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nick w

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back again i am affraid right what am i doing wrong i just cant seam to focus on anything more interesting than i can see with the naked eye . I am mainly trying to focus on the brightest stars which from where i am is south east as mentioned before i aim up find a star in the viewfinder look through the focuser and all i can see is small blue/orange dots and basicly thats it please help cos even reading up on what i am doing wrong makes it worse as they all say with my 150 i should easly be able to see nebulae planets and of course the moon (which is yet to be visable here at the mo) many thanks from a desperate gazer:icon_confused:

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Stars will allways appear as bright dots. Planets will have colour or hue. Try and split alberio - you should see a gold and a blue star. Galaxies will be fuzzy patches in grey and nebulae will appear as grey clouds of dust but with definite shape.

M42 and M31 are good examples as these can be seen naked eye and binocs - so a 150 scope should have no problem.

The main reason to look at a single star would be to do a star test on the collimation, or to polar align the mount (someone's bound to say there's other reasons lol).

It sounds to me like the problem really is knowing what to expect. Use Stellarium to locate objects and zoom in a bit to see roughly how it will look in the sky :)

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When I first went out with binos I went out with stellarium next to me and located specific things - I found that help to focus in on what I was looking for.

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Aim your scope at some known nebula and planets.

Orion nebula is easily visible by eye, great in a scope, look east from now onwards and you will see Saturn rising (maybe need an hour or 2 fo rit rise higher), always good on high mag - you should be able to see the rings easily.

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stars will always be just dots - to see a nebula you need to find one - check out M42 (orion nebula). Find orion and aim just below the three bright stars of the belt. Use the finder to get you there and then look in the scope.

Saturn will show easily in a 150 - even my 130 could do a decent job on Saturn and see the rings easily enough.

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There is usually a sense of disillusionment when first using an astronomical telescope. One tends to just pan around the sky hoping to see something that will excite. Well, those objects are there, but have to be systematically searched for, as random use will not as a rule reveal them. The moon will certainly give you some glorious views, and they will change as she orbits the earth, and the suns light angles change the detail on the surface.

Your scope is a very capable one, and clusters, both open and globulars will amaze, also double stars will prove exciting to track down. Distant nebulae will be available too, Orion is the big one, but is gradually creeping towards the west, and as the daylight stretches, it will soon be lost in the twilight.

There is a vast amount for you to see, but when you do find an object you searched for, don't just give it a cursory look, give your eyes time to really see what is there. The longer you look at something, the more your eyes will see. Another usefull ploy, is to use averted vision when looking at a faint nebula, that is, don't look straight at it, but off to one side, and let your peripheral vision show what's there. It's a good trick.

You and your telescope are a team, you both have to do the work to have success.

Enjoy the sky, and your telescope.

Ron.:)

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i love it here so many helpfull tips thank you very much i will persivier no mater what this scope has been on my wish list for ages so we will sucseed just wanted to check i was not missing something obvious more tips needed though so keep up the good work people cheers

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I know I used to pan around the sky to see what appeared and was surprised that to see only star shaped stars. If you point the scope at a known bright nebula or galaxy (many others have suggested the Orion nebula for good reason), you will start to develop your seeing skills so that when you know what you're trying to see, however faint it may be, you stand a better chance of success.

If you watched Stargazing live, it did create the impression that all you have to do is point and look to find something interesting.

The moon will be a wow moment and saturn will not disappoint.

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i am is somerset out in the sticks of axbridge with very little light poloution

Lucky you - that'll be perfect!

As others have said, pick the obvious targets first and and try to get the absolute most out of them. I tend to do only two or three a night so that I can better get to know them. Orion is in the southern sky at about 8 pm at the moment and you can still get good views of the Orion Nebula (M42). Ticking off the Messier objects is good fun; just start with the obvious / easily observed ones first.

Get Stellarium (excellent free software) and you can pick your targets in advance or just come on here and ask what's good at any particular time / location. As a noob myself Stellarium has been the most useful resource I've had, apart from SGL, of course!

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Hi Nick, welcome

Keep at it - the problem with this country is we get so few clear nights that one tends to try and see as much as possible in one go for fear of tomorrows inevitable cloud. Try to plan in advance and stick with just a couple of objects, that way you should have the time to really appreciate what you're seeing.

Enjoy

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