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Hello and Help

robbiew1971

By robbiew1971
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robbiew1971

robbiew1971

Posted
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Good evening all,

My name is rob and we have just purchased a celestron nexstar 80gtl for my daughter who has shown a healthy interest in star gazing. We have set it all up and have observed the moon so far but not much else. The images of the moon were breathtaking for all of us who have had no experience of this sort of thing. However its really given us the bug and we want to know more and see more.

The problem im having is viewing planets, cant seem to get a decent focus on jupiter which is one my daughter is desperate to see, would anyone be so kind to advise me best viewing times, eyepiece to use, etc. Thanks for your help:)

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Capricorn

Capricorn

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Spec says: 80mm refractor, focal length 400mm (=f/5)

Comes with 10mm and 25mm eyepiece.

Diagonal is one that supplies an erect image.

Comes with a solar filter.

Picture I see of it looks as if it is not f/5, basically looks too long, could be a "standard" picture of a refractor. Please post information if the focal length is not 400mm.

It is discontinued, hope you knew that. Also says max usable magnification = 189x. This I hope is someone's idea of a joke, 100x-120x is more realistic. You may get more but not often.

If OK so far I am amazed.

First DO NOT USE THE SOLAR FILTER!!!!

I am guessing that is one that goes in the eyepiece.

Jupiter: can be seen with 60x, so that means a 6.5mm eyepiece. You will have to have the scope outside as it gets dark. Jupiter is getting low and it is best seen when as high up as possible so that means as early as possible these days. Say 7:00pm and hope.

Suggest that you look for a planetary eyepiece of 6mm focal length so 65x, a 5mm would give 80x which could be better.

The 25mm eyepiece that came with it will probably be fair, the 10mm will probably be poor. This seems to be the case with the Celestron/SW scopes.

If you can use the scope without the erecting unit then better views will result. But I suspect it is a fixture. This may be upsetting the clarity.

Did you put a location on your profile?

See you are in Salisbury, the locations do not appear when posting a reply. May be someone close to lend you an eyepiece. Look up fedastro.org.uk for clubs.

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robbiew1971

robbiew1971

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Hi Capricorn,

Thanks for your reply, focal length is 400mm. Solar filter looks as if it goes at the "big end" of the scope.I have a 25mm and a 10mm that came with it, it is also computerized although has been very complicated to set up so we are currently not using the auto-tracking.

What make of eyepiece is best to get ??. Yes i was aware it is discontinued, i paid 125.00 on ebay for it which i thought given the spec wasnt a bad starter scope for my 9 year old, i hope i was correct lol. Thanks for any advice you can give a pair of novices

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Glen

Glen

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Hi & welcome :glasses1: Jupiter is getting a little low now, maybe go for Saturn? next few weeks/months will be well placed. Im sure you will have a great time

also consider the Luna 100 list, you may see the moon but it'll give you a better understanding of whats in the eyepiece.

A great little tick off, done that feel.

Glen

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x6gas

x6gas

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Hi Rob and welcome.

Nice little starter 'scope for the money so you've done nothing wrong there...

As has been said, Jupiter is passed its best for a little while (lower in the sky, smaller angular size and not as bright) so don't be too disappointed and hunt out Saturn instead...

I'd recommend getting Stellarium if you've not done so already. It's free software that will show you the sky from your location at any given time and is very useful for finding and identifying stuff.

Have fun!

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robbiew1971

robbiew1971

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Hi all,

Thanks for the lovely warm welcome, i havent got the software mentioned earlier so will look out for it, be very useful for us im sure. I am trying to source a 5mm eyepiece just to make things a little better for us, the views we have had of the moon through the 25 and 10mm have been mindblowing, the detail is amazing. We have the computerised model of the celestron so will try and set it up properly sometime this week, will report back if we have any issues, in the meantime, thanks for making us feel so welcome

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