Wheres the moon?

[stevirobbo]

I have been looking at all the star maps etc but they don't show where abouts in relation to N,W,S & N where the moon is on the chart.

I took my scope out last night and looked at the moon and the planet to the left (unsure what that is yet) I think it was Mercury??

Wasn't as close as I thought it would be What lens would I need to bring it in more nearer? (the planet not the moon)

[SteveL]

As the moon moves around the earth once a month (and therefore moves against the stationary background sky), and the stars dont move (or at least not fast enough to worth mentioning), the star charts wont show the moon's position in them.

[George]

And the brightest planet to the left was Jupiter, in between the two is Neptune.

[stevirobbo]

Couldn't see the one in between or didn't look , scanned around but just looked like stars that you see without looking through scope, I have skywatcher 150 and the lens I trid was the 2x and 10mm & wide angle, it seemed better without the 2x on more clearer.

[darkly]

This is what you see

Hope it helps

[darkly]

Or from your viewpoint on the ground

Look out your window several nights in a row and it will make sense

[darkly]

And through your telescope ... at low power

Nice innit

[SteveL]

Oddly, my web browser appears unable to access files in your local temp folder

[darkly]

Sky at Night magazine has a star chart in the middle pages which shows the moons position and its phase against the constellations over the course of the month which you may find handy if you are using it as a starters guide to find the positions of things!

Have you used a compass to find North from your observing site yet ??? It's handy to know before you start.

Best views for learning are usually to the South (ish)

[darkly]

Me just learning to upload pictures and failing badly ... sorry

Not sure where I'm going wrong - will investigate

[darkly]

This is what you see

Hope it helps

is this better, learn something new every day

Thanks for the pointer

[stevirobbo]

Nice examples m8 through my scope it was brighter, so bright in fact it blinded me lmao could only look at the edge.

What do you mean at low power?

Jupiter through my scope on 2 x barlow and 10mm was about the size of the "links world" on the edit buttons on this message sender, How do I bring it in closer?

[stevirobbo]

And through your telescope ... at low power

Nice innit

Yes brilliant

[darkly]

It's all on google mate

[Moonshane]

Nice examples m8 through my scope it was brighter, so bright in fact it blinded me lmao could only look at the edge.

What do you mean at low power?

Jupiter through my scope on 2 x barlow and 10mm was about the size of the "links world" on the edit buttons on this message sender, How do I bring it in closer?

basically to bring anything closer you increase magnification. this means using a lower numbered focal length eyepiece - eg 10mm is more magnification than 25mm. Assuming your telescope has a 1200mm focal length then focal length divided by eyepiece in mm = magnification so eg 1200 / 10 = 120x. for most of the time in the UK seeing (i.e. the turbulence or otherwise in the atmosphere) restricts the magnifications to 150-200x except the moon where you can use a bit more power. In your scope the 10mm with the barlow = 5mm so 240x. this is a little much for the seeing generally and certainly for Jupiter currently in my recent experience. I have had my best / clearest views sub 150x. an 8mm eyepiece would give 150x which is a decent magnification for Jupiter and assuming your scope is cooled for an hour outside before you start and your collimation is good then you should see a lot of detail at 150x.

hope this helps.

[stevirobbo]

basically to bring anything closer you increase magnification. this means using a lower numbered focal length eyepiece - eg 10mm is more magnification than 25mm. Assuming your telescope has a 1200mm focal length then focal length divided by eyepiece in mm = magnification so eg 1200 / 10 = 120x. for most of the time in the UK seeing (i.e. the turbulence or otherwise in the atmosphere) restricts the magnifications to 150-200x except the moon where you can use a bit more power. In your scope the 10mm with the barlow = 5mm so 240x. this is a little much for the seeing generally and certainly for Jupiter currently in my recent experience. I have had my best / clearest views sub 150x. an 8mm eyepiece would give 150x which is a decent magnification for Jupiter and assuming your scope is cooled for an hour outside before you start and your collimation is good then you should see a lot of detail at 150x.

hope this helps.

Yes thanx Moonshane