Telescopes

Archive for March, 2010

I have been star gazing off and on for about 2-3 years with a bushnell telescope (not sure which model), but its pretty poor.. I can hardly see the moon and im better off looking at a planet with my bare eyes then with this thing. I am looking for a telescope pricing under $200 that will be good enough where i can actually enjoy looking at the sky, without spending 45 mins to find the darn thing im trying to view. I also need it to have a smooth browsing mechanism, the slightest movement or tap with the one i have now throws it off course taking another 25+ mins to refocus….. Please help.

I did a search on Telescope.com, and for $330 and under, the one I would suggest would be the Orion Skyquest XT8 Classic Dobsonian telescope, it’s at the top of the price, be $329.95, but it has very good quality from what I hear.

I’m using the skyalign option and centering 3 bright stars in the scope but it isn’t aligning – do i need the starfinder to be working because it isn’t… maybe needs a battery change but is it necessary to align the scope? If not what am i doing wrong?

I also have a Celestron scope and have encountered the same problem. Usually, I just go with a TWO star alignment and generally that is enough. However, your scope must be properly aligned in the first place. What you need to do is find an object at least one mile away. Center that object in the scope and tighten everything down so it does not move on you. Now, without moving the main tube, go to your finderscope and center the same object in the finderscope. Go back and make sure the object is still in the center of the main tube. If it is, then you are properly aligned. After a while (I’ve only had to do it to my scope 3 times), you’re able to do with speed and ease. My biggest problem (at first) was finding a object 1 mile away with a clear, unobstructed view, yet small enough to put in the center without taking up most of the view in the tube. I finally found a radio tower with a small red light on top of it and used the red light as my object.

Hey that is a nice ‘scope.
From http://www.telescope.com:
The Orion StarMax 102mm Equatorial Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope comes complete with a sturdy German-type EQ-2 equatorial mount with dual setting circles and slow-motion hand controls. An optional AstroTrack or EQ-2M electronic drive can be added for automatic tracking. The aluminum tripod adjusts for the height of all users, from short to tall.
To use it you have to set up the tripod so it will track stars easily.

The Earth’s axis points at Polaris, the North Star.
To track objects, the mount has to be aligned so that as the Earth turns on its axis, your telescope turns EXACTLY the opposite way, and keeps the star you are looking at in view. For this to happen your tripod has to be level on the ground and aligned with Polaris.

-How to set latitude
1st go to Google Earth and locate your position. This will tell you exactly what your latitude is.
For example, I entered ‘London’ into Google Earth’s Search Window. GE will pivot around to London. Next, zoom in a bit and then click MENU: ‘Add Placemark’ and a window pops open that shows the latitude and longitude. London is at 51.500152° N. Find your location. Zoom fairly close and click "Add Placemark." Name it My Telescope. Note the Latitude. You set the ‘Altitude’ of your scope = Latitude. The angular distance from the northern horizon to the north celestial pole is always equal to your latitude. This is set in the MOUNT, not RA or DEC.
From a Manual:
1. Make sure the polar axis of the mount is pointing due north. Use a landmark that you know faces north.
Google Earth can help you locate North at your location. Be sure the N on the Google Earth controller is at the top. Click it and it will go to North. Look at the area around your location to find what is North of you.
2. Level the tripod. Leveling the tripod is necessary if using this method of polar alignment.
3. Adjust the MOUNT in altitude until the LATITUDE INDICATOR points to YOUR latitude. Moving the mount affects the angle the polar axis is pointing.Two screws JUST ABOVE the TRIPOD that set your LATITUDE.
This method can be done in daylight, thus eliminating the need to fumble around in the dark. Although this method does NOT put you directly on the pole, it will limit the number of corrections you will make when tracking an object.
At night you can fine tune it by finding Polaris. Set the declination to +90 degrees. The errors you have in placing the tripod facing North, and setting your Latitude will now cause the scope to NOT be exactly on Polaris. You can watch the motion of Polaris and make corrections to the TRIPOD and MOUNT to make it point NORTH and adjust the 2 screws so that the LATITUDE is perfect. You can find a picture of the true North Celestial Pole in your manual on page 18.
Now you are ready to use the scope.

-How to correctly set the RA and dec
RA & DEC are simply celestial longitude and latitude. Declination is simply North and South. Right Ascension is Longitude as determined by the TIME.
Astronomers use TIME for longitude instead of degrees because degrees are too big to be accurate enough and time can be set easily every day. Before you can use the setting circles to find objects in the sky you need to align the R.A. SETTING CIRCLE which is showing minutes. The DEC circle is showing degrees, and is factory set.
To set the RA (Right Ascension=how far the star has risen or ascended above the 00:00 time), you find a star near the horizon – one you can identify and look up its coordinates. Center it in the finder scope, center it in the main scope, rotate the SETTING CIRCLE until the coordinates line up with the RA indicator. You have to do this – use a known star’s coordinates to set the RA – EVERY night. The Earth will have moved by one day and so the RA has to be adjusted every day. Just start your viewing by finding a known star and setting the SETTING CIRCLE to match. For the rest of the night it will align the indicator to the coordinates of other stars. Since this can become boring you can use the star hopping method. But after you actually learn how to do it and become familiar with some known stars it is easy, and makes star hopping easier too…

-How to find objects in the sky using RA and dec
1 Set the RA wheel to a known star (see above)
2 Move the scope and align the pointer to the RA of the star you want to see.
3 Move the scope to the DEC coordinate of the star.
4 Look through the finder scope. Center the object.
5. Look through the main scope. Center the object.

