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Newbie help!
Good evening!
I've had a passing interest in astronomy for quite some time now and bought myself a telescope for christmas. Having waited until a clear night, I've trawled into the garden and scanned the skies hoping to find Mars... I've tracked it on HNSKY and am sure of its position, the problem comes with the image I saw - I'm using a 'scope with a focal length of 300mm, lense 70mm diameer and eyepieces of 6mm and 20mm. According to the figures, I'm getting magnification of 15 and 50x... So what should I be seeing? 2 hours of scanning revealed prin-picks of light I took to be stars... Do I need more magnification or should I be seeing anything with these lenses? Thanks in advance, Terry Kay |
#2
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Newbie help!
"Terry Kay" wrote in message ... Good evening! I've had a passing interest in astronomy for quite some time now and bought myself a telescope for christmas. Having waited until a clear night, I've trawled into the garden and scanned the skies hoping to find Mars... I've tracked it on HNSKY and am sure of its position, the problem comes with the image I saw - I'm using a 'scope with a focal length of 300mm, lense 70mm diameer and eyepieces of 6mm and 20mm. According to the figures, I'm getting magnification of 15 and 50x... So what should I be seeing? 2 hours of scanning revealed prin-picks of light I took to be stars... Do I need more magnification or should I be seeing anything with these lenses? Thanks in advance, Terry Kay You should be able to tell that Mars is more than a 'pinprick', at your higher magnification, but it won't look large. Mars is shrinking now, but is perhaps 1/5th of an arc minute across (1/150th the diameter of the Moon). At your higher magnification, it should therefore be close to 1/3rd the diameter of the Moon 'naked eye'. Not exactly big, but just about large enough, to see some major features. Objects will always appear 'smaller' through the scope, than this suggests (this is a psychological effect), but if you were only seeing 'points', then it suggests you were missing Mars. It is _very_ bright, and should have been obviously brighter than anything else remotely near. Best Wishes |
#3
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Newbie help!
Many thanks,
I'd hoped as much... The scope is definitely pointing in the direction of the brightest point in the sky, but I've obviously missed the exact point... Fingers crossed for tommorow night? Thanks again, Terry "Roger Hamlett" wrote in message ... "Terry Kay" wrote in message ... Good evening! I've had a passing interest in astronomy for quite some time now and bought myself a telescope for christmas. Having waited until a clear night, I've trawled into the garden and scanned the skies hoping to find Mars... I've tracked it on HNSKY and am sure of its position, the problem comes with the image I saw - I'm using a 'scope with a focal length of 300mm, lense 70mm diameer and eyepieces of 6mm and 20mm. According to the figures, I'm getting magnification of 15 and 50x... So what should I be seeing? 2 hours of scanning revealed prin-picks of light I took to be stars... Do I need more magnification or should I be seeing anything with these lenses? Thanks in advance, Terry Kay You should be able to tell that Mars is more than a 'pinprick', at your higher magnification, but it won't look large. Mars is shrinking now, but is perhaps 1/5th of an arc minute across (1/150th the diameter of the Moon). At your higher magnification, it should therefore be close to 1/3rd the diameter of the Moon 'naked eye'. Not exactly big, but just about large enough, to see some major features. Objects will always appear 'smaller' through the scope, than this suggests (this is a psychological effect), but if you were only seeing 'points', then it suggests you were missing Mars. It is _very_ bright, and should have been obviously brighter than anything else remotely near. Best Wishes |
#4
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Newbie help!
"Terry Kay" wrote in message ... Many thanks, I'd hoped as much... The scope is definitely pointing in the direction of the brightest point in the sky, but I've obviously missed the exact point... Fingers crossed for tommorow night? Make sure that your finder scope is correctly aligned with the main tube. Do this in daytime - go out and (looking through the main tube) point the scope main tube at an easily recognisable object a couple of hundred metres away if possible - the top of a telephone pole or a chimney for example. Then look through the finder. If the object is not centred in the finder, you need to adjust the finder screws until it is.... Thanks again, Terry "Roger Hamlett" wrote in message ... "Terry Kay" wrote in message ... Good evening! I've had a passing interest in astronomy for quite some time now and bought myself a telescope for christmas. Having waited until a clear night, I've trawled into the garden and scanned the skies hoping to find Mars... I've tracked it on HNSKY and am sure of its position, the problem comes with the image I saw - I'm using a 'scope with a focal length of 300mm, lense 70mm diameer and eyepieces of 6mm and 20mm. According to the figures, I'm getting magnification of 15 and 50x... So what should I be seeing? 2 hours of scanning revealed prin-picks of light I took to be stars... Do I need more magnification or should I be seeing anything with these lenses? Thanks in advance, Terry Kay You should be able to tell that Mars is more than a 'pinprick', at your higher magnification, but it won't look large. Mars is shrinking now, but is perhaps 1/5th of an arc minute across (1/150th the diameter of the Moon). At your higher magnification, it should therefore be close to 1/3rd the diameter of the Moon 'naked eye'. Not exactly big, but just about large enough, to see some major features. Objects will always appear 'smaller' through the scope, than this suggests (this is a psychological effect), but if you were only seeing 'points', then it suggests you were missing Mars. It is _very_ bright, and should have been obviously brighter than anything else remotely near. Best Wishes |
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