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What can I expect to see with this telescope?
Sorry, in my last post I meant to say: Bushnell 4.5" reflector telescope.
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What can I expect to see with this telescope?
Dave wrote:
Hey all, My wife recent bought me a 4.5" reflactor Bushnell telescope and i'm just curious as what I should expect to be able to see. I looked at the moon and it was ok, not as impressive as I thought it would be. The moon was more or less full last weekend. Did you look at a nearly full moon? Look at other phases of the moon. The shadows bring out detail that is very hard to see in a full moon. Last night, I pointed it what I thought was mars. (15-20degrees east [to the left ] of the moon. This was about 1am and i'm in Ottawa, Canada. I used the 20mm lense and honestly couldn't tell if it was mars or not. I'm not sure what you were looking at. I have a Chinese 90mm refractor I take car camping and the planets look as good as I would expect in that size telescope. A good night will bring out the cloud bands on Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. The weather has been bad here on weekends recently so I haven't looked at Mars but it should be obvious. Now I know what most of you think about these cheap telescopes, so please, don't go there. What i'm curious to know, is what should I expect to be able to see with this telescope. I'm not expecting hubble like pictures but I thought at least i'd be able to see something nice. I tried the higher lense and the image was blurry and using the barlow lense with the 20mm lense gave me the same results. I'd like to get into this hobby but it will be years before I can afford a decent telescope. I was just hoping this one would at least give me something to look at until then. So what should I be able to see with el'cheapo? You should be able to see most of the Messier objects along with some others Messier did not find. :-) The major planets should be reasonable and interesting. It would seem to me that you need more beginner information. There are a number of good books and web pages that can help. Hopefully several recommendations will be posted. Bushnell is not all that bad. I have a 60mm Bushnell optical tube assembly (OTA) that I bought for some purpose or another and it happens to be pretty good - nice views of the moon and planets but quite limited for dim objects. BTW, my first telescope was one I built 45 years ago using a 4.25" mirror from Edmund Scientific. All I could afford was Ramsden eyepieces. The telescope showed me enough that my next was an 8" completed over 40 years ago using instructions from Jean Texereau's fantastic book. Chuck -- ... The times have been, That, when the brains were out, the man would die. ... Macbeth Chuck Simmons |
#3
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What can I expect to see with this telescope?
Dave wrote:
Hey all, My wife recent bought me a 4.5" reflactor Bushnell telescope and i'm just curious as what I should expect to be able to see. I looked at the moon and it was ok, not as impressive as I thought it would be. Last night, I pointed it what I thought was mars. (15-20degrees east [to the left ] of the moon. This was about 1am and i'm in Ottawa, Canada. I used the 20mm lense and honestly couldn't tell if it was mars or not. Likely it was. Did it show a disk at least? Now I know what most of you think about these cheap telescopes, so please, don't go there. What i'm curious to know, is what should I expect to be able to see with this telescope. I'm not expecting hubble like pictures but I thought at least i'd be able to see something nice. Mars is a difficult target. You need good conditions for any detail to show with the best of optics. Early morning (e.g., 0400-0530 local time) seems to be a good time for me to see Mars now. Even so, it takes practice to really start to see .. and good, stable atmospheres. Since the moon is available now, try your scope on its terminator where the sunlight's shadows highlight craters and such. Jupiter will also be a good target .. but it is not available now. Phil |
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What can I expect to see with this telescope?
In the earliest days of telescopes, much fine work was done with
'scopes that were far inferior to the one that you have. One can buy at WalMart a better 'scope than the one with which Galileo discovered Jupiter's moons. Patience and a steady mount will be rewarded. Davoud ***** Dave: Hey all, My wife recent bought me a 4.5" reflactor Bushnell telescope and i'm just curious as what I should expect to be able to see. I looked at the moon and it was ok, not as impressive as I thought it would be. Last night, I pointed it what I thought was mars. (15-20degrees east [to the left ] of the moon. This was about 1am and i'm in Ottawa, Canada. I used the 20mm lense and honestly couldn't tell if it was mars or not. Now I know what most of you think about these cheap telescopes, so please, don't go there. What i'm curious to know, is what should I expect to be able to see with this telescope. I'm not expecting hubble like pictures but I thought at least i'd be able to see something nice. I tried the higher lense and the image was blurry and using the barlow lense with the 20mm lense gave me the same results. I'd like to get into this hobby but it will be years before I can afford a decent telescope. I was just hoping this one would at least give me something to look at until then. So what should I be able to see with el'cheapo? -- usenet *at* davidillig dawt com |
#5
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What can I expect to see with this telescope?
(Dave) wrote in message . com...
