Source for beginners

Thanks for the info.

Caught a good look at M31 last night. I think my problem before was
that I was trying too high of a magnification.

Now I'm looking forward to when Orion moves high enough in the sky so
that I can see the nebulae in his sword.

One problem I have here is that there are a lot of mountains and trees
around my house that obscure the lower horizon.

(GRW) wrote in
om:

I am new to astronomy and have been enjoying myself a great deal.

I started by just trying to learn the constellations, and then
identifying some of the more prominent objects (i.e., planets).

Recently purchased a Celestron 114GT telescope, and have set it up and
aligned it per instructions. This has yielded my son and I some
excellent views of the moon, mars, saturn, etc. and I like the way it
will track objects.

Here's my problem - I see in the astronomy magazines numerous and
incredible photos of deep sky objects, generally taken by folks with
telescopes much larger and more powerful than mine.

Many things I read indicate that aperture may be more important than
magnification. However, I don't know what to expect when looking for
certain objects because nobody has given me any help with the scope
and I have no point of reference except the magazines.

For instance, I have been trying to locate M31 in Andromeda. I
certainly know where to look, but don't know what to look for. How
big should it look? Is it just star-sized, or should it be larger?
Am I just not in a dark enough location (we actually don't have much
light pollution where I live, but there are neighboring houses with
external lights)?

I know this sounds like a stupid question. However, expectation
levels were set pretty high by the scope mfr's literature, and I'm
afraid that I may be reaching the practical limitations of this scope.
If so, this may be very disappointing.

The really cool thing about M31 is that is the farthest object that can be
seen with the human eye. I have seen it without my glasses on. It's great
to be from Maine.

--
°¿°
Take my freedom from me to reply.

(GRW) wrote in
om:

I am new to astronomy and have been enjoying myself a great deal.

I started by just trying to learn the constellations, and then
identifying some of the more prominent objects (i.e., planets).

Recently purchased a Celestron 114GT telescope, and have set it up and
aligned it per instructions. This has yielded my son and I some
excellent views of the moon, mars, saturn, etc. and I like the way it
will track objects.

Here's my problem - I see in the astronomy magazines numerous and
incredible photos of deep sky objects, generally taken by folks with
telescopes much larger and more powerful than mine.

Many things I read indicate that aperture may be more important than
magnification. However, I don't know what to expect when looking for
certain objects because nobody has given me any help with the scope
and I have no point of reference except the magazines.

For instance, I have been trying to locate M31 in Andromeda. I
certainly know where to look, but don't know what to look for. How
big should it look? Is it just star-sized, or should it be larger?
Am I just not in a dark enough location (we actually don't have much
light pollution where I live, but there are neighboring houses with
external lights)?

I know this sounds like a stupid question. However, expectation
levels were set pretty high by the scope mfr's literature, and I'm
afraid that I may be reaching the practical limitations of this scope.
If so, this may be very disappointing.

The really cool thing about M31 is that is the farthest object that can be
seen with the human eye. I have seen it without my glasses on. It's great
to be from Maine.

--
°¿°
Take my freedom from me to reply.

dsady wrote:

The really cool thing about M31 is that is the farthest object that can be
seen with the human eye. I have seen it without my glasses on. It's great
to be from Maine.

Actually, from a good dark sky site (and with a sensitive eye), there are a
few other objects visible to the unaided eye which are farther away from us
than M31. Probably the most common after M31 and M33 is the distant spiral
galaxy M81 (magnitude 6.9) which may be as far away as 12 million light years
(between 4 and 5 times farther away than M31). When visible, it appears
merely as a very faint star. From those high-altitude viewers in the southern
hemisphere, there are a few reports of the irregular galaxy NGC 5128
(Centaurus "A") being seen (magnitude 7.0, distance 15 million light years).
Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

dsady wrote:

The really cool thing about M31 is that is the farthest object that can be
seen with the human eye. I have seen it without my glasses on. It's great
to be from Maine.

Actually, from a good dark sky site (and with a sensitive eye), there are a
few other objects visible to the unaided eye which are farther away from us
than M31. Probably the most common after M31 and M33 is the distant spiral
galaxy M81 (magnitude 6.9) which may be as far away as 12 million light years
(between 4 and 5 times farther away than M31). When visible, it appears
merely as a very faint star. From those high-altitude viewers in the southern
hemisphere, there are a few reports of the irregular galaxy NGC 5128
(Centaurus "A") being seen (magnitude 7.0, distance 15 million light years).
Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

Any recommendations of some other objects to look for that will show
up well in a 114mm scope?

As mentioned in a previous posting, I caught a good look at M31
Saturday night.

