I own a telescope!

[jmurray01]

Finally!

My granda gave me a 70MM Skylux telescope for Christmas. And although it took quite a while to assemble (because I refused to read the instructions thinking I knew better ) it did get up in the end, and I can't wait to test it out!

One question is though, there is a 4mm eyepiece with it, and how the heck am I meant to be able to see through that tiny hole ?

[Steve C]

Short answer-not much!

Recommend a 25mm & maybe something about 15mm to start with

[jmurray01]

Well, luckily it also comes with a 20mm piece, so I'm using that just now!

And also, what is the point of the other mini telescope thing on the top ?

Yes I really am thick

[Cornelius Varley]

The small telescope is the finderscope. This is a low magnification scope that it used to locate objects in the sky. You will need to align it with the main telescope so it sees the same area of the sky as your main telescope. Aim the telescope in daylight at a distant object, a tv aerial or building, then adjust the finderscope alignment bolts so that the finder is pointing at the same object. See this video on youtube for more information

.

You will need to get your eye as close as possible to see through the 4mm eyepiece, start with the lower magnification eyepieces first (the bigger the number the lower the magnification) and then work up.

Peter

[brantuk]

I agree entirely - those small ep's are like trying to see to thread a kneedle. I can't be doing with it myself. Worse still - the cheaper grade ep's aren't worth the effort.

The advice above is good - do bear in mind that "seeing" conditions will limit most scopes to around 200x max magnification. Just divide the ep size into the focal length to obtain magnification. In your case this is 700/4=175

[BobTheSaxon]

Excellent - you ave a scope, tripod and a good eyepiece which is vey portable. When the clouds go away you will be able to see some amazing sights - look out for Jupiter in the evening, you will be able to see 4 of its moons. I suggest you do a little sketch to show their positions. Them the next time you look in a day or so make another sketch and compare them - can you figure ot what has happened? Gallileo saw this a few 100 years ago and it got him into a lot of trouble - but you should be OK.

Enjoy the skies.

Bob

[umadog]

For reference, Saturn ought to look something like this:

Simulated Telescope Planet Images

scroll down to where it says 3" 100x

Don't expect anything like the Hubble photos!

[yeti monster]

Happy new scope. We have a saying in the oil patch, "if all else fails, RtFM" (Read the Flippin' Manual)...

[ronin]

As the scope is 70mm dia I would not expect it to do anything useful beyond 100x magnification. 70-80x being a more common.

You will have to purchase a couple of eyepieces to cover these magnifications, a couple of relatively inexpensive plossl's will be OK for the scope.

The 20 will be a fair general eyepiece, if the views are OK, so perhaps something in the 8, 10, 12mm area will be useful and supply some magnification.

After that it is a case of reading a book and deciding what it is that is visible, and of interest to you. At this time of year you have Orion that is good and has things in it to keep you occupied. Once you are used to the scope I would suggest finding a few clusters from the Messier list. Jupiter if it is high enough for you - you are somewhat North I recall. Try Saturn in the mornins but the scope may not resolve much.

Is the Skylux a reflector? If yes, then are there instructions on how to collimate? May need it and will improve the image qulity.