What should I expect to see?

[Music Junkie]

Not sure which section this should be posted in, so I am taking a stab at this one.

I recently purchased an 8" dob mounted newtonian (Meade Lightbridge). I have not had a chance to get out with it yet (life is crazy!). I am hoping to take it out in the next week or so (at least to my back yard - southern california area with moderate light pollution). I do not want to be disappointed, so I was hoping someone could give me some sort of idea of what I should be able to see (based on me getting it collimated correctly and spotting something accurately). I have a 26mm eyepiece that came with the scope and I also purchased an additional 10mm eyepiece. I will be excited more if I know what to expect. Also, with houses all around, I will not have a clear view at any low lying objects. Can anyone recommend any objects to concentrate on that are oriented a bit higher in the sky? I have joined a local astronomy club, but the forum is way outdated and nobody replies there anymore. They do still have monthly star parties, but the next one in not for three more weeks.

Any help is appreciated.

[Gandalf223]

I've also got an 8" Lightbridge and a fair amount of light pollution. I don't have many hours of observing with the LB yet, but....

The Orion nebula, M42, is really impressive. Unfortunately, Orion is somewhere in the daytime sky now. It'll be great in the fall.

With my light pollution, it's usually hit or miss with any of the "faint fuzzy" DSOs. Those that I can find are usually difficult. A UHC filter or one of the anti-Light-Pollution filters, designed to cut the sodium lighting spectrum, would probably help but I haven't invested in one yet.

Planets are fun. This is a special year for Saturn, as it is oriented with the rings nearly edge-on for us right now. Sometime in September the rings will be exactly edge-on, and I guess they will be invisible for a while. Saturn has many moons and there are usually several visible. Some orbit the planet so quickly that you can observe the changes over an hour or two. Jupiter is coming into season and it will be a primetime object by the end of the summer. Mars won't be in the evening sky until about February if I read thing correctly.

Don't discount old Luna. The moon is chock full of interesting features and the amount of detail with an 8" is stunning. You will need something to cut the light back. A neutral density filter (get the -3 stops version, 13% pass) or crossed polarizers will help. Another possibility that I've tried is to make a sub-aperture mask for your Lightbridge, to use when viewing the Moon. I made a mask out of cardboard, with a 3" aperture. That gives me a 75mm f/15 scope. It doesn't hurt my eyes like the unfiltered 8", but reducing the aperture also reduces the resolution of the scope. Filters are better but cost money. Everything's a tradeoff.


75mm Sub-Aperture Mask
on 8" Lightbridge

[joltan]

Using my 8" dob last night I got great views of m13 and m3. both are pretty much overhead here in michigan.

[AndrewJ]

If, like me, you live in the Northern Hemisphere you may come to love M81 and M82 galaxies: they are never too low in the sky and always visible on clear nights even with Moonshine. At 12 megalightyears they represent the boundary between space closer to us where gravity>MES and space beyond where everything is receding from us.

If you have a run of clear nights you could monitor the star Delta Cephei - its regularly varying brightness indicates its structure and its size and thus its true luminosity (that compared against its brightness as seen from Earth helped us establish its distance from us).

[Nick Theodorakis]

One thing that I did not expect when I got into using my telescope is an appreciation for open clusters. I think they are the unsung jewels of the night sky through seen through a telescope.

Nick

[aurora]

Get a copy of the book Turn Left at Orion from the library or book store.

That book has drawings of the best objects that can be seen through a small or moderate telescope from the northern hemisphere.

The drawings will help set your expectations, and when you actually find a small smudge like the aforementioned M81 and M82 (for just one example) you can use the drawing to verify that you are in fact looking at what you thought you were looking at.

It also has some basic directions in how to find the objects (based on just a few bright stars) and a short description of what the objects actually are.

Great book for the new telescope user. There are other good beginner books, but this one is my favorite.

