Astronomy for Beginners

Well I just had my telescope delivered, and it took me half an hour to sort out where all the nuts and bolts, and bits and pieces go. Damn Chinese. They can put together a cheap but fancy looking telescope that seems to work alright, but they can't hire anyone who actually speaks English to write their instruction manuals : - "please see the next paragraph where you may know how much powers whichever eyepiece attains". At least they got the spelling right in that sentence. :U I bought it on ebay for $23.70 pp, brand new.
Anyway, I'm a bit disappointed that it's overcast and raining at the moment, so I might as well brush up on my (non existent) astronomy skills so I know where to point the thing. The moon is a pretty easy target, but there must be something else interesting that I can see with this thing.
As far as I know, it's a 76mmX700mm Newtonian with : -
3X Barlow lens (That website says 2X Barlow, but mine says 3X)
1.5X Erecting piece
H 20mm eyepiece
H 12.5mm eyepiece, and
SR 4mm eyepiece
Now I've just got to work out what all that means. :?

Does anyone have any recommendations on a good astronomy website for beginners?

The Orion nebula is a good look in the Orion Belt, easy to pick out as the belt has 3 stars like this, ***.

There used to be a star map/calender put out for Oz/southern skys, not sure if you can still get it?

Al :cool:

I've often wondered over the fantasy of the stars. http://www.southernstars.com/skychart/index.html

soth:o

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Originally Posted by ozwinner

There used to be a star map/calender put out for Oz/southern skys, not sure if you can still get it?

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I saw something like that at the National Geographic store in town.Maybe worth googling to see if the have a mail order??

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Originally Posted by Wood Butcher

I saw something like that at the National Geographic store in town.Maybe worth googling to see if the have a mail order??

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I dont have a scope any more.

If I was to get into it again I would buy the biggest, as in front optic X magnification, binoculars you can get.
Set them up in a mount to stop shake, and look.....ewwwhhhhh, arhhhhhhhh.

I had a 10" reflector and I was mildly disappointed to say the least.

Al :(

I hope you are on the outskirts of Sydney otherwise you'll see bugger all of the sky due to the glare of the city lights.

A 10 incher, that's a light bucket, I only wish.

PAwnhead, may I suggest you ditch the erecting eyepice, its main use is for terrestial viewing, and I think may add errors to what you are viewing. Ice in Space forums were a great source of info when I used to dabble.

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Originally Posted by outback

A 10 incher, that's a light bucket, I only wish.

.

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I bought it many, many years ago from a junk shop, he thought it was a flue? :oo:

I looked down the "flue" and there was this really, really ugly bloke looking back at me.
Cost me $35.
I had it re mirrored and made a mount for it.
I was told by the re mirror mob that the mirror alone was worth $600. :oo:

Al :-

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Originally Posted by masoth

I've often wondered over the fantasy of the stars. http://www.southernstars.com/skychart/index.html

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Looks like a good product, but I just found a free sky map :)

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Originally Posted by ozwinner

I dont have a scope any more.

If I was to get into it again I would buy the biggest, as in front optic X magnification, binoculars you can get.
Set them up in a mount to stop shake, and look.....ewwwhhhhh, arhhhhhhhh.

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Yeh, that’s what started me off. Someone gave me a pair of nocs for Christmas and from my room at the front of the house, whilst sitting at my computer, I’ve been perving at people walking up and down the street. They’d probably freak out if they looked up and saw me. You can stare in a lot of my neighbours windows from where I sit as well.:innocent: But when I stared at the moon one night I got a bit hooked on the idea so I checked out ebay for scopes and I didn’t really pay that much for it, so I suppose I could get most of my money back if it’s a dud and I decide to sell it. It works alright as a terrestrial, staring at trees in the distance, but it’s a bit wobbly at high magnification. It’s certainly not a precision instrument. More of a kids toy, but if I enjoy mucking around with it then it might convince me to search for a better one.
I’ve always wanted to do a bit of stargazing, and nothing ventured, nothing gained.

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Originally Posted by ozwinner

I had a 10" reflector and I was mildly disappointed to say the least.

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That's a huge scope. A bargain for $35 even if you had to spend a bit on the mirror. Why the disappointment? Did the ugly bloke inside it put you off?

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Originally Posted by craigb

I hope you are on the outskirts of Sydney otherwise you'll see bugger all of the sky due to the glare of the city lights.

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I’m near Manly so there’s a bit of light pollution here, but I might take it up to my mates farm up near Taree when I go for a break there shortly.

