Newbie with limited equipment

[Smeghead]

Hi all

been interested in astronomy for years, but until recently never had the time.

trouble is i am now unemployed (hence the time !)

what i have is as follows

Binoculars (10x25 and 10x50)

DSLR camera with 75-300mm lense

i don't have a telescope

what can i expect to see given the limited equipment i have ?

also, i have seen a very cheap telescope (think it was 180x for about £28). i'm assuming i should stear clear of this !

thanks for your time, patience and help !

[toshapetriji]

10 X 50 bins are enough to start learning the sky

this should help

Clicky

Good luck with your job search.

[Smeghead]

10 X 50 bins are enough to start learning the sky

this should help

Clicky

Good luck with your job search.

thanks

already got stellerium

been using it without looking during the day to try and learn a bit.

with my 10x50's will i be able to see some of the bigger planets ?

[ollypenrice]

You can see several planets before you can see anything else in the night sky.

Venus, (Earth!), Mars, Jupiter, Saturn are all ultra-bright when they are in view. At the moment it's Jupiter. In your bins you will see its 4 Gallilean moons easily.

You can't really do anything with your camera without a mount to unwind the motion of the Earth. Maybe try a fast grab of the moon for the hell of it if you have a tripod available.

For the moment I'd concentrate on bins and books.

Olly

[Smeghead]

thanks

can binoculars go out of focus ?

all i can really see with mine is uranus (bright star like object about south now)

no sign of jupiter or any other object not visible by the naked eye.

[Speedy]

thanks

all i can really see with mine is uranus (bright star like object about south now)

no sign of jupiter or any other object not visible by the naked eye.

That's jupiter not uranus smeghead , jupiter is definately visible with the naked eye, what does it look like through your bins?

[Smeghead]

very bright !

can't really make anything else out

was hoping to be able to see one or more of its moons if it was jupiter.

[astroimpulse]

ATM Jupiter is unmistakable in the sky. It's about SW at the moment and quite low. But it's by far the brightest thing. Well in my sky at least lol

[Smeghead]

thanks

from looking at stellerium i'm guessing it must be jupiter

i think i'll be asking for a telescope for christmas !

[Speedy]

you should be able to pick out the moons with your bins mate, i have butchered a pair of 10x50's to make a finderscope & the moons are clearly visible, not meaning to sound condescending but have you got the focus right

[pvaz]

Do you live in a light polluted area? If so it will be harder but there's lot's to see on binos.

Skymaps.com - Publication Quality Sky Maps & Star Charts

Get the map for November. It comes with a list of recommended objects for binoculars. Even if you don't like the map you can use the list + stellarium to find your way.

[Smeghead]

thanks for the replies

there is quite a bit of light pollution from the pub car park close by

although they don't always turn the lights on

will have another look when the lights go out.

[John]

thanks for the replies

there is quite a bit of light pollution from the pub car park close by

although they don't always turn the lights on

will have another look when the lights go out.

Try resting the binoculars on something to keep them steady - a bean bag on the top of a fence - that sort of thing. It's surprising wat 50mm of aperture will show when the images is not wobbling about !.

[Smeghead]

Try resting the binoculars on something to keep them steady - a bean bag on the top of a fence - that sort of thing. It's surprising wat 50mm of aperture will show when the images is not wobbling about !.

true.

noticed an improvement when i took the camera off the tripod and popped the binocs on.

now if only the pub would turn the lights off !

[brian.s]

Hi from wales have you had a look on ebay lots of junk telescopes but there are some good bargains as well go for a good name like skywatcher dobs or Newtonian get more light for your money a 6-8inch reflector the sky will open up all its glory! to you good luck

[brantuk]

If you get up around 4-4:30am you should see saturn in the south (assuming the skies clear)

[LukeSkywatcher]

10x50 bins is really all anyone needs to start to learn the night sky.

Your SLR camera with the 75-300mm lens is MORE then enough to start taking fixed tripod imaged without a telescope.

You will get great shots of the moon and constellations.

Take short exposures..................but many of them them and then stack them together.

You will be amazed at the results.

[brantuk]

Yup - additional to Pauls idea - if you find out how to polar align your camera tripod you'll get some nice circular star trails

[pete_l]

One thing you can do with your DLSR is to get some wide-field views of constellations. At 70mm you'll have a field of view of about 20°, depending on the crop-ratio of your camera's sensor. That's enough to let you take 1-second exposures without getting star trails. If you take longer exposures, the stars will move from one pixel on the sensor to the next, so your image won't collect any more light to show dimmer stars. You will need to have the camera supported ssomehow - hand-aiming is not an option: too much camera shake.

At a high ISo setting that'll give some nice constellation patterns that are handy for identifying the relative positions and brightness of the stars which make up the constellations. It also means you can relate the images to the star maps in free programs like Cartes du Soleil

Another thing you could consider, depending on your location, is a local astronomy club. If you have one within easy transport distance, they may be willing to waive the subscriptions for unemployed members - and they may well have a decent telescope at a site that you could get time to use. Plus they'll have observing evenings where it's considered impolite for people who bring telescopes along to refuse others to have a look through them.

[Capricorn]

With binoculars you can pick out some of the open and globular clusters. M45 Pleadies is easy. Look at Orion also at this time, you will see M42 Orion Nebula, won't be big but it will be a recognisable "blur". Try for the double cluster in Perseus.

Get a Messier list off the web, and look up the brighter clusters.

Get a list of double stars, Mizer and Alcor, in the Plough is an easy set. Start separating them. Coloured one are more dificult as the colour may not come through.

M31 Andromeda is another that binoculars are Ok on.

The ones above I have done on 8x42's so you 10x50's should manage the same as well.

Try astroleague.org and go look for the section they have on binocular observing and easy Messiers. Get the observing lists and try to tick them off.

[neilm]

Have a look at this from jgs001, should give you some ideas of what you can do with just a camera, plenty to play with http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-tips-tricks-techniques/73737-basic-widefield-camera-tripod.html

Cheers

Neil

[brantuk]

If you get a copy of Sky at Night magazine (or astronomy now) you get a list of objects to look for each month and an indication of what equipment to use for the best views. Theres allways a list of interesting binocular objects.

My first views included stuff like: the moon, jupiter and its moons, saturn with titan, M42, pliedes, beehive cluster, wild duck cluster, M31 (v nice in binocs), venus, mercury, etc. These aren't all in the sky at the same time but the monthly guides take you through the year nicely building up your knowledge

[Smeghead]

Try astroleague.org and go look for the section they have on binocular observing and easy Messiers. Get the observing lists and try to tick them off.

thanks for the replies

had a look at the above web address but couldn't see any binocular section.

i'm probably being blind and it is right in front of me !

just got to hope the pub turns off the car park lights earlier now

[Speedy]

soon as i can upgrade mate, i will donate you some gear, i know what its like to be interested in something & want things but not be able to do much about it