Newbie collimation question

I have a stupid question. When I collimate my Newtonian, the
reflection of the secondary isn't centered (within the image of the
primary). Should it be? If so, how do I adjust it.

Thanks!

Actually that's not a stupid question. I'm not sure which way you mean for
not centered. But at
http://skyandtelescope.com/howto/sco...icle_787_1.asp you'll find
pictures of what you should have at each step and how to adjust.

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/
Lunar Picture of the Day http://www.lpod.org/
************************************

"Al" wrote in message
om...
I have a stupid question. When I collimate my Newtonian, the
reflection of the secondary isn't centered (within the image of the
primary). Should it be? If so, how do I adjust it.

Thanks!

Another individual has provided you with the link to the Sky and Telescope
collimation article -- it's an excellent article.

Here is the article I wrote for my website about my experience with
collimating my Dob -- you may find something helpful here.
http://www.schlatter.org/Dad/Astronomy/collimate.htm

Collimation IS NOT rocket science, it's really fairly simple -- as with
anything else, the experts want to make it sound mysterious. It's not
mysterious but you do need to pay attention, do it step by step, and do it
carefully.

--

----
Joe S.

"Al" wrote in message
om...
I have a stupid question. When I collimate my Newtonian, the
reflection of the secondary isn't centered (within the image of the
primary). Should it be? If so, how do I adjust it.

Thanks!

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Al" wrote in message
om...
I have a stupid question. When I collimate my Newtonian, the
reflection of the secondary isn't centered (within the image of the
primary). Should it be? If so, how do I adjust it.

Thanks!

I think you already have sufficient information to get the job done.

I just wanted to tell you that there ARE no stupid questions where
learning to get the most out of your scope is concerned. And collimation
is critical to the performance of most scopes, some more so than others,
but important for all. There is nothing stupid about trying to learn how
to do it right. You'll be glad you did...

You did EXACTLY the right thing by asking.

Thanks, everyone for the information. I'll look it over and see if I
did anything wrong.


"Jan Owen" wrote in message news:ZIb1c.13489$h23.5915@fed1read06...
--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Al" wrote in message
om...
I have a stupid question. When I collimate my Newtonian, the
reflection of the secondary isn't centered (within the image of the
primary). Should it be? If so, how do I adjust it.

Thanks!

I think you already have sufficient information to get the job done.

I just wanted to tell you that there ARE no stupid questions where
learning to get the most out of your scope is concerned. And collimation
is critical to the performance of most scopes, some more so than others,
but important for all. There is nothing stupid about trying to learn how
to do it right. You'll be glad you did...

You did EXACTLY the right thing by asking.