Need help: We cannot see any stars in our new telescope, but the moon comes out fine. These are our symptoms...

Along with all the replys you got, here is something else that is a must
read:

Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord


--
There are those who believe that life here, began out there, far across the
universe, with tribes of humans, who may have been the forefathers of the
Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. Some believe that they may yet be
brothers of man, who even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the
heavens.


The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html


wrote in message
ups.com...
My girlfriend and I bought a new reflecting telescope for christmas,
and so far have been unable to use it to view any stars.

On Feb 22, 8:38 pm, Llanzlan Klazmon the 15th
wrote:
wrote in news:1172146583.124127.313110
@h3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:





My girlfriend and I bought a new reflecting telescope for christmas,
and so far have been unable to use it to view any stars.

We have looked at the surface of the moon, and we have looked into a
neighbours front window, and both have been seen with perfect clarity.
But whenever we try to view *stars*, the most either of us can ever
see is a dull, greyish disc (and when i say dull, i mean, very dull -
like the lowest brightness of light you can see before pitch-
darkness). We move the focus up and down, we try each different lens
that is available - still nothing. We jiggle the eyepeices around in
case things aren't lined up properly, still nothing.

Our options are a 2X Barlow lens and an Erector lens, and a 20mm, 12mm
or 4mm eyepeice. We have tried all 6 combinations of lenses.

*We know there is nothing blocking any of the lenses, each one is
transparent when you take the telescope apart.
*We know the telescope itself is fine - as i said, we can clearly see
the moon (and a neighbour's living room...) without any issues at
all.
*When we place a light in front of the telescope, we can see a bright
circle, so everything seems to be lined up fine.
*We have calibrated the finderscope, and repeatedly made sure that
bright, recognisable stars (tonight we have been using Betelgeuse) are
in the centre, and that they are clear of clouds. Still nothing.

Why can we never see any stars?

It seems impossible to believe that nobody has ever had this problem
before, seeing as we seem to have a perfectly functional astronomical
telescope, that we have been using for months without success. But no
trouble-shooting guides (or instruction booklets) that we have located
so far have mentioned our problem. Usually somebody will say to make
sure your eyes are lined up with it ("the eye is a part of the whole
optical system"), but we move and jiggle things around, and anyway -
we can see the moon fine, and when a light is placed in front of the
telescope, we can see a bright circle, so that can't be it.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

There must be someone out there - there must be many someones! - who
have started out on a telescope and had the exact same problem. If
you're out there, please help!

One more bit of advice. Try and find out if there is an astronomical
society or club in your area. You will have a source of invaluable support.

Klazmon



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You also need to keep your eyeball back from the eye piece several
millameters 1/4 1/2/ inch.