Help with basic telescope use & astronomy, please

[Clair]

I have been given a telescope (T28 Sky-Watcher 114/1000 Eq) but, although I would love to get to use it, I know NOTHING...

I don't even know if it's put together properly...!

I'd rather not join a club (embarrassing lack of knowledge) and I am wondering if some kind and patient soul out here would be willing to guide me through my first steps.

I live in the depth of the northern Lot, where the skies are really black and it feels like such a missed opportunity...

Many thanks in advance

Clair

[Jackie]

Hi Clair, I hate it when nobody comes back to a question. I know little about astronomy but out of curiosity I had a look on the net and thought that this might be a good place to start.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/myspace/index.shtml

I assume that you have peered through the 'scope at distant things on the ground during the day. Always minding that you don't track across the sun of course, as Patrick often says.

Have you been able to get a focused image, which might be upside down in the case of a reflector 'scope, I don't know what yours is for sure but from the pictures in adverts it does look like a reflector! I will always remember looking at the moon through a 6" reflector as a lad, just like flying over the surface, all craters and mountains, wonderful! The only other thing that springs to mind is that the mirror is surface silvered and as such needs to be cleaned with the right stuff, water might take the coating off and they are expensive to re-coat.

You might look up "Newtonian Reflectors" on the net, as if yours is of this type, you will find stuff to tell you how it works.

Good luck with the hobby, I might get back to mine one day!....................................John

[Clair]

[quote]Hi Clair, I hate it when nobody comes back to a question. I know little about astronomy but out of curiosity I had a look on the net and thought that this might be a good place to start. http://www...[/quote]

Thanks John/Jackie for the useful link to the Beeb's own... How could I not think of that myself?! There seems to be quite a lot to read up and I'll do that this weekend.

I have looked at the moon surface (so so fascinating) with the telescope but cannot seem to see anything deeper into space, apart from some fuzzy twinkling lights! Hence the call for help!

Thanks again

Clair

EDIT: I have finally found the manufacturer's website with a pdf file (in English!) explaining how to put it together... Am printing it as I type!

[Wizzer]

Hi Clair

Have a look at this: http://www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?KEY=1076

It's a Phillips Planisphere - a simple plastic disc that rotates to show you roughly what is in any direction, at any time of night.

I found it very easy to use which is more than I can say for my telescope!

 

[Clair]

[quote]Hi Clair Have a look at this: http://www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?KEY=1076 It's a Phillips Planisphere - a simple plastic disc that rotates to show you roughly what is in any direction, at any time...[/quote]

Thanks for the tip Wizzer.

Since my first post, I have been able to get the viewfinder to "see" what the telescope is pointing at, so I can at least find the moon in the viewfinder at observe it throught the scope!

Next step, the lenses: I have a Barlow 2X, a H20mm, a H12.5mm and an SR4mm...

Is there a specific use for each of those?

I have looked at the moon through each,with and without the Barlow but am too igorant to tell much of a difference!

Many thanks

Clair

PS: there's a bright star/planet above the western horizon at sunset. Any idea what is is?

[Stefan]

Clair

Forgive me if I'm about to teach you to suck eggs but you did say you knew nothing...

I'm not familiar with the scope you are using but from "114/1000" it sounds like it has a mirror diameter of 114 mm and a "focal length" of 1000 mm.  If thats the case the 12.5 eyepiece ( means the eyepiece focal length is 12.5 mm) should give you a magnification of 80 ( makes things 80 times larger).  Thats a "moderate" power, you probably can't see the whole of the Moon in the field of view.

The 4 mm eyepiece should give a magnification of 250 - that's pretty high powered, lots of magnification which you may find  gives a very shaky image on a breezy night ( or after a hot day due to the heat haze.) If the telescope isn't driven to counteract the Earth's rotation you will also find the image races across the field of view ( Question - sounds from "eq" it's on an equatorial mount - if it is are you happy with how to set it up?) 

If you get into the hobby you might find a low power eyepiece ( e.g. 25 mm or 40X in your case) useful for seeing the whole of the Moon at once, looking at large, dim objects (Andromeda Nebula)....

The Barlow is used in conjunction with the eyepieces - put the Barlow into the eyepiece mount of the scope, then put the chosen eyepiece into the Barlow.  If it's a 2X Barlow it will double the magnification of the eyepiece - your 80X becomes a 160X and your 250X becomes a 500X ( and probably unuseable cos of the shakes.....) 

Both Jupiter and Venus are in the West at Sunset, Venus is very bright and is probably what you are seeing, Jupiter is lower in the sky but worth a look.  Take a look at www.heavens-above.com - a free on-line free planetarium website.

 

Hope that helps, good luck, let us know how you get on, and wishing you clear skies

 

Stefan(from the very dark 09)

[Clair]

That is GREAT! Thanks Stephan!

Your explanations on the lenses are just what I wanted. Now I'll have a better idea of what to use.

Re the mount: it is equatorial (EQ2) and the whole thing is balanced, but I am not sure I am making full/adequate use of the 2 control cables... I know that because I am getting tangled up in the tripod trying to step round when looking from the finder to the lens!!

I think i'd better re-read the manual I downloaded from the SkyWatcher's website...

Interesting website you mentioned, I'll certainly have a deeper look tomorrow.

The northern wind of the past 2 days seems to have cleared up a lot of dust and the sky is very clear here, but damn, it's cold! (only 5.2 night before last!)

Thanks again

Clair

[Fritz]

I've got a Meade, which is OK, and the Starry Night software (www.starrynight.com) which is pretty simple to use. Spookily I use an astrology site to find exact geographical locations http://www.astro.com. It's very quick.