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Originally Posted by outback

PAwnhead, may I suggest you ditch the erecting eyepice, its main use is for terrestial viewing, and I think may add errors to what you are viewing. Ice in Space forums were a great source of info when I used to dabble.

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Thanks for the info. I’ll check it out, and I’ll muck around with all of the bits and pieces if these clouds lift.

Again, thanks for all the replies guys.

i used to have a very powerfull telescope till the court ordered me to dispose of it after that little incident with the next doors 19 year old daughters pool party but thats another story:B

Take a look at this forum.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/
It has lots of good info.

I have a 6" reflector which I should set up again one day, I don't like the Barlow, it is just a multiplier between the eyepiece and the mirror, pull out the eyepiece, plug in Barlow and refit the eyepiece on the end.
If you want to look at the moon be aware that it can cause eye damage just like looking at the sun, there is a moon filter but a decent polarizing filter should work as well.
With the eyepieces you have, generally the smaller the lens on the 'eye' end, the greater the magnification.
I use 'heavensabove' as a guide, just put in your location and it will give you accurate bearings and times for planets, stars and iridium flares.
http://www.heavens-above.com/

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Originally Posted by Iain

I use 'heavensabove' as a guide, just put in your location and it will give you accurate bearings and times for planets, stars and iridium flares.

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Try downloading one called Starry Night. It's a great little program that gives similar data as Iain's suggestion.
There's two versions: SN Backyard, which I think is a freebie, and SN Pro, which costs.
Sorry I don't have a web address, but search for it and you'll find it easy enough :D

Ok, here's the website http://www.starrynight.com/

I have a copy of Starry Night Pro and it's very good, but does cost.
If you're looking free astronomy software, here are a couple to try:

Cartes du Ciel : http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/

Stellarium: http://www.stellarium.org/

I've got both of these installed and do use them. I mainly use Starry Night as it allows me the drive the motors on the telescope mount.

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Originally Posted by goat

i used to have a very powerfull telescope till the court ordered me to dispose of it after that little incident with the next doors 19 year old daughters pool party but thats another story:B

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I suppose I’d better put my nocs back in the box unless I’m staring at the stars then. :sweatdrop:

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Originally Posted by Terry B

Take a look at this forum.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/
It has lots of good info.

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Thanks. I’ve been reading up a bit there since you posted last night. It looks like a good resource and I might even sign up if I start taking this seriously.

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Originally Posted by Iain

If you want to look at the moon be aware that it can cause eye damage just like looking at the sun, there is a moon filter but a decent polarizing filter should work as well.

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I wasn’t aware of that. Thanks for the tip.

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Originally Posted by Iain

I use 'heavensabove' as a guide, just put in your location and it will give you accurate bearings and times for planets, stars and iridium flares.
http://www.heavens-above.com/

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That looks good. I’ll check it out.

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Originally Posted by Malibu

Try downloading one called Starry Night. It's a great little program that gives similar data as Iain's suggestion. Ok, here's the website http://www.starrynight.com/

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I’ll check that out too thanks.

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Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

I have a copy of Starry Night Pro and it's very good, but does cost.
If you're looking free astronomy software, here are a couple to try:

Cartes du Ciel : http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/

Stellarium: http://www.stellarium.org/

I've got both of these installed and do use them. I mainly use Starry Night as it allows me the drive the motors on the telescope mount.

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Wow. Lots of sites for me to check out there guys. I didn’t expect this kind of attention from a woodwork forum.
Thanks heaps. :2tsup:
It looks like there might be a break in the clouds tonight too. :)

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Wow. Lots of sites for me to check out there guys. I didn’t expect this kind of attention from a woodwork forum.
Thanks heaps. :2tsup:
It looks like there might be a break in the clouds tonight too. :)

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Combining both interest (astronomy and woodwork) at the moment.
I'm in the middle of making a timber parallelogram mount for my binoculars.
A suitable pair of binoculars (20x80 in my case) are great for astronomy but are near
impossible to hand hold. Much quicker to set up than a telescope too.

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Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

Combining both interest (astronomy and woodwork) at the moment.
I'm in the middle of making a timber parallelogram mount for my binoculars.
A suitable pair of binoculars (20x80 in my case) are great for astronomy but are near
impossible to hand hold. Much quicker to set up than a telescope too.

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I thought ya mighta been making a hall table from a nebula. :doh:

Don't be silly, a nebula is far too big to make a hall table from, you'd need to make something like a dinning room table for that,

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Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

Combining both interest (astronomy and woodwork) at the moment.
I'm in the middle of making a timber parallelogram mount for my binoculars.
A suitable pair of binoculars (20x80 in my case) are great for astronomy but are near
impossible to hand hold. Much quicker to set up than a telescope too.

