hey, its me again. Tonight I went for my first observation session. But I practically saw nothing in fact.
Here's the problem, to look at a object, I need to first see it thru the finder scope right...? but after I made sure the red dot of the finder scope is in the middle of the celestial object which I am trying to view, I looked into my scope but I saw nothing. But as I tried manually to locate the object with my focuser, I found it. But den when I looked into the finder scope, the red dot was was quite off target with the object. does that mean that the finder scope is off alignment? And uh, which magnification eyepiece do you guys usually use when you try to view Jupiter? Jupiter forever looks like a small dot to me.
celestron reflector first light
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weixing
- Super Moderator
- Posts: 4708
- Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2003 12:22 am
- Favourite scope: Vixen R200SS & Celestron 6" F5 Achro Refractor
- Location: (Tampines) Earth of Solar System in Orion Arm of Milky Way Galaxy in Local Group Galaxies Cluster
Hi,
The first thing you need to do during your observation session is to align your finder scope, so that you will see whatever you point your red dot finder at. Below are the steps:
1) Look for an easy to identify stationary object. It can be the red light on top of a building, lamp post light or the edge of a building, but it must be at least 100m away. Please don't use anything in the sky, such as the moon, stars or planet.
2) Using your lowest power eyepiece(the one with the longest focal length), locate the object in the field of view and position it in the centre of the field of view.
3) Align your red dot finder using the two knobs on the finder, so that the red-dot point at the object.
4) Using your highest power eyepiece(the one with the shortest focal length) to position the object in the centre again.
5) Check your red dot finder to confirm the alignment again.
After the above steps, you should be able to objects with ease using your red-dot finder.
You should be able see Saturn or Jupiter quite clearly at around 150x. You can try higher magnification if weather condition permit.
Anyway, since you just live in simei, you can PM me and I will be very happy to help you on-site during your next observation session.
Happy observing and have a nice day.
The first thing you need to do during your observation session is to align your finder scope, so that you will see whatever you point your red dot finder at. Below are the steps:
1) Look for an easy to identify stationary object. It can be the red light on top of a building, lamp post light or the edge of a building, but it must be at least 100m away. Please don't use anything in the sky, such as the moon, stars or planet.
2) Using your lowest power eyepiece(the one with the longest focal length), locate the object in the field of view and position it in the centre of the field of view.
3) Align your red dot finder using the two knobs on the finder, so that the red-dot point at the object.
4) Using your highest power eyepiece(the one with the shortest focal length) to position the object in the centre again.
5) Check your red dot finder to confirm the alignment again.
After the above steps, you should be able to objects with ease using your red-dot finder.
You should be able see Saturn or Jupiter quite clearly at around 150x. You can try higher magnification if weather condition permit.
Anyway, since you just live in simei, you can PM me and I will be very happy to help you on-site during your next observation session.
Happy observing and have a nice day.
Yang Weixing
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance."
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance." 
Re: first view
dude, you have to align your finder before you can use it. Meaning get an object in your eyepiece (a stationary object please...not stars, moon and stuff) and then move that red dot towards that object. You do know you can move that red dot right?ursaMinor wrote:hey, its me again. Tonight I went for my first observation session. But I practically saw nothing in fact.
Here's the problem, to look at a object, I need to first see it thru the finder scope right...? but after I made sure the red dot of the finder scope is in the middle of the celestial object which I am trying to view, I looked into my scope but I saw nothing. But as I tried manually to locate the object with my focuser, I found it. But den when I looked into the finder scope, the red dot was was quite off target with the object. does that mean that the finder scope is off alignment? And uh, which magnification eyepiece do you guys usually use when you try to view Jupiter? Jupiter forever looks like a small dot to me.
U know, I hate to say this, but from your postings, I don't even think you should buy a scope. You should spend some time looking at other scopes, how they use it, the pro and cons of their scope and things like that. Then only make up your mind on the scope that suits you best. Why hurry? The universe will wait.
Anyway since you have a scope now, you better learn to use it properly. I know gwenyi said 200X for Jupiter, but that will be a bit hard to achieve for your scope. You need a superb mirror, superb collimation and a superb seeing conditions for that. 150X will be more realistic for your scope.
Yes, Jupiter will look like a small dot....but that depends how you define a dot. If you expect it to be as big as the photos, then you will be sorely dissapointed. Jupiter at 150x will not be be bigger than a punch-out hole of a hole puncher. That's why you should have spend time looking into other scope before buying yourself one and realised you can't get "big" views with it.
Looking at astronomical objects needs some eyes training. The more you see under a variety of scope and weather conditions, the better your eyes in picking out details. If Jupiter is a small dot to you, I think the rest of the objects will be pretty dismal to you.