[Music Junkie]

Thanks to everyone for giving me some starter info. I did in fact purchase "Turn Left at Orion" just a couple of days ago. I had read elsewhere on this site that it was a great book to start with (probably in another reply from aurora - thanks so much for the lead). I have always been very excited about this hobby, just never had the time to get into it. Now that my two boys are getting old enough, I would like to expose them to this as well. So having something to aim for will be extremely helpful. We took a peek at the moon last night while the sun was still going down and got some spectacular views of the craters. They loved it! I am planning on attending the local astronomy club's star party next month. It is up on Mt. Pinos in socal (about 9000ft or so), should be very fun.

Thanks again!

MJ

[aurora]

I am planning on attending the local astronomy club's star party next month. It is up on Mt. Pinos in socal (about 9000ft or so), should be very fun.

Thanks again!

MJ

That sounds great, hope you have good seeing!

[matthewota]

Not sure which section this should be posted in, so I am taking a stab at this one.

I have joined a local astronomy club, but the forum is way outdated and nobody replies there anymore. They do still have monthly star parties, but the next one in not for three more weeks.

Any help is appreciated.

Let me know what club you joined. I lived in the LA Basin from 1980 to 2008 and I can give you advice on which clubs offer more than average membership service (Orange County Astronomers, Riverside Astronomical Society, Los Angeles Astronomical Society, South Bay Astronomical Society).

[cjl]

One thing that I did not expect when I got into using my telescope is an appreciation for open clusters. I think they are the unsung jewels of the night sky through seen through a telescope.

Nick

Really? I tend to prefer globulars. M13 is one of my favorites.

[Music Junkie]

Let me know what club you joined. I lived in the LA Basin from 1980 to 2008 and I can give you advice on which clubs offer more than average membership service (Orange County Astronomers, Riverside Astronomical Society, Los Angeles Astronomical Society, South Bay Astronomical Society).

Joined the Ventura County Club. They have a forum as well, but it seems QUITE dead at the moment. I have posted a few questions that have gone unanswered for quite some time. I think I just need to get up to one of the Star Parties at Mt. Pinos and get to meet some people. I have sooooooo many questions! I am completely fascinated by the prospect of this hobby, but really do not know where to start. I have had my scope out two or three times to check out the moon, and i like what I see, but I really do not know how to go about finding other objects, or how to best view them. On aurora's recommendation, I purchased "Turn Left at Orion" and have been reading a bit here and there. Very cool book! The main problem I have had so far, is locating anything with accuracy. I have the red dot finder, but it still seems somewhat troublesome.

MJ

[aurora]

I have the red dot finder, but it still seems somewhat troublesome.

Make sure the red dot is properly aligned.

Find something bright and unmistakeable, like the tip of the moon, or a bright planet. Then align it and double check it.

It is easy to think the finder is aligned, but then later discover that the finder was pointed at something different from what was in the eyepiece.

[AutoClub]

Joined the Ventura County Club. They have a forum as well, but it seems QUITE dead at the moment. I have posted a few questions that have gone unanswered for quite some time. I think I just need to get up to one of the Star Parties at Mt. Pinos and get to meet some people. I have sooooooo many questions! I am completely fascinated by the prospect of this hobby, but really do not know where to start. I have had my scope out two or three times to check out the moon, and i like what I see, but I really do not know how to go about finding other objects, or how to best view them. On aurora's recommendation, I purchased "Turn Left at Orion" and have been reading a bit here and there. Very cool book! The main problem I have had so far, is locating anything with accuracy. I have the red dot finder, but it still seems somewhat troublesome.

MJ

Hi Music Junkie - Welcome to the Forum! I live in the San Fernando Valley, 25 miles northwest of Los Angeles. I'm a member of several clubs, and depending on my schedule have been known to show up at the various clubs' star parties on a routine basis. I'm always looking for somewhere to go to set up my equipment to show the night sky.