-Anything else useful
Don’t give up. Be precise in leveling and setting your correct latitude. understand that RA changes every night.

-And maybe some cool things to look at once I’ve got it working.
Look at APOD and give your favorites a try.

That is a very nice scope. Big enough but not too expensive. Setting it up properly is a requirement. But that is true for all scopes. Don’t give up. Like all new high tech toys, it takes getting used to. It is usually too cloudy where I live to even think of getting such a telescope. Have fun! It’s a rule!
Source(s):

http://earth.google.com/download-earth.h…

APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/

Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am the proud owner of a Meade 6 Inch Refractor Telescope.
The focal length of this telescope is 1219 mm. I have an
assortment of eyepieces ranging down to 5 mm. I know how
to calculate the Magnification Power FL/EP Size = Mag Pwr.

What I am not sure of and am asking experienced users is:

In the process of upgrading my EP Stock to TV Radians and TV Naglers, along with Power Mate 2X and 4X, what do you
think is the highest reasonable Mag Power I should seek with a real expectation of producing a good clear view? A fuzzy blob is no fun to look at.

I appreciate all comments from experienced telescope users.

Stork5100 pretty much has it right, but I’ve read that the numbers can actually be a little higher.
I’ve read that the rule of thumb is 60x/inch of aperture.
Of course, it’s all dependent on seeing conditions and the quality of your optics.
I’ve been able to get up to just over 700x on a night with EXCELLENT seeing through my 10" SCT… Saturn was gorgeous, filling almost the entire field of view!

I am interesting in purchasing a telescope and camera combo that I can use to take nice, clear quality pictures of the moon, sun, space, solar system, etc. What is the best model to get that is affordable yet has the ability to zoom in good?

Imaging is probably the most expensive aspect of the hobby of astronomy, so what you’re looking for probably doesn’t exist.

For taking pictures of the Moon and Planets, you could get by with something like a Celestron Neximage camera with a laptop and a dobsonian telescope. Orion sells Dobsonians that are reasonably well made, at reasonable prices. The Starblast sells for about $200. You’d be better off with a somewhat larger one that includes a 2" focuser.

You could add a white light solar filter to the front of a dobsonian and take pictures of sun spots.

If you want to take photos showing solar prominences, and the granularity of the Sun, the "cheap way" to go is to buy something like a Coronado PST for about $500. You’ll need a tripod for it. That scope is only useful for observing the Sun.

If you want to take photos of deep sky objects, you’ll need a telescope that uses an equatorial mount. Inexpensive equatorial mounts are not stable enough for imaging.

Avoid any telescope that comes in a box that tells you how much power it has. If it says 300 POWER! and you can lift it, it’s a toy that will be frustrating to use.

You’ll probably need to spend at least $1,000 to get a suitable mount with a newtonian reflector designed for imaging. Then you’ll need a different camera than you need for planets.

Most people I know who take astronomical images have spent at least $5,000 on their equipment. People who are serious about it often spend several times that.

My advice is find an astronomical society or club, and attend some meetings, and see what their members have. You might also try attending some "star parties" – these are gatherings of people who are very serious about the hobby, and it’s not uncommon to find at least one person at a star party who is imaging.

Here is a link to some of my images: < http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/13640785 >

This is a link to a photo of Saturn a friend and I took with my equipment: < http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa51/Ben_Hanks/saturn140.jpg >

If you happen to be within a reasonable distance of south western CT you could visit my astronomical society. < http://www.bmas.org >

Good luck.

60mm telescope

http://www.60mmtelescopestore.com/

http://hubpages.com/hub/60mm-Telescope-Objects-In-The-Night-Sky

60mm telescope Celestron Nexstar is a great beginners scope and is recommended for people who want to spend time observing the starry sky rather than hunting.

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Meade ETX-70 telescope Messier-45 – Pleiades Camcorder Test

Equipment;

-Meade ETX-70
-Baader Hyperion 17mm eyepiece
-Digiscope adapter
-Sony Handycam with ( Super nightshot )

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James Webb Telescope, STS-131 and today in space history on your Spacevidcast for March 30th, 2010.As most of you know, the Hubble Space telescope has had it’s last repair.

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So I have a Bushnell Northstar telescope, and I can’t figure out how to align it right. Does anyone know how to align one of these? Or where to get some kind of star chart to find stars easily? Any help, I’d appreciate it.

Your telescope users manual should tell you how to align the scope.

Follow the link below to a free set of star charts.

(Both my astromaster telescope and the eyepiece are available on Celestron’s site so I assume it’ll fit, I just want to make sure of it:)

Yes. Any decent telescope manufactured today will take 1.25" eyepieces.

However, you should be aware that a Plössl eyepiece with this short a focal length will have an uncomfortably short eye relief, forcing you to cram your eye against the eyepiece to see anything. A preferable way of getting such a magnification would be to use a good quality Barlow lens with a longer focal length eyepiece, or to use a more modern eyepiece design with a longer eye relief.