Newbie to astro here....

[DotDotDotZ]

Thanks for all the help

ha ha..you were "talking" with him! none other than Singastro Tampines Obs Manager, Mr Yang Weixing You are lucky as he is very hard core and is the most active obs manager in singastro! Do join him and he will be able to help you kick off on basic constellation recognition.

And I DO emphasise to read up the FAQ on singastro as they contain the bare info needed for you to kick start the hobby.

Also, for a 76mm scope, about the max usuable mag you can get is around x100 although your theoretical rule of thumb max is around x140.
forget about those x500....those specs are used to con ignorant buyers.
At x100 you will be able to see alot of stuff. You need higher mostly for planets.

enjoy and welcome to singastro..

rich!

Will be looking forward to an observation with WeiXing, will check out the Events and Observation Session forums.

Got some other questions here.

How will Jupiter and Saturn (I haven't got a chance to look at them) look like in a 3 inch telescope? Will they have some features compared to Mars I've seen without features.

Whats the meaning of the focal ratio of a telescope (eg. f/9)?

Can we actually see a galaxy or a nebula with our eyes? How are they different compared to other stars?

[anat]

I recommend the 6" truss tube dob by Perseid Telescope. Mirrors are from Guan Sheng. It is nicely made and portable. Importantly, it costs just about S$400 +. I just order one as my portable scope.

Anat

[kohjb]

Another thing you might want to do is to buy a pair of binoculars and start with that BEFORE using your telescope. The typical and certainly unexpected advice for equipment purchases for beginning astronomers is actually to start with binos before buying your first telescope. Binos will let you see a lot of stars, is much easier to use, and isn't too expensive. Practically all astronomers own a pair (or more). Typical one to get would be 7x50mm or 10x50mm.

Joo Beng

[Canopus Lim]

Whats the meaning of the focal ratio of a telescope (eg. f/9)?

focal ratio is the ratio between the focal length and the diameter of the lens (or mirror for reflector). focal ratio = EFL (effective focal length)/ Entrance Pupil (in this case diameter of the lens or mirror). Also there are mainly 3 types of telescopes and they are refractor (use lens only), reflector or Newtonian (Uses mirrors only, invented by Isaac Newton) and SCT (Schmidt Cassegrain telescope, or compound as uses lens and mirror).


It is good to have a binoculars to get to know the constellations and stars.. especially since Spore is so bright.. you usually need a binocs to see the dimmer stars of any constellation. It would be good to learn from someone as you can learn MUCH FASTER.. I did it the hard way by learning it by myself and spending lots of time. I live in the East.. probably will join Weixing if I'm free and when he is organising OBing during good weather. Do be prepared that observing in Spore is like manning an army recall. haha.... have to be ready all the time... on high alert when you see good (blue skies) in the evening.

[qu1xs1lv3r]

How to identify a star constellation and some Messier Objects? Even with a star map, I will also get pretty confused.

The first thing you might want to start with is maybe a planisphere, which allows you to identify constellations. You can get a free one online but I don't have the link now to one that can be used in our latitudes. You could also download a free planetarium software (http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/index.html) to help you learn the sky. You can also check out this site that gives an intro to our skies (http://web.singnet.com.sg/~ngkguan/astro10.htm) Best of course is if you join an astronomy club or join us if we have an observation session.

Best regards!
Chris

Check www.heavens-above.com for free star charts... have a compass handy too... and like they said.. get binoculars becoz the skies arent dark enough here in singapore to easily recognize the constellations..

also go read some books... like "the backyard astronomer's guide".. there are loads in the library... :)

[DotDotDotZ]

focal ratio is the ratio between the focal length and the diameter of the lens (or mirror for reflector). focal ratio = EFL (effective focal length)/ Entrance Pupil (in this case diameter of the lens or mirror). Also there are mainly 3 types of telescopes and they are refractor (use lens only), reflector or Newtonian (Uses mirrors only, invented by Isaac Newton) and SCT (Schmidt Cassegrain telescope, or compound as uses lens and mirror).


It is good to have a binoculars to get to know the constellations and stars.. especially since Spore is so bright.. you usually need a binocs to see the dimmer stars of any constellation. It would be good to learn from someone as you can learn MUCH FASTER.. I did it the hard way by learning it by myself and spending lots of time. I live in the East.. probably will join Weixing if I'm free and when he is organising OBing during good weather. Do be prepared that observing in Spore is like manning an army recall. haha.... have to be ready all the time... on high alert when you see good (blue skies) in the evening.

Thanks for the help . How does focal ratio affect the telescope?

Check www.heavens-above.com for free star charts... have a compass handy too... and like they said.. get binoculars becoz the skies arent dark enough here in singapore to easily recognize the constellations..

also go read some books... like "the backyard astronomer's guide".. there are loads in the library...

Thanks for the recommandation. Currently, I have read "Turn Left At Orion" and "Cambridge Guide To StarGazing With Your Telescope". Will search for the book you recommand. I don't mind reading more to improve my knowledge

[botok]

Thanks for all the help

How will Jupiter and Saturn (I haven't got a chance to look at them) look like in a 3 inch telescope? Will they have some features compared to Mars I've seen without features.

You can try this Telescope Calculator here. Nice little webpage that help us newbie to visualize what can we see from our scopes.

[weixing]

Hi,

Thanks for the help . How does focal ratio affect the telescope?

Basically, the f-ratio (focal ratio) will give you an indication what the telescope is best for... a small f-ratio number ("fast") indicate that this telescope will be most suitable for wide field observation and a large f-ratio number ("slow") indicate that this telescope will be most suitable for high magnification view, such as planetary observation. If you calculate the magnification of a range of eyepieces for a small f-ratio and a large f-ratio telescopes (same aperture for both telescope), you'll discover that the magnification of the small f-ratio telescope is always lower than the large f-ratio telescope for a given eyepiece. In other word, the small f-ratio telescope can get lower magnification easier than the large f-ratio telescope and the large f-ratio telescope can get higher magnification easier than a small f-ratio telescope.

Another factor is that the quality of a large f-ratio telescope is generally better quality than a small f-ratio telescope of the same type and same aperture from the same manufacturer, because a large f-ratio telescope is easier to make than a small f-ratio telescope. As a result, a small f-ratio telescope is always more expensive (exclude shipping cost) than a large f-ratio telescope of the same type and same aperture from the same manufacturer.

By the way, in astrophotography, a small f-ratio telescope will get a image of wider field than a large f-ratio telescope (same aperture for both scope) and achieve a certain exposure at a faster time... that why a small f-ratio telescope is call a "fast" scope and a large f-ratio telescope is call a "slow" scope.

Hope that help.

Have a nice day.

[qu1xs1lv3r]

just to let u know... science centre observatory is open to public tomorrow (friday) from 7:30pm.. u might wana check it out!! il be going there...

[weixing]

Hi,

just to let u know... science centre observatory is open to public tomorrow (friday) from 7:30pm.. u might wana check it out!! il be going there...

It's ok to miss the main 16" scope, but the 6" apochromatic Kepler refractor "finder scope" is a must see... hee hee

Have a nice day.