If you are in the Ventura County area, there is a pretty-much informal star party actually tomorrow night in the Agoura Hills area. It is hosted by Woodland Hills Camera & Telescope and they have just recently started using this location. It starts at 6:30 p.m., and I hope to take my girlfriend out there tomorrow night. The last time I was there we had about 8-10 scopes of various sizes, including at least one Meade Lightbridge (a 10" if I recall). The skies are a lot darker than where I live in Northridge, San Fernando Valley (Earthquake flats, circa January 17, 1994), but obviously not as dark as Mount Pinos. The star party is at the end of a "country road" near horse country, and there is not much lighting in the area. Unfortunately they do not have porta-potties, but there is room for more guys to show up with their equipment. A good friend of mine, Daniel Mounsey hosts this star party. He works for Woodland Hills Camera & Telescope, and he has been a great help for anyone who is just starting out or who has recently purchased a new scope and may have questions about how to set it up, collimate it, adjust viewfinders, etc.

You also mentioned Mount Pinos. A good friend of mine who is a member of the Local Group Santa Clarita Valley Astronomy Club (and who now lives in Northern California) will be coming down to Mt. Pinos on July 17th and 18th-Friday and Saturday at least. He comes down to join our group again and is an incredible astro imager. I hope to go up to Mt. Pinos on (probably) Saturday evening the 18th to set up as the summer evening should be "tolerable" temperature-wise to this "I'm always cold" observer. It's near the new Moon, so the skies should be quite dark. If you do decide to come up to Mt. Pinos, it usually works best if you can get up there and set up BEFORE dark, as no one likes bright headlights ruining their dark-adapted night vision. Plus, if you have any questions, it's generally a lot easier to ask and get questions answered during the daylight, when other astronomers are not busy observing or imaging.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[matthewota]

Joined the Ventura County Club. They have a forum as well, but it seems QUITE dead at the moment. I have posted a few questions that have gone unanswered for quite some time. I think I just need to get up to one of the Star Parties at Mt. Pinos and get to meet some people. I have sooooooo many questions! I am completely fascinated by the prospect of this hobby, but really do not know where to start. I have had my scope out two or three times to check out the moon, and i like what I see, but I really do not know how to go about finding other objects, or how to best view them. On aurora's recommendation, I purchased "Turn Left at Orion" and have been reading a bit here and there. Very cool book! The main problem I have had so far, is locating anything with accuracy. I have the red dot finder, but it still seems somewhat troublesome.

MJ

The Ventura Astronomy club is well established. Another good book is the Backyard Astronomer's Guide by Terence Dickenson and Alan Dyer. It is a book on how to use your equipment and observing techniques.

[Music Junkie]

Thanks guys! I have aligned my red dot finder to a bright point in the sky, and it seems to be working a bit better. I just need to get used to using the lower power eyepiece to find and center an object and then switch to the higher power eyepiece. It helps quite a bit. I really wanted to get up to Mt. Pinos this coming up weekend, but unfortunately we are having our annual block party on Saturday and it runs well on into the night most of the time (too many cocktails......). I might break out the scope to view a few of the brighter objects, that show up well at my house. Maybe try and get a bit more practice in. What I am really looking forward to at the moment is seeing some of the planets. I am hoping that some of them will come into better view as the summer progresses. I know that Saturn is tilted to have the rings close to edge on, but it would still be a great sight for me, as I have yet to see it with my own eyes through a telescope.

I will also check out the other recommended book.

This forum is great, thanks to all of you who have responded. I can't thank you enough. I guess the best way to learn this stuff, is to jump right in and get your feet wet...........

MJ

[Glom]

What power of telescope is that? Just want to make sure you're not going to over power it. Remember no more than 25× magnification for every inch of aperture.

[Music Junkie]

I am still quite a noob, so I am not exactly sure. It is a Meade Lightbridge 8" I believe it has f6.8. I have the 26mm eyepiece that came with it and I bought an additional 10mm eyepiece.

Mj

[redshifter]

Saturn is pretty close to the Sun at sunset, but Jupiter is in the S/SE about 11pm-12midnight these days. It's the brightest 'star' in the night sky. Get out your scope late in the evening during your block party, give folks a site they'll never forget. Jupiter is bright enough that it can be seen well even from light polluted skies.

[Music Junkie]

Nice! That sounds like a great idea! I really appreciate the lead. I would love to see it myself.