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I'd be interested in seeing how you make one of those. The little pair (8X32) that I got for Christmas are what got me searching ebay for a scope in the first place. I might be better off just buying a decent pair of nocs.

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Originally Posted by Iain

If you want to look at the moon be aware that it can cause eye damage just like looking at the sun, there is a moon filter but a decent polarizing filter should work as well.

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Well I couldn't resist it and I took a quick peek using the most powerful eyepiece with the Barlow attached, and the detail was incredible. I was blown away by it and it looked like one of those professional photos, but it's incredibly bright, and I can see how it might have sent me blind if I wasn't aware of your advice. Thanx heaps for that tip. :2tsup:
I'll have to get a moon filter.

Anyway, after setting it up I found that it's incredibly difficult to get the thing pointed at a bright star I was aiming for. The finder scope is way out, but it's got three adjustment screws so I suppose I'll have to muck around with them (it's confusing with everything coming in backwards and upside down, but I'll get used to that). I used the lowest magnification eyepiece (with the widest field of view) and moved it around a bit until a star came into view, then I put in the high magnification eyepiece and it was gone. The lenses are probably plastic, and the eyepieces are a bit sloppy in their fittings, but since the thing only cost twenty bucks I suppose I can't complain. I moved it around a bit more using the fine adjustment and finally caught a star (I think it was the same bright one that I was originally aiming for :? ), but it just wouldn't stay still in the wind. I'm sure a good quality scope would be more solid but I'll try again on a calm night.

I'm determined to learn about the night sky so I'll follow up all those links that you guys posted. It would impress the chicks if I could point up in the sky and say "That's Ursa Minor, and if you look through the scope you’ll see ‘Pawnheadus Major’ that I discovered back in eighty five”. :hahaha:

I’ve had APOD as my homepage for the past few months, and I often follow the links to learn a bit more each day.

It’s fascinating. http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...ske/starry.gif

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Originally Posted by pawnhead

I'd be interested in seeing how you make one of those. The little pair (8X32) that I got for Christmas are what got me searching ebay for a scope in the first place. I might be better off just buying a decent pair of nocs.Well I couldn't resist it and I took a quick peek using the most powerful eyepiece with the Barlow attached, and the detail was incredible. I was blown away by it and it looked like one of those professional photos, but it's incredibly bright, and I can see how it might have sent me blind if I wasn't aware of your advice. Thanx heaps for that tip. :2tsup:
I'll have to get a moon filter.

Anyway, after setting it up I found that it's incredibly difficult to get the thing pointed at a bright star I was aiming for. The finder scope is way out, but it's got three adjustment screws so I suppose I'll have to muck around with them (it's confusing with everything coming in backwards and upside down, but I'll get used to that). I used the lowest magnification eyepiece (with the widest field of view) and moved it around a bit until a star came into view, then I put in the high magnification eyepiece and it was gone. The lenses are probably plastic, and the eyepieces are a bit sloppy in their fittings, but since the thing only cost twenty bucks I suppose I can't complain. I moved it around a bit more using the fine adjustment and finally caught a star (I think it was the same bright one that I was originally aiming for :? ), but it just wouldn't stay still in the wind. I'm sure a good quality scope would be more solid but I'll try again on a calm night.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...ske/starry.gif

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Good luck with the scope.
Don't worry too much about the moon filter. You will not damage your eyes looking at the moon. What you will do is ruin your night adaption making it harder to see other more dim objects. It is only lit with reflected sunlight the same as a bright image during the day. It can be very bright though when you use a scope and it is more comfortable to look at with a moon filter.
Don't bother too much with the high powered eye pieces. Most cheaper scopes are advertised by their magnification but it is pretty useless. You can make any scope magnify to any amount as the magnification is just the focal length of the scope divided by the focal length of the eyepiece. However there is a maximum resolution to a scope and this is determined by the diameter of the scope. If you magnify the image beyond this resolution all you do is magnify the blur. For your scope I would never bother going beyond 150X and in reality mostly using <60X
As you have found the other problem with the cheaper scopes is the unstable mount that makes it hard to aim and keep it aimed at your target. Try to tighten all of the connection and sling a heavy weight (a sand bag) onto the tripod to reduce this.
This link http://home.inreach.com/starlord/
has some really good info about scopes etc.
Good luck