried looking at the moon and all i could see were my eyelashes and everything was blurred. Having read the instructions it says i should be able to see the craters of the moon etc which would be incredible but now im very sad as i think my telescope is a dud. can anyone advise if im a bonehead and doing something wrong or the actual telescope is pants, it does look like a toy !!....:rolleyes:

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Doc

Doc

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Hi and welcome to SGL :rolleyes:

The good thing is it only cost £10 so you haven't lost loads of money. But you should be able to see craters on the moon and Saturn and Jupiter through it. You may also see some of the more bigger globular clusters.

To me it sounds like you are going past the focus point and hence not seeing nothing.

What eyepieces did it come with? Place the largest numbered eyepiece into the focuser and very slowly turn the focuser knob until you reach focus, you should see an image of say the moon get more clearer then all of a sudden a clear image will appear, go past this point and it will start getting worse.

Did it come with a finder scope as well, this is a little scope that sits ontop of the larger one?

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stuart hannah

stuart hannah

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thanks for the reply, the scope hasnt got a separate scope that sits on top and it has 3 lens h20mm, h4mm high power, a long tee shaped tiny holed lens that has no markings ( maybe this goe3s in the scope barrell long bit ) asnd a 2x erecting eyepiece

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Can you send us a pic or tell us what model number etc - I assume its this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/National-Geographic-New-50mm-Telescope/dp/B002KKC114

I would put the h20mm (thats a Huygens lens with a foca llength of 20mm) in the scope and take a look in daylight at some distant object and see if the scope focuses ok. AVOID THE SUN - DONT GO ANWHERE NEAR IT - ONE LOOK AT THAT AND YOULL DO SERIOUS DAMAGE TO YOUR EYEBALLS.

The T shaped thing - is it a diagonal I wonder - if it is one end should fit in the telescope, the other end has an eyepiece attached as in the pic on the link above.

test out in daylight - it might be your eye is too close to the lens - that happens a lot with cheap eyepieces and you need to get the hang of where your eye should be.

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Ah ha - thene that is the problem - you need to get the hang of it is all. A 50mm should resolve craters on the moon easy enough and at the mo the moon is up.

Best time to view the moon is when its not full - when its waxing or waning you get better views.

Let us know how you get on and feel free to ask any questions.

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Doc

Doc

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The problem you are going to have is the scope has no finder so you will have to look along it's body to aim onto an object, this is pretty simple for the moon but for anything else very hard indeed.

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Stuart, :D

I hope you've managed to sort out the problems with your new scope. The good news is that getting into astronomy doesn't have to be expensive and there are plenty of good scopes that are relatively inexpensive, it very much depends on what it is you want to see and do. This forum contains a lot of experience that has been accrued through personal success and failure in this subject - so you'll be in good company here. :p

Stellarium is a very useful tool to download to help you get to know where things are as well as the search box at the top of the forum's page which can provide past questions and answers.

Clear skies and enjoy the moon!!!!

James

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stuart hannah

stuart hannah

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Hi every-one, im amaed at all the help and advise i have recieved and like to say many thanks.

It is now obvious that my scope is a bit mickey mouse and i would be open to any suggestions of any starter kits or models i should be looking at.

once again many thanks...:D

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