What to expect

[Guest zidder]

I have just got my first Telescope  at a ripe middle age.

 

Don't Laugh : Celestron Powerseeker 76/700

 

I have know idea what to expect from it, I don't want to get downhearted and go off trying if my expectations are rather ambitious.

 

Can someone let me down gently.

[stash]

I found this useful 

 

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/ 

 

Plus vivid imagination and maybe deep pockets   oh and an understanding wife 

[Werisit]

Hi Gary. That is a good link. Well worth a read. The box your scope came in probably has some amazing pictures on it that might raise your hopes well beyond its capabilities. They were probably taken by Hubble! But, you should get some nice views of the moon and bright objects like Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter is getting better day by day and up earlier. It's a good subject to practice on as it's bright and easy to find. I would expect you will see its Galilean moons and some cloud bands. Spend time studying it. Don't go mad on the magnification. Start with the longest focal length eye piece. That will probably be marked 25, meaning 25mm focal length.

[BAZ]

You should get some decent moon detail, Jupiter and it's four moons, and the brighter deep sky objects such as the Orion Nebula. Not to mention the bigger star clusters such as the Pleiades, and the Beehive cluster.

We all started somewhere, and if the bug bites, then decent second hand scopes can be had for a decent price. As mentioned, don't be drawn in by the massive magnifications quoted on boxes, you will find something around 60X will give reasonable views of most of what your scope is capable of.

 

Have a look at Stellarium, this is a free planetarium program and very handy for getting to find your way round the sky while it's cloudy.

 

http://www.stellarium.org/

 

You would be very welcome to come along to any of the meets, we have a dark site at Belper, and one at Wymeswold, although the Wymeswold one will soon be getting renovated. 

Feel free to say pop in and say hello in the welcome section. 

 

Enjoy the forum.

[Guest]

Absolutely endorse the comments about the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn. Only thing is that, from day to day, you will see little or no change in the appearances of these planets, except the positions of their moons. You can see some detail on Mars when it is near opposition and you can see the phases of Mercury and Venus.

 

For the brighter deep sky objects, like the Pleiades and Andromeda Galaxy, you will have problems getting the whole object in the field of view. A shorter focal length telescope is better for DSOs.

 

One good type of target for your telescope is double stars. There are many that can be resolved using your telescope, although the brightest one visible from the UK (Castor) is tricky, as the stars are close and there is often a glare that can obscure the fainter star. I sometimes found sunglasses a help (and also for Venus and Jupiter) until I bought a more advanced telescope and filters later on.

[Guest daveclarke]

i am also a newboy to stargazing,,like yourself my telescope is not a expensive one,,but looking at the moon at a full moon ,nearly gave me t,lesson learnt,but was pleased with first results,some times i use my mounted birdwatching scope,with suprisingly good results,especially on the brighter stars ,giving a wider field of vision ,,,stellarium is my way of checking what i want to search for in the night sky,weather permitting,which is not very good at moment ,where i live,,but come 3 in the morning,clear as a bell . 

[Guest zidder]

Well my doubts over what to expect were not relevant, santa arrived with a broken bit of kit, the mount was snapped so still waiting expectantly.

 

another question : would I be much better off upgrading to Astromaster 114EQ ?

[BAZ]

I would suggest sending it back, get your money back, and for the time being we can sort you out a loan scope until you decide which way you want to go scope wise.

 

Don't rush into it and regret spending your hard earned cash on something which might not be suitable. 

When I get straight you would be welcome to come round, have a natter and see what would suit you.

 

Sorry you had such a start in the hobby, we all go through it and end up OK.

[Tweedledee]

Hi Gary,

Such a shame that your first experience of buying a scope turned out that way. As Martyn says, you should send it back and get a refund. You can do much better than that scope.

 

Martyn mentioned the loan scope. There are two. The smaller one is the Astromaster 114EQ and the larger one is a Skywatcher 200p.

 

The fact your scope arrived broken could be a good omen, so don't be disheartened. I use a finder with a larger aperture than your broken scope .

 

Have a great Christmas anyway .

[tuckstar]

Hi Gary,

Sorry to hear your scope was broken before you got it but maybe a blessing in disguise. I started with a 130/900 reflector which served me well, but I wouldn't of wanted any thing smaller, and soon aperture fever set in and I started looking for something bigger. In the end I picked up a secondhand 250px (10") on a dobsonian mount for £250. Again come to a meet next time there is one and if you can borrow the 200p (I think it's a dobsonian mount) you will soon be hooked. You can then take your time over what kit you would want to spend your hard earned cash on so you only have to spend it once. Then the accessories and modifications start to take over!!!

