Beginner Question

Just received a Meade 114EQ-ASTR (4.5" Equatorial Reflecting
Telescope), not exactly the recommendation on here from what I've seen,
for my daughter and I to start viewing with. Last night I attempted to
view the moon through 25 mm (and 9 mm) eyepieces but could not focus to
get anything other than bright light. Is the moon just too bright (when
full and overhead in this case) for this instrument or am I just too
much of a beginner? :-) I didn't have any problem focusing on various
stars though.

thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments
JRL

If you can focus on stars then, keep the same focus for the Moon, just let
your eyes adjust to the light.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Just received a Meade 114EQ-ASTR (4.5" Equatorial Reflecting
Telescope), not exactly the recommendation on here from what I've seen,
for my daughter and I to start viewing with. Last night I attempted to
view the moon through 25 mm (and 9 mm) eyepieces but could not focus to
get anything other than bright light. Is the moon just too bright (when
full and overhead in this case) for this instrument or am I just too
much of a beginner? :-) I didn't have any problem focusing on various
stars though.

thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments
JRL

By the way, the Moon is nearly full right now.
You should try to view it when it is some sort of partial phase - you get
shadows and therefore contrast and depth.
wrote in message
oups.com...
Just received a Meade 114EQ-ASTR (4.5" Equatorial Reflecting
Telescope), not exactly the recommendation on here from what I've seen,
for my daughter and I to start viewing with. Last night I attempted to
view the moon through 25 mm (and 9 mm) eyepieces but could not focus to
get anything other than bright light. Is the moon just too bright (when
full and overhead in this case) for this instrument or am I just too
much of a beginner? :-) I didn't have any problem focusing on various
stars though.

thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments
JRL

On 1 Jan 2007 07:43:49 -0800, wrote:

Just received a Meade 114EQ-ASTR (4.5" Equatorial Reflecting
Telescope), not exactly the recommendation on here from what I've seen,
for my daughter and I to start viewing with. Last night I attempted to
view the moon through 25 mm (and 9 mm) eyepieces but could not focus to
get anything other than bright light. Is the moon just too bright (when
full and overhead in this case) for this instrument or am I just too
much of a beginner? :-) I didn't have any problem focusing on various
stars though.

When 'focused', did the stars look like small, points of light; or did
they look like circular disks of light with a dark spot in their
centers? (Focused stars should look like tiny, pinpoints of light.)

If the stars did not focus to tiny pinpoints, then there may be a
problem with the telescope reaching a proper focus.

When your telescope has been focused for one celestial object (a star
for example), it will be focused (or very nearly focused) for any
other celestial object -- including the moon.

Are you absolutely certain that the telescope was pointed at the moon?
Have you adjusted the finder so that it and the telescope point at the
same (distant) objects? Sometimes, when a telescope is pointed near
the moon, but not exactly at the moon, you'll see bright light, but no
actual moon -- no hint of lunar detail regardless of how the telescope
is focused.

The moon will be bright; but it's not too bright for any telescope!
Looking at a nearly full moon with a telescope will temporarily reduce
your eye's ability to see in the dark (when you look away); but the
effect isn't permanent and will go away a few minutes after you've
stopped looking at the moon.

With the scope pointed at the moon and properly focused you will see
lighter and darker details on the lunar surface. The boundary between
the edge (limb) of the moon and the sky will be sharply defined. (That
edge is a good thing to look at when focusing the telescope.) When the
moon isn't full you'll see shadows from lunar mountains, etc. along
the terminator (the line between day and night on the moon.)

Use only the 25mm eyepiece until you're certain of what you're looking
at. Later, you can switch to the 9mm eyepiece for a more magnified
(and somewhat less bright) view. You'll need to re-adjust the focus
after switching eyepieces.
--
Bill
Celestial Journeys
http://cejour.blogspot.com

On 2007-01-01 10:43:49 -0500, said:

Just received a Meade 114EQ-ASTR (4.5" Equatorial Reflecting
Telescope), not exactly the recommendation on here from what I've seen,
for my daughter and I to start viewing with. Last night I attempted to
view the moon through 25 mm (and 9 mm) eyepieces but could not focus to
get anything other than bright light. Is the moon just too bright (when
full and overhead in this case) for this instrument or am I just too
much of a beginner? :-) I didn't have any problem focusing on various
stars though.

thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments
JRL


Did you give the scope a chance to cool down first? Say about 45
minutes to an hour?

wrote:
Just received a Meade 114EQ-ASTR (4.5" Equatorial Reflecting
Telescope), not exactly the recommendation on here from what I've seen,
for my daughter and I to start viewing with. Last night I attempted to
view the moon through 25 mm (and 9 mm) eyepieces but could not focus to
get anything other than bright light. Is the moon just too bright (when
full and overhead in this case) for this instrument or am I just too
much of a beginner? :-) I didn't have any problem focusing on various
stars though.

When I got my first telescope at age 12 (a little refractor) the first
thing I looked at was a full Moon. I was somewhat disappointed.
A full Moon (or close to it) is not very interesting (and very bright
without a filter). Wait and check out the Moon with your scope
when it's a crescent, up to half, when the features really come
out due to the angle of the Sun's light. The stars will never be
more than points..not too interesting either, but you should
be able to see the cloud bands of Jupiter and the rings of
Saturn fairly well, even with on 4½ inches aperture. People
always get a kick out of Saturn.

Start by focusing on something a mile away during the daytime. Make
sure the scope can reach focus. The stars and moon will come to focus
at about the same position. Also, check the collimation. You can find
help on that at
http://skytonight.com/howto/diy/3306876.html

Once you have that taken care of, try the moon again, but start with
the 25mm eyepiece.

Try looking at http://skytonight.com/community/organizations to find an
astronomy club near you. Go to one of their public nights and take your
daughter and her telescope. Set up next to someone who has a telescope
which looks similar (eyepiece in the side of the tube near the top) and
ask for some help. You and your daughter will have a good time and
you'll learn a lot more than anyone here can explain. A hands on demo
will help you see how to get your scope to work for you.

Clear Skies!

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/
************************************************** **



On Jan 1, 7:43 am, wrote:
Just received a Meade 114EQ-ASTR (4.5" Equatorial Reflecting
Telescope), not exactly the recommendation on here from what I've seen,
for my daughter and I to start viewing with. Last night I attempted to
view the moon through 25 mm (and 9 mm) eyepieces but could not focus to
get anything other than bright light. Is the moon just too bright (when
full and overhead in this case) for this instrument or am I just too
much of a beginner? :-) I didn't have any problem focusing on various
stars though.

thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments
JRL

as you maybe already know the moon comes out an hour later every night
so this will give you an hour to view other objects such as the great
orion just look in the east for 3 stars in a row and then drop down
from the bottom star with scope like a backslash and you will see a
little blur in the sky with your eyes then put your scope on the blur
and you will have the defuse nebula that is m43 the moon comes up over
the orizon just ater 5pm central time tonight but later in l the week
maybe it wont bother you as much jupiter comes out about 817 pm central
time i live near nashville tn
bill
wrote:
Just received a Meade 114EQ-ASTR (4.5" Equatorial Reflecting
Telescope), not exactly the recommendation on here from what I've seen,
for my daughter and I to start viewing with. Last night I attempted to
view the moon through 25 mm (and 9 mm) eyepieces but could not focus to
get anything other than bright light. Is the moon just too bright (when
full and overhead in this case) for this instrument or am I just too
much of a beginner? :-) I didn't have any problem focusing on various
stars though.

thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments
JRL