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Thread ID: 123764	2012-03-14 23:22:00	Telescope help	Gobe1 (6290)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1265035	2012-03-14 23:22:00	hi I have loaned an 8" telescope off a co-worker and want to give it a shot over the weekend weather permitting. Is there any one who would have any advice for a novice astronomer? If it works out well i might purchase one off trademe later in the year	Gobe1 (6290)
1265036	2012-03-14 23:34:00	For photographing the stars or the moon? Do you have the necessary attachments for your camera? Digital or film? Have a look/search on photosig.com and dpreview.com :)	Zippity (58)
1265037	2012-03-15 00:00:00	My 2c Have realistic expectations . If its a cheap 8" (like I had) the viewing will be a bit fuzzy a higher magnifications Dont expect views of planets like you see in glossy photo's , my friends honestly expected to see million dollar images out of scope . Planets will probhably be seen as very small & grey :lol: Download some software to help you find where in the sky to look for interesting viewing	1101 (13337)
1265038	2012-03-15 00:10:00	Sorry 5" inch not 8" Yeah just want to do a bit of star gazzing (sigh) not photography Good idea 1101 will check out some software as all i really recognise is orion and the southern cross thats about it Yeah he said it is bit blurry at higher magnification so to stay at the lower end	Gobe1 (6290)
1265039	2012-03-15 01:16:00	Try www.heavens-above.com You can configure this site to your own location	Dally (6292)
1265040	2012-03-15 02:40:00	Just remember to point it at the sky...not at the window of the home next door where that lovely blond lives!!! Ken :banana	kenj (9738)
1265041	2012-03-15 07:04:00	I use to have a 3 and a half inch refractor telescope. Your 5" reflector wouldn't see any better than it did. Up too about 8" telescopes, the refractor is better. This is due to the mirror at the top blocking out some of the light. Over about 8" in reflectors this doesn't matter. Most if not all ground based telescopes are reflectors, even Hubble is a reflector telescope. As to what you may be able to see, you would just make out the rings around Saturn and some of its moons and also Jupiter with some of its moons. You might be able to just see some of the clouds on Jupiter. Craters on the moon. Look at some of the Nebulae in the sky. To the naked eye they just look like one star but in a telescope there will be millions. The Orion Nebulae is a good one to view as it is in our night time sky at the moment. From memory I think it is the middle star in Orions belt. Anyway that is a good area to view. Around the Southern Cross area is also a good area to view. Look for the Omega Nebulae I think it is actually a star cluster. In the southern sky you should check out the Large and Small clouds of Megellan. They are actually the closest galaxys to our own Milkway Galaxy. To the naked eye they just appear as clouds. Put your telescope on them and you can almost make out seperate stars. Warning most of what I have written could be wrong as I was typing from memory. :)	Trev (427)
1265042	2012-03-15 07:22:00	You can view Jupiter and Venus in the western sky just after sunset. In the next few nights they are going to pass close to each other opticlly as in reality they are millions of kms apart. :)	Trev (427)
1265043	2012-03-15 21:03:00	+1 to what Trev said ... and Google Earth have a Night Sky version ... haven't used it myself, but may be worth investigation. Also ... this NASA site for Space Station viewing ... spaceflight1.nasa.gov Think Mars is also visible at about 30deg in the NE sky just after dark .... but please don't quote me on that one.	SP8's (9836)
1265044	2012-03-15 22:53:00	Well i cranked it up at about 9.30 last night, probably a bit early. I saw Venus and Jupiter in the west Trev but i didnt get the magnification up enough. Will try again tonight. It took about 10 minutes to figure out how the sight worked so i could actually point it and then see something. I checked out orions belt next. By the naked eye there was only 3 stars visible (the belt) but through the scope there was 20-30. I will try around 11 tonight, weathers looking good. Will crank the magnification up to the highest and see if i can see jupiters moons and the orion nebulae. Dally, that link is quite good, have created a login. :thumbs:	Gobe1 (6290)
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