Good luck,

[Guest zidder]

Well folks I decided to get a replacement with the same, had my first use of it tonight, and surprise, I was disappointed, got the moon but found it nigh on impossible to get anything else, when I did get capella it looked better with my eyes.

 

I am very dubious about the claims of being able to see Jupiter bands, Saturn Rings Etc. but we will see or not !!

 

Thanks for your  advice, I will have to start saving

[Daz Type-R]

Sorry to hear about your first purchase, these scopes tempt people in with their low price and fantastic claims to see everything, yet in reality turn out to be complete duds. Just googled your make and model of scope and the first alarm bells started ringing, the fact only Tesco, Currys and eBay sell them, not one mention of a reputable astro retailer.

Stick to the likes of FLO, Green Witch, 365 astronomy etc and you won't go far wrong. Also like Martyn offered, give us a shout if you fancy popping round one night, either myself or Martyn can show you some beginner scopes and explain things better.

And before you purchase anything else, shout up on here for some sound, unbiased advice.

Good luck.

[Guest zidder]

OK saga continues, tried the replacement last night to look at Jupiter, having eventually found it using 20mm eye piece and seen 4 moons tried different eye piece but was quite blurred, I then used the adjustment wheel to stay in line and ping the pivot point for the wheel pulled out of the main tube.

 

So gone back and got refund.

 

Lesson learned !!!!!!!!

[Daz Type-R]

Bad luck but I think you have made the right decision. What sort of budget are you working too, let us know and we could offer a few suggestions that will yield better results than what you have experienced so far.

[Guest zidder]

Thanks Darren,

 

My problem is not knowing what you get for your money i.e what do you get for £200 do you need to be spending £300-400 or more to get something usable ??

[Daz Type-R]

Ok for example, £278 will get you this....

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

This is what I have and have seen some pretty amazing deep sky objects with it, as well as the ice caps on Mars, the not so Great Red Spot on Jupiter as well as the bands on Jupiter, and Saturn's rings nearly felled me!

Stood upright it stands about 4-5 foot tall but can be dismantled into 2 separate parts.

Like I said, this is an example, there are smaller versions of this (so cheaper) and larger versions of this (more expensive) but it will give you an idea.

I need to stress though this type of mount (dobsonion) is only really suited to visual, if you want to get into astro photography then that's a different ball game.

[Guest zidder]

I am considering the option of these Skyliner 150P Dob or Explorer 130P (EQ-2)

[tuckstar]

I had the 130 for a couple of years but was soon looking for something bigger. Keep an eye out on http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php I picked up a 250px dob for £250. And as Daz said his 200p is a more than capable scope. A dob base can easily be modded but again if your thinking of astro photography then the mount is more important than the scope.

[Daz Type-R]

Yep they are much better choices than the original idea.

Dedicated astro scopes so will offer much more pleasing views compared to the previous scope.

But beware, as Andy put, appature (size of primary mirror) fever will bite and you may find you want a bigger scope and in essence, could be a waste of money.

Could I suggest you hold fire, meet up with some of us and you could even borrow a couple of the loan scopes, they are free to borrow and will give you an idea of what to expect before spending your hard earned cash.

[Guest zidder]

Thanks Darren,

 

I am trying to sort a meet with Martyn

[Daz Type-R]

Spot on, may see you there.

[tuckstar]

Shout up and we can have a dob line up! ;-)

[Guest zidder]

Well I have no excuse now, been an fetched a 10" skywatcher Dob this morning. As was coming back a thought occurred to me how ridiculous it is, only a couple of weeks ago I had never had an form of scope, so I have gone from £50.00 Currys special to a 10" Dob in that short time, MAD,  MAD,  MAD.

 

Suppose now the real expense starts, already looking at Telrad ( Who is cheapest?)

 

put some pictures up later, It is an older version I think but mirror seems sound, focuser nice and smooth, only slight issue is base, has quite a lot of movement in it from central bolt and does not have levelling feet.

[BAZ]

Congrats on the 10" scope Gary, it's one heck of an improvement on the one you started with.

With the Spring Galaxy season just round the corner, there's not a lot of targets you won't be able to get. Blow your mind and have a look at the Orion nebula at around X50.

[Guest zidder]