Nexstar 114 begginer here

HI, could someone give me some advice or few pointers on what to do
here.
I have purchased nexstar 114 recently, and would like to learn some
things about stronomy, my problem is when looking through the eyepeice
(either 25 or 10), let's say looking at the Mars now, I see the planet
and in the middle of it there is always black spot with tree spans
(looks like a mercedes sign), well when you take the cover of the
scope in fronf, there is that thing right in front of it, and all the
things that I would like to see, there is it is in front of them.Also,
images are not that sharp at all.
Any suggenstions???

Help!!!!


ThanX

In article ,
(SrkY) wrote:

HI, could someone give me some advice or few pointers on what to do
here.
I have purchased nexstar 114 recently, and would like to learn some
things about stronomy, my problem is when looking through the eyepeice
(either 25 or 10), let's say looking at the Mars now, I see the planet
and in the middle of it there is always black spot with tree spans
(looks like a mercedes sign), well when you take the cover of the
scope in fronf, there is that thing right in front of it, and all the
things that I would like to see, there is it is in front of them.Also,
images are not that sharp at all.
Any suggenstions???

Help!!!!


ThanX

Sounds like your focuser is too far in and you are seeing the shadow of
the secondary mirror and the spider vanes. Newtonians are frequently
stored with their focuser racked all the way in because it makes it
easier to move or store them. You may have to turn the focuser knobs
several times to reach focus. It might help for you to find the moon
and use it as a test because it is much easier to see if the moon is in
focus than a star or a planet for a newcomer. Once you have figured out
how to focus on the moon, it should be easier to focus on other things.

You can also do the same thing during the day by focusing on a distant
mountain or something on the horizon.

If you can take the telescope to a telescope store they can help you out.

-sdg