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Newbie just bought a telescope (well two actually!)

mallorcasaint

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mallorcasaint

mallorcasaint

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Hi all,

For some years my wife has been after a telescope so for her birthday I bought her a Jessops 800-80. We tried it out and found it quite easy and fascinating. Managed to get the Pole Star and a few others in the region. That was last night, first time out. Today I ordered a Skywatcher EXPLORER-130P 130mm (5.1") f/650 Parabolic Newtonian Reflector Telescope from Stockport Binocular & Telescope Centre as we immediately realised that Jessops was not what we needed. Fortunately Jessops have a 30 day return and it was a demo model, so back it goes!! I hope the Skywatch will be better!

Now all we need to do is figure out what the heck we are looking at!!

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Agreed....the 130 is probably the scope more people start with than anything and there's a good reason. Its got great optics and will give some seriojlsy good views for the money. Most reviewers rate it very highly and Skywatcher kits is endorsed by no less a personage than Patrick Moore.

You made a good choice......welcome to the forum :eek:

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mallorcasaint

mallorcasaint

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Thanks guys! We are really excited about joining the stargazers community. Can't wait for the new scope to arrive and the moon to re-appear! We intend to start with looking at the Moon and then move on to planets before trying some nebulas, if the scope will handle it! Skywatcher 130p.

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sengoksa

sengoksa

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:) Realy perfect choice for first scope you wont be dissapointed

the 25mm eyepeice isnt bad the 10mm not so good less said

about the barlow the better I would strongly recommend buying

a tal x2 or x3 barlow best price and quality to be found out there:evil6:

your be suprised how big the scope actully looks all set up...:D

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rowan46

rowan46

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an excellent choice, I have a 5inch scope "127mm" and find plenty to look at and under dark skys even better. has anybody mentioned this yet to you Stellarium it will help you find out what you're looking at and if you don't have a laptop get one of these http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/philip27s+planisphere3a+northern+51-5+degrees+-+british+isles2c+northern+europe+nort actually I would get a planisphere and red torch anyway

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firstblooduk

firstblooduk

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I can vogue for this scope as i got one Christmas eve as a present for my self hehe!

So far i have seen (The Orion Nebula, Moon, Jupiter and 4 satellites with Uranus just behind it!, Venus, Saturn, Pleiades and Lots of stars)

My advice would be to get some eye pieces they make the view so much sharper and clear i got the Antares ultra-wide 9mm and 32mm photo-visual and the views are stunning.

Edit:

I just made some mock up images from stellarium of what to expect from this scope on a dark clear night but it wont be in colour like the images

The Orion Nebula (32mm EP)

130porion.png

Pleiades (32mm x2 Barlowed (16mm))130ppledies32mmbarlowx2.png

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mallorcasaint

mallorcasaint

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Thank again all. I have downloaded Stellarium and already have a red torch! I have also found a good website for checking cloud cover/weather Metcheck.com - Global Weather Forecasts - Weather Forecast for EX2 - [updated on 06 January 2011 at 15:00] - Weather Feeds - Live Data - Long Range Weather Forecasts

I'll certainly look at some different EP's once we are set up. As I usually live in Mallorca and have a large roof terrace, 4 stories up, I am looking forward to taking the scope there!

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firstblooduk

firstblooduk

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firstblooduk...

I have a SW130P scope and i have to say that i have never seen Orion looking like that with a 32mm EP. I'd be amazed if it looked like that with any scope and a 32mm EP. I dont mean the colour obviously. I mean the size.

Maybe its just me.

Orion looks exactly like that with my scope with this EP it's just not as sharp and very dull.

The 32mm from this kit but it's extendable with thread also for a camera.

http://scopesnskies.com/prod/ScopeTeknix/eyepiece/accessory-kit2.html

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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Orion looks exactly like that with my scope with this EP it's just not as sharp and very dull.

The 32mm from this kit but it's extendable with thread also for a camera.

ScopeTeknix 7 part Photo-Visual eyepiece and accessory kit by GSO

And the Orion nebula looks THAT big with your scope and a 32mm EP?

I think i'm missing something you mean here because with a 32mm EP...............objects look very small. Now maybe the nebula would look that big if you used a 3.2mm EP..........or a 6mm EP + 2x Barlow. But i just cant see how you see the nebula THAT big with a 32mm EP.

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mallorcasaint

mallorcasaint

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Well our Skywatcher 130p has arrived and I must say I am very impressed with the substantial build quality! I just need to set it all up now and I'm pouring through the manual to make sure the EQ2 is done correctly and everything is balanced. As foretold it arrived with a free gift of rain and clouds, so First Light may be sometime off!

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xyz

xyz

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firstblooduk - I'm amazed if you can get that view of Orion - even discounting the colour which you will just about never see with the naked eye. You are either viewing from the darkest site on earth with the best seeing imaginable or you are over egging the pudding ever so slightly :icon_eek:

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mallorcasaint

mallorcasaint

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Got everything set up and aligned/balanced. I have set the latitude to 52.7 degrees for Exeter and set the red dot finder. I must say it was easier than I thought and once I got my head around declination it seems fairly straight forward.

My wife and I have booked to do an "Introduction to Astronomy" course at the Norman Lockyer Observatory on Saturday 15th Jan. £20 for the full day so that was fortuitous!

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JamesM

JamesM

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You're in a very nice part of the world, not just because of the Norman Lockyer Observatory (great collection of scopes there) but because are very own First Light Optics (sponsor) are also based in your neck of woods and I believe they also do some observing up at the observatory too.

Turn Left At Orion as earlier recommended is a great book BUT there is a new revised edition coming out in the spring which contains revised tables at the back (lunar eclipses, full moon etc dates/times) that will guarantee best value for money. The current edition's tables expire this year and as its not the cheapest book want to make sure you get best value for money.

James

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