Re: A little help needed :)

From: Sketcher (sketcher_at_strangeweb.net)
Date: 02/10/05 

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:51:10 -0700

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 13:49:23 +0100, Jan Gustavsson <jangus@foi.se>
wrote:

>I am an owner of a Meade ETX-125CE since a month ago. I am both
>impressed and disappointed. The eyepieces that I have are the 26mm and
>(I think) 8mm. I also have some filters for the eyepieces and one sun
>filter for the telescope.
>I also have the LPI.
>
>The 26mm is rather easy to use but the 8mm is really hard to get a good
>focus with. If I happen to get a good focus with the 8mm it goes in and
>out of focus all the time when I get into contact with the eyepiece
>while watching.

In my opinion it would be worth the expense to purchase a couple of
eyepieces that provide magnifications that fall between that of your
8mm and 26mm eyepieces -- perhaps a 10mm and a 20mm eyepiece.

Your 8mm eyepiece provides a rather high magnification. Good 'seeing'
conditions are necessary in order to use such high magnifications.
Also, it's necessary to allow sufficient time for the telescope to
adjust to the outside temperature. This is more important for high
magnifications than it is for low magnifications.

>I know that it is very important to practice watching through a
>telescope as one does not see much of the details in the beginning. But
>some things as nebulas and galaxies, I cant find at all.

Some nebulae and galaxies would be too faint to see, particularly from
a location where the sky isn't very dark. Others should be bright
enough for you to see. Keep trying for M42, the Great Orion Nebula.
It's one of the brightest nebulae in the sky! M81 would be a good
first galaxy to try for. For such objects start with your lowest
magnification (the 26mm eyepiece).

If you look directly at a galaxy or nebula the object will appear much
fainter (sometimes invisible!) than it would appear if you looked at a
point some distance away from the actual object. This practice is
known as "averted vision" and is used by everyone who observes such
objects.

>The Sun
>There is no problem finding the sun :) but I miss the sun as an object
>in the Autostar. Maybe it is there but I can’t find it. Anyway it would
>be great to have the Autostar automatically tracking the sun.
>The only thing I can see is the sunspots. I can not detect any
>prominence, chromosphere, flare or the patterns in the photosphere (hope
>I did get the names right).

Your sun filter is a "white light" solar filter. It's good primarily
for observing sunspots. From time to time you should also be able to
see faculae -- slighter brighter patches here and there near the limb
of the sun. Notice that the edge (limb) of the sun is a little darker
than the central portion of the sun.

>Is it so that the sun filter I am using is too simple? The filter looks
>like a aluminized plastic folio. I believe I read somewhere that it only
>let 0.000001% of the light through.

A more expensive, specialized solar filter (Hydrogen-Alpha) is needed
in order to see chromospheric details such as prominences -- unless
you get lucky enough to view a total solar eclipse!

>The Moon
>Viewing the moon is ok. I have yet to use the moon filter.

Many people (including myself) prefer to observe the moon without
using a moon filter. If you don't feel you need to use the filter,
then don't use it ;-)

>The Saturn
>Saturn seems to be a bit small, but that is as it should be. After all
>it is some distance between earth and the planet.
>Yesterday when I watched Saturn, then the image became fuzzy and then
>clear with a frequency of around 1Hz. That has not happened before.
>Could it be the tracking or was it just the atmospherically noise? I
>think it kept a rather constant frequency.

The problem was most likely due to air masses of different
temperatures -- either between the scope and Saturn in which case all
you can do is wait for a better night -- or inside the telescope in
which case the telescope needs more time to adjust to the outside
temperature.

>Saturn also seems to be very bright so that I can not discern any
>details. I made an attempt with a red filter (not remembering the #)
>that where one of the filters that where recommended for viewing Saturn.
>It made Saturn darker and red, but I did not se much more details.

In the 26mm eyepiece Saturn would be small and bright. In higher
power eyepieces Saturn will be larger and less bright. On a good
night, after your telescope has had enough time to adjust to the
outside temperature you should be able to see some details on Saturn
without using a filter. (It would be helpful if you had more than two
eyepiece to choose between.)

I've found filters to be of very little value when it comes to
observing Saturn. Color filters can be of more use in observing Mars
and Jupiter -- particularly after you've gained a bit of observing
experience.

>Galaxies

Start with M81. Other galaxies will be more difficult to see. After
M81 try for some of the other Messier galaxies.

>Nebulas

Start with M42 -- the Great Orion Nebula. Afterwards try for some of
the other Messier Nebulae. The California Nebula would be invisible
in your telescope under your sky conditions. Forget about California
-- at least for now.

An excellent observing project would be a program to observe all the
Messier objects. Most (but not all) of the Messier objects are among
the best objects in the night sky!

Your telescope, used from your sky conditions, should be well suited
to observing double stars. Find the star in the 26mm eyepiece then
use the 8mm eyepiece. Gamma Andromeda would be a good double to try
first! (Remember to allow the scope sufficient time to cool down
before using high magnifications!)

Don't let invisible objects bother you. Excepting the objects
mentioned above, if you don't at first see an object make a note and
go on to a different object. Later, after you've gained more
experience you can try for some of your unseen objects once again.

>LPI Camera

Someone else may be able to answer your camera questions. I don't
allow cameras to deprive me of my own eyepiece time! ;-)

Sketcher
To sketch is to see.

Relevant Pages

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