My wife recent bought me a 4.5" reflactor Bushnell telescope and i'm just curious as what I should expect to be able to see. [snip] I'd like to get into this hobby but it will be years before I can afford a decent telescope. I was just hoping this one would at least give me something to look at until then. So what should I be able to see with el'cheapo? Presently, there is full Moon and most of the sky is washed out. Few of objects discussed below will be easily visible (if at all) until the new Moon later this month. The next "dark sky" window, after the new Moon, is around July 28. Watch your newspaper or find a lunar calendar on the web to identify these new-Moon "dark sky" windows. That's the best time to plan for a backyard astronomy night. If possible, drive as far away from a city as your (or your wife's) tolerance for staying up late (or until the next morning) will allow. In the meantime, concentrate on getting ready for the next dark sky window by --- Recently, another in this group recommended the following to me for a programmed list of objects for beginning backyard astronomers. It's a kids book, but as a beginning adult observer, I found the list of programmed objects in the appendix one of the best guides for beginner wanting a list of thinks to look at: Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope--and How to Find Them by Guy Consolmagno (Author), Dan M. Davis (Author), Karen Kotash Sepp, Anne Drogin, Mary Lynn Skirvin Hardcover: 224 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.85 x 11.14 x 8.86 Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr (Trd); 3nd edition (November 2000) ISBN: 0521781906 Price: about $25, or borrow it from your local library. Also download and install the outstanding free planetarium, star-chart-printing software at: Carte de Ciel: http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/index.html or use the online-sky chart calculator at: http://www.fourmilab.to/yoursky/ to print view and print star charts. Good beginner objects (for binoculars, small telescope objects and medium sized refractors like your 4.5") along the summer galactic spine (the Milky Way) between Sagittarius through Scutum (from the horizon to up to about 40 degrees), for a North American summer observer, include: M7 Ptolemy's open cluster (a very near open cluster). Between Scoripus and Sagittarius (the "teapot") at the south horizon in summer. M22 Globular cluster (a far but bright globular cluster). It is the fuzzy ball just north-east of the top star in the "lid" of Sagittarius "teapot" figure at the south horizon. -- Large Sagittarius star cloud (8-10 degree naked-eye object in good dark skies, but very interesting to scan with binoculars). The Large Sagittarius star cloud is really the bottom of the galactic core sticking out beneath the dark clouds of the next galactic arm in from our Orion galactic arm. The Large Sagittarius star cloud sits on top of the "spout" of the Sagittarus "teapot" and extends up to Lagoon Nebulae, M8 discussed below, to the north and west. To get an idea of what to look for, go to and look for the bright patch sitting on top of the Sagittarius "teapot spout" at: http://canopus.physik.uni-potsdam.de/~axm/mwpan_vr.html -- Dark nebulae in the Large Sagittarius cloud area (two tubular pitch black clouds lead off the Large Sagittarius star cloud, north west into Ophiuchus.) In good dark skies, you can follow these with your binoculars. They are pitch black dark clouds surrounding and obscuring the bright galactic core from our view. They are distinguishable from the relatively lighter but still "dark" background by their rich inky-pitch-blackness. To get an idea of what to look for, go to: http://www.allthesky.com/constellati.../constell.html (Press the button "Mark deep sky objects" and look for the dark tubular cloud labeled the "Pipe Nebulae".) M8 Lagoon Nebula (it will look tiny in 35mm binoculars, but is visible. There is a small open cluster right next to it, in your line-of-sight, but in 3-dimensions, located some distance in front of the Lagoon.) M21 Open cluster M24 Small Sagittarius star patch cloud (a hole in a galactic arm's cloud bank revealing the bright galactic core that is densely packed with stars). M28 Globular cluster -- Scutum star cloud (another hole in the galactic arm's cloud bank revealing the bright arm inside of the next galactic arm closer to the Milky Way's core). A photograph, to give you an idea what to look for, is at: http://www.allthesky.com/constellations/scutum/ (Press the button "Mark the Deep Sky Objects". The Scutum star cloud will be marked.) -- Dark nebulae around the Scutum star cloud (seen at the southern end of the Scutum star patch cloud.) Look for extraordinarily inky-black clouds against the bright background of the Scutum star patch. To see greatly enlarged pictures (as compared to what you will see in your binoculars) of the Messier "M" objects discussed above (so you know what to look for), go to: http://www.seds.org/messier/data2.html The following link is to a photographic panorama of the galaxy that may be of help in getting oriented to the Sagittarius to Scutum to Aquila to Cygnus night sky: http://canopus.physik.uni-potsdam.de/~axm/mwpan_vr.html A few other good beginner objects for binoculars and small scopes, assuming a summer North American location, include: Antares alpha