Orion doesn't come into view at my house until early a.m., but
hopefully I can drag my butt out of bed early enough to see it next
weekend if the weather cooperates.

Any recommendations of some other objects to look for that will show
up well in a 114mm scope?

As mentioned in a previous posting, I caught a good look at M31
Saturday night.

Orion doesn't come into view at my house until early a.m., but
hopefully I can drag my butt out of bed early enough to see it next
weekend if the weather cooperates.

Hi again. You posted:

Any recommendations of some other objects to look for that will show
up well in a 114mm scope?

There are lots of objects which are within range of a 114mm scope, but you
need to keep the power fairly low for some of them. The Messier Objects are a
good starting point, along with a few of the brighter NGC's thrown in for good
measure. The Pleiades cluster is one example, along with the spectacular
Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC869/884), M34, the bright globular cluster M15,
and (if you have a dark southern sky from the northern hemisphere), the Great
Sculptor Spiral galaxy NGC 253. The amount of detail you may see in M15 and
NGC 253 may be limited due to the limited aperture you will have to deal with,
but you should be able to see them. You should also check out the brighter
double stars like Delta Cephei, Eta Cassiopeiae, or Gamma Andromedae, as they
show up even with a fat moon in the sky. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

Hi again. You posted:

Any recommendations of some other objects to look for that will show
up well in a 114mm scope?

There are lots of objects which are within range of a 114mm scope, but you
need to keep the power fairly low for some of them. The Messier Objects are a
good starting point, along with a few of the brighter NGC's thrown in for good
measure. The Pleiades cluster is one example, along with the spectacular
Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC869/884), M34, the bright globular cluster M15,
and (if you have a dark southern sky from the northern hemisphere), the Great
Sculptor Spiral galaxy NGC 253. The amount of detail you may see in M15 and
NGC 253 may be limited due to the limited aperture you will have to deal with,
but you should be able to see them. You should also check out the brighter
double stars like Delta Cephei, Eta Cassiopeiae, or Gamma Andromedae, as they
show up even with a fat moon in the sky. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

"dszady" wrote in message
...
(GRW) wrote in
om:

I am new to astronomy and have been enjoying myself a great deal.

I started by just trying to learn the constellations, and then
identifying some of the more prominent objects (i.e., planets).

Recently purchased a Celestron 114GT telescope, and have set it up and
aligned it per instructions. This has yielded my son and I some
excellent views of the moon, mars, saturn, etc. and I like the way it
will track objects.

Here's my problem - I see in the astronomy magazines numerous and
incredible photos of deep sky objects, generally taken by folks with
telescopes much larger and more powerful than mine.

Many things I read indicate that aperture may be more important than
magnification. However, I don't know what to expect when looking for
certain objects because nobody has given me any help with the scope
and I have no point of reference except the magazines.

For instance, I have been trying to locate M31 in Andromeda. I
certainly know where to look, but don't know what to look for. How
big should it look? Is it just star-sized, or should it be larger?
Am I just not in a dark enough location (we actually don't have much
light pollution where I live, but there are neighboring houses with
external lights)?

M-31 is BIG compared to any other object in the night sky, BUT it is also
very faint when compared to most start viewable with the naked eye. At
roughly magnitude 5, it is barely visible with the naked eye in a dark clear
rural sky, unmistable in binoculars under urban conditions and with your 4.5
inch telescope at its LOWEST magnification, it should be rather magnificent.

To find it, first go to the star Alpheratz (which makes up the north-east
corner of the greast square of Pegasus). Pegasus and Andromeda share the
star Alpheratz. Travel east along the lower "limb" of the Andromeda
constellation to Mirach (Beta Andromedae), sight north along a line
connecting Mirach with Mu Andromedae and about the same distance north of Mu
Andromedae, you will see a fuzzy oval covering about 2 degrees of sky with a
somewhat brighter fuzzy nucleus. That is M-31. If your finder scope is at
least 6 x 30, you should have no trouble finding it with that, whereas if
you start out with the main scope, you might have difficulty pointing to the
exact right location. If your "go to" scope is aligned correctly then there
should be absolutely no mistaking M-31 through the eye-piece. If you don't
see anything obvious, then almost certainly your scope is mis-aligned.

If my instructions above leave you scratching your head, then I would
strongly recommend that you get a good beginners book such as Nigh****ch
(Terence Dickinson) or A Guide to Backyard Astronomy (by Burnham, Dyer,
Garfinkle, George, Kanipe and Levy) and learn your way around the
constellations with the naked eye before you try to find stuff with your
telescope. I guarantee that Astronomy will be a whole more enjoyable if you
do this!

Hope this helps,

Terry Hurd