Maps and help please

[makapa]

hi 1st day today and having read some of the threads it seems that when asking for help, i may be snowed under by the weight of replies.

i have a Bresser Skylux 35x-175x telescope, possibly i should have gone for a better model but like a lot, i bought it first then joined the site lol.

a little confused as it comes with 3 lenses

20mm=35x

12mm=58x

4mm=175x

Now i know this sounds daft but i assume that the 4mm gives the largest magnification or so i assumed. however when trying it out during the daylight today on forest trees just to get setup etc it appeared that the 4mm showed an image far smaller than the 20mm, i am confused.

the one other thing that i could do with is a link or site that shows the location of stars in the night sky (map) from Northampton where i live, my garden faces north and to my west is orion though i cannot see the base od orion as its blocked by houses etc.

in your opinion would , with this setup , i be able to see the planets and actually see the rings of saturn or is this much to much to expect from such a small scope.

many thanks for any help, shall be watching out for the help that i know is coming.

thanks again for reading this longwinded post

[Bizibilder]

I would suggest downloading "Stellarium" - ita a free planetaruim and gives a very good realistic view of the night sky. You have to give it your long and lat (get from Google Maps) and you can even set your own level of light pollution! It will help you get familiar with the sky and you will soon know what you can (and can't) see at any time.

Also Google "star atlas" and you will find several. A simple one is here:

Taki's Home Page

Or the simple "A" atlas here:

JR's website on Deep Sky Astronomy

Hope these help.

[Mikea]

Hi Makapa! Welcome to SGL

[Mikea]

Re your eyepiece question: When you say the 4mm ep gives you a smaller image, you probably get a smaller field of view than with the 20mm, but the magnification of the 4mm ep is greater. (mag = fl/ep where fl of your scope is 700mm)

[stick]

you should certainly be able to see Saturn with your 4mm Ep and probably the 12mm

but remember it will still be fairly small with the 12 and obviously a bit bigger with the 4

you should be able to see the rings fairly clearly as well as some shadows and if the conditions are good enough maybe even Titan (the biggest of Saturn's moons)

Stellarium is excellent as well as free, and if you have a smart phone there are loads of apps available (including Stellarium as well)

best of luck

Stick