Scorpius - a bright red colored star - name means "rival to Ares" or "rival to Mars", a red colored planet visible in the southeast after 1 am (A.D. 2003). Albireo beta Cygnus - a double star that appears bright reddish yellow. del eps Ophi delta and epsilon Ophiuchus - two orange stars that make up the right-hand of Ophiuchus that grasps the body of the Serpent's head (Serpen Caput). Arcturus alpha Bootes - a bright golden yellow star - name means "bear-keeper" referring to Bootes, the herdsperson, herding the bears, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Vega alpha Lyra - a bright blue-white star - name means "swooping vulture" in Arabic and refers to an animal killed by Hercules in one of the "Tweleve Labours of Hercules" Greek myths. Altair alpha Aquila - a bright white star - name means "eagle" in Arabic, same as the constellation name, Aquila, in Greek. Another animal dispatched by the Hercules in the "Tweleve Labours of Hercules" Greek myth. 16-17 Draco An easy binary to split with large binoculars. Moderately difficult to "split" with 35mm's binos. The constellation "Draco" means "dragon." It refers to Ladon, a dragon, and another unfortunate animal also dispatched by the ever-busy Hercules during one of his "Tweleve Labours" myths, while stealing apples from earth-goddess Gaea's apple-tree. zet-80 UMa zeta Ursa Major and 80 Ursa Major. Zeta Ursa Major is a named star - "Mizar" which means "horse" in Arabic. These are the second to last stars in the handle of the Big Dipper. Mizar's companion, 80 UMa, also is a named star - "Alcor" which means "rider" in Arabic. These two binary stars are separated by about 11.75 arcmins. (An arcminute is 1/60 of a degree.) It is a good test object to get a feel for how big things are when seen through your binoculars. -- Perseus-Cassiopeia double open-clusters. (Far in the north in the early morning after 1am.) Good example of two clusters that are very far away. Compare their size to M7 - also known as Ptolemy's open cluster, a much closer open cluster. M13 Great Hercules globular cluster. (Hercules is high in the northwest.) Compare to the M22 globular cluster in Scorpius. -- The Milky Way galactic core (south horizon) with the Orion galactic arm of the Milky Way sweeping over your head to the north-north-east horizon. Best northern view in the galaxy! M31 Andromeda Galaxy (rises over the north east horizon after 1:00 am.) A fuzzy ball in 35mm's binos, but still light from a fuzzy ball that left our closet neighbor galaxy, 4 1/2 million years ago, when some lemurs in Africa got the idea to evolve into homo sapiens. Various parts of the Milky Way galaxy are visible during each of the four seasons. Currently, the Milky Way between Sagittarius (south horizon) to Cygnus (overhead) to Cassiopeia (north-northeast horizon) is visible. The book _Left Turn at Orion_ has good explanation of learning how to determine the field-of-view for your scope using various eyepieces (low, middle and high) that probably came with your scope. One of your first tasks as a beginner is to learn "how big", "how bright" and "where" things are in the night sky. A typical field of view through the eyepiece for a 4" scope with the mid-power eyepiece, is, I believe, about 1 to 1 1/2 degrees. This is how much of the sky, in degrees, that you see when you look through your scope. It is useful number to know. You can relate that field-of-view size to the angular distances between stars on your star chart. The angular distances in the night sky can be estimated using your fingers and hands: Table of angular distance estimates: width of index nail at arm's length: 1 degree 1st-2nd knuckles of clenched fist at arm's length: 3 degrees 2nd-4th knuckles of clenched fist at arm's length: 5 degrees 1st-4th knuckles of clenched fist at arm's length: 8 degrees span of open hand at arm's length: 18 degrees two clenched fists, end-to-end, at arm's length: 30 degrees Adapted from Sedwigk's Amateur Astronomer's Handbook at p. 522. Again, presently, there is full Moon and most of the sky is washed out. Few of above objects will be easily visible (if at all) until the new Moon later around July 28. In the meantime, concentrate on locating the above objects on your start charts, or through an online star chart like: http://www.fourmilab.to/yoursky/ which will allow you to print a horizon star chart for your city. The "Your Sky" site also includes point-and-click features to print star charts to find all of the Messier "M" objects and the named-stars mentioned above: http://www.fourmilab.to/yoursky/cata...atalogues.html Enjoy - Kurt |
#6
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What can I expect to see with this telescope?
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#7
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What can I expect to see with this telescope?
Al Arduengo wrote in message ...
(Dave) writes: [snip] Al continued: Many folks will suggest things that look nice for you to start with but it is also important that you understand what you see. [snip - lots of great advice]. The point I am trying to make is that amateur astronomy is not something that you can appreciate immediately just by looking through a telescope. [snip - more great advice]. Thanks for adding that. It was really well said. - Kurt |
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