How do i telescope?

[callmedave]

So, the mrs got me a telescope for my birthday, ive always had an interest in space.

its this one, http://www.vivitar.com/products/19/telescopes/396/...

What can i expect to achieve with this? I live in a flat, but have access to a garden area, theres a fair bit of light pollution around.

has anyone got any pointers to get me going?

Whats the best way to find a planet? it says its capable of seeing jupiter!

[Eric Mc]

Try scrunching yourself into as tiny a space as possible

[Moonhawk]

That telescope should be perfectly capable of showing you the Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter (and its moons) and Saturn.

In addition - several deep sky objects will be visible using it too, including (but not limited to) - the Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy a few Globular Clusters and open star clusters like the Pleiades.

The first thing to do is get some sky maps. You can download free software off the web to help (e.g. Winstars) or if you type in the name of a constellation into Google - there are plenty of sky map images available (some show deep sky objects). For example - Orion and Taurus

http://www.cosmicastronomy.com/oristars.jif
http://www.popastro.com/images/youngstargazers/Tau...

As far as the telescope goes - you need to do to help you find objects is to align your finder scope *the little thing on top) with the main scope. You can do this in daylight by picking a distant object (a TV ariel, pylon etc........but definitely not somebodies wife through a bedroom window). Get this object visible and in focus in your main scope using a lowish power eyepiece (assuming you have multiple eyepieces - the eyepieces should be numbered in mm - the larger the number the lower the magnification) - then align the finder so that it is pointing at this object also (finder scopes usually have a cross hair to help get you bang on centre).

Once you have your finder and main scope aligned - finding objects is so much easier. Key thing - always go with the lowest magnification you can - only ramp up the magnification once you have found your object. If the telescope has come with something called a "Barlow" lens - this will double the magnification of any eyepiece placed into it - put this aside for the time being, you probably wont need on anything but the planets.

A few objects visible at the moment to get you started.

1. Jupiter is currently very prominent in the southern sky. Find the constellation of Orion - and look above it - you will see a very bright star. That is Jupiter. Point your scope in its general direction, look through your finder and it should be visible - centre it using the cross hairs - then look through the main scope - voila. Start with a low power eyepiece to get Jupiter centred - then move up in magnification. You may see a line of up to 4 bright stars on one side or both sides of Jupiter - these are its 4 main moons.

2. The Orion nebula. As its name suggests this is also in Orion. If you can find the three stars of Orion's belt - look below that for another three fainter stars that if you can visualise it - would make up the hilt of a sheathed sword hanging from the belt. The middle star isn't a star at all - but a nebula. Use the same pointing method as described above. Even in the finder scope - you should be able to see that this central star is fuzzy. Use a low power eyepiece for this object.

3. If you are still out late (11pm onwards) - look eastwards and you should see a very bright star that has a distinctly redish/orange hue (if you have a star map - its currently below the constellation of Leo). This is Mars. Use the same viewing regime as Jupiter.

4. To the right of Orion is the V shaped constellation of Taurus. Above the V is an open cluster called the Pleiades. Use low magnification.

The moon is currently visible in the morning sky - give it a couple of weeks and it'll be up at night.

Hope this gets you started.

Edited by Moonhawk on Monday 24th March 14:37

[callmedave]

Moonhawk said:

Lots of helpfull stuff.

Thats great info, many thanks! You mention a sky map, I had an app on my phone that basically, you direct it to the sky and it shows you the constialtion, it would also show comets/ meteors etc, is this the sort of thing you mean?

I was unclear about the magnifications, so thank you for that.

Also, on the main scope, the im seeing it all upside down, is this correct?

[nellyleelephant]

You might want to also download the very useful (and free!) Stellarium software for your PC / laptop. It's a slightly more sophisticated version of what you may have on your phone.

http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/

[Moonhawk]

callmedave said:

Thats great info, many thanks! You mention a sky map, I had an app on my phone that basically, you direct it to the sky and it shows you the constialtion, it would also show comets/ meteors etc, is this the sort of thing you mean?

I was unclear about the magnifications, so thank you for that.

Also, on the main scope, the im seeing it all upside down, is this correct?

Yep - those apps are ok - but really you'd be better of with a printed star chart to take out in the garden for a couple of reasons:

1. The bright screen of your phone will destroy your eyes dark adaptation. To see faint objects you need your eyes as used to the dark as possible. Get a red light torch to read it by (your eyes don't react as badly to red light). Of course for viewing the moon/planets - this isn't an issue.
2. Printed star charts are easier to use IMO, especially if you are wearing gloves. Better than fumbling with a phone.

Something like this is a good starter

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Night-Sky-Atlas-Ti...

In terms of magnification - you can calculate it yourself. Take your telescope focal length (in your case 700mm) and divide it by the focal length of your eyepiece in mm. Looking at the website link you gave - it states the telescope comes with 4mm and 8mm eyepieces. That should give you magnifications of about 87.5 and 175 if you use the eyepieces alone - or 175 and 350 if used in conjunction with the barlow.

Given the size of the telescope - you should only really be pushing it to about 150x-180x magnification anyway (general rule of thumb for telescopes is that they can handle a maximum of 50x-60x magnification per inch of clear aperture - your scope is 76mm = 3 inches). Pushing the telescope beyond 50-60x per inch will simply give you a larger blurry view - it won't reveal any additional detail. There would be no benefit using the 4mm eyepiece + barlow as 350x magnification is well beyond the capability of the telescopes optics.

As for the image being upside down - most/all astronomical telescopes do this - it's quite normal.

Edited by Moonhawk on Monday 24th March 16:51

[keslake]

Buy a 20mm eyepiece!.

This will make finding objects so much easier and will give you a far greater clearer image.
You will find that the higher the magnification, the harder to stay on target.

You will still be seeing 35x magnification and that is a great number for viewing the moon and just incase
you aren't aware, the moon is best viewed anytime other than full as the shadows highlight the craters.

[blasos]

nellyleelephant said:

You might want to also download the very useful (and free!) Stellarium software for your PC / laptop. It's a slightly more sophisticated version of what you may have on your phone.

http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/

Yeah, good advice here. Stellarium is ace! Also worth downloading is Star Chart, free for iPhones, or SkEye for android phones. I may repeat what others have already mentioned, but here's what I can tell you. You'll easily find Jupiter in the constellation Gemini (east of Orion if you're looking south - I'm assuming you're in the northern hemisphere). After locating Jupiter by eye, find it with your 'scope using a large eye piece, giving a wide field of view, such as a 20 mm or 25 mm as someone has already suggested. Centre it in your view, but bear in mind that it will drift across your view. Then switch to your 8 mm, and then to your 8 mm + Barlow lens. Your focal length is 700 mm, the Barlow doubles this to 1400 mm. Then to get your magnification divide the focal length of the telescope by that of your eye piece (8 mm), giving you 175 times magnification. The maximum useful magnification of a telescope is usually about 60 x aperture since in inches. So, 60 x 3 = 180 magnification, so you're at a good magnification at 175. The best views of Jupiter are roughly between 100x and 200x magnification. You may not want to use the 1.5 x erecting lens at all, but try it out, also try the set up without the Barlow. You'll get the best view by experimenting. You should see Jupiter shining as a bright disc and the 4 Galilean moons orbiting it. A blue, green or yellow filter (cheap but good for starters made by Seben - I used one last night, available on Ebay or Amazon) will allow you to see the striations on Jupiter. Best of luck, clear skies!