Do observe more with your scope. 4.5" reflector should be able to pick out quite a lot of things. And let us know what you have seen. Then we will guide you along the way. This way, we can be sure you are on the right track in operating your scope and learning what to 'expect"
Well, how do you learn to use a gun by just reading and looking up on it?
It definitely helps to have some hands on experience! And having a scope of my own would surely allow me to familiarize myself with it more in the comfort of my own home.
Some ppl advised me not to get a scope which has a limited aperture as I would quickly run out of things to see should I be more eager to seek out other celestial objects. And I have spent quite some time to read up on the features of a basic telescope but read briefly on collimation and alignment process. Its tough for a newbie to imagine the insides of a scope. I need to have my own hands on doing it before I can grasp the concept of it. Practice makes perfect! Thus, I made up my mind on the newtonian reflector. Its a beginner scope and quite affordable too, I didn't bought an expensive scope only to say I dun know how to use it. I just needed something fairly good for a start, I didn't expect alot out of it and never regret it too. Anyway it is just the first scope I owned and I have gotten it less than a week ago. I sought help today and got a brief idea of collimating and alignment. Now, I am still trying to familiarize myself more with it. The first step is always the hardest, right?
It definitely helps to have some hands on experience! And having a scope of my own would surely allow me to familiarize myself with it more in the comfort of my own home.
Some ppl advised me not to get a scope which has a limited aperture as I would quickly run out of things to see should I be more eager to seek out other celestial objects. And I have spent quite some time to read up on the features of a basic telescope but read briefly on collimation and alignment process. Its tough for a newbie to imagine the insides of a scope. I need to have my own hands on doing it before I can grasp the concept of it. Practice makes perfect! Thus, I made up my mind on the newtonian reflector. Its a beginner scope and quite affordable too, I didn't bought an expensive scope only to say I dun know how to use it. I just needed something fairly good for a start, I didn't expect alot out of it and never regret it too. Anyway it is just the first scope I owned and I have gotten it less than a week ago. I sought help today and got a brief idea of collimating and alignment. Now, I am still trying to familiarize myself more with it. The first step is always the hardest, right?
Hi,ursaMinor wrote:Well, how do you learn to use a gun by just reading and looking up on it?
It definitely helps to have some hands on experience!
No one is denying the importance of hands-on experience. What VinSnr was saying is that you should have gained the hands-on experience by looking thru and handling someone else's scope.
If you want to drive, you (or, most of us anyway) would take lessons and drive with the instructor's car or a friend's car before plonking money down to buy your own. Using your own analogy of a gun, you would have played around with, or shot using someone else's gun before buying your own. This is what happens in a gun club. If not, you would not know whether to buy a 9mm or .22 cal pistol, air rifle or shot gun even if you read up on all the reviews. The only exception is during NS where you do not have a choice of gun to use! :-)
By doing so, it will shorten the learning curve, and reduce the chances of things going wrong when fiddling with your own scope. i.e. make the first step easier and less painful.
Having said that, I believe it is time for another equipment fest (Equipment Fest 2004), the last being held in early 2003. This is a big hint for Harlequin Astro, StarMatrix and McGill.
Kay Heem
Hi ursaMinor
I thought you have seen the first light on viewing the moon last night?
Your scope is already collimated and your red-dot finder is already aligned yesterday afternoon; perhaps the red-dot finder was knocked out of alignment on your way down to the field, or if you have remove the finder from the scope, you will have to align again. In any case, you should always double check and fine-tune the alignment on every observation by aiming on a bright star after setting up the scope. Note the procedure for alignment as Weixing has outlined above.
Even under the lowest magnification of 31x using your 32mm plossl, you should have seen the disk of Jupiter (not a dot) and up to four moons. Most probably you were not aiming at Jupiter. Try again tonight; astronomical observation teaches us the virtues of patience and perserverance.
I thought you have seen the first light on viewing the moon last night?
Your scope is already collimated and your red-dot finder is already aligned yesterday afternoon; perhaps the red-dot finder was knocked out of alignment on your way down to the field, or if you have remove the finder from the scope, you will have to align again. In any case, you should always double check and fine-tune the alignment on every observation by aiming on a bright star after setting up the scope. Note the procedure for alignment as Weixing has outlined above.
Even under the lowest magnification of 31x using your 32mm plossl, you should have seen the disk of Jupiter (not a dot) and up to four moons. Most probably you were not aiming at Jupiter. Try again tonight; astronomical observation teaches us the virtues of patience and perserverance.
Yea, when I dismantled the parts to take down the scope for observation, I might have accidentally knock it off. I will try again tonight. I think I most probably stay at home to observe, blurblock. I observed from the green patch opposite Simei Shopping Centre yesterday night but unfortunately, the moon and jupiter was on the east, it was blocked by the blocks of Simei Green Condominium. And luckily, my window faces the east and I caught abit of the moon.