MJ

[redshifter]

I was out tonight walking the dog, and realized that Jupiter at 11pm is still pretty low in the SE, low enough that trees/buildings could still block the view. After midnight, Jupiter's high enough for casual observing. In the next few weeks, Jupiter will be better positioned after dark for observing.

[Music Junkie]

That will probably still work, as the block party usually last well on into the night........

Just hope I can see straight enough to focus (lol).

Thanks again,

MJ

[Music Junkie]

Well, I actually checked out Jupiter on Saturday night, but I guess I overestimated my scope....... I could see Jupiter and tell that it was indeed Jupiter, but I could not get it focused well enough to get excited. I could barely make out the red stripes. I first located it using my 26mm eyepiece and then switched out to the 10mm eyepiece. Never could get it focused very clearly though. Is that typical, or could light pollution trigger the fuzziness?

I got the scope out early and let it set out to cool down the mirror and I also turned on my fan to keep it cool.

Any feed back is ALWAYS welcomed........

Thanks,

MJ

[chaboyax]

has this scope been colminated. the best advice i can give on this is to search this here forum. thats how i found out after a few weeks of fustration good luck and clear skys

[redshifter]

It could be that your scope needs collimation, it's a good idea to check the collimation of a reflector every time you take it out. It's more likely that poor seeing was the culprit, or a combination of bad seeing and an out of collimation scope. Also, Jupiter before about 1am is pretty low, which means a lot more air to look through. Before midnight or thereabouts, most structures (and even the ground IIRC) are still radiating heat into the air, and your scope will pick that up, esp. when looking at objects near the horizon.

Where I live, I'm lucky if the atmosphere supports more that 100X in my 10" dob on most nights. This time of year the seeing's ususally pretty good, but even then I'm lucky if the atmosphere supports 200X in my scope. Later this week I'm headed over to E. Wa for the Table Mtn. Star Party. It's at 6,000ft and is a lot drier than the W. side of the state. Late July and into August the seeing can be quite good out there. Even then, I've only been able to see the Great Red Spot on Jupiter once.

Next month I'm headed to Great Basin National Park in E. Nevada. Very dry, very dark, and 10,000 ft. elevation. Should be excellent seeing!

[Music Junkie]

Collimation:

I have a collimating tool, and I have gotten some links from this site that tell how to do it, but I cannot for the life of me figure it out well enough to verify if it is truly collimated. It looks similar to the pics that come with the instructions, but who knows. Could be the problem.

Jupiter was fairly high in the night sky about midnight and thereafter. Very bright too. The town I live in is about 90,000 pop. and I live on the outskirts toward the mountains (what little mountains there are). There is certainly light pollution there, but it is not as bad as living downtown LA or something like that.

I think I need to buckle down and find out how to collimate the darn scope......

Another ??? Does anyone know if there is a better mount for the Meade Lightbridge 8" scope? I like the swivel and the ease of the tilt action, but it does not stay very well, even with the lock nuts. Can you get an aftermarket mount that is better suited?

Thanks again.

MJ

[Music Junkie]

Next month I'm headed to Great Basin National Park in E. Nevada. Very dry, very dark, and 10,000 ft. elevation. Should be excellent seeing!

That will be great! Great basin National Park is awesome. Also on the western edge of the Great Basin, in the White Mountains, there are several nice locations to check out. Grandview Campground is one. The campground is at about 11,000ft. Very windy during the day, but at night, there are no trees and the night sky is absolutely amazing. Also, if you are interested, it is very close to the Schulman Grove of Ancient Bristlecone Pines. Some of these trees are over 4,500yrs in age and still going!

Cheers!

MJ

[aurora]

Another ??? Does anyone know if there is a better mount for the Meade Lightbridge 8" scope? I like the swivel and the ease of the tilt action, but it does not stay very well, even with the lock nuts. Can you get an aftermarket mount that is better suited?

A Dob, right?

When you say it does not "stay" do you mean the altitude bearing? In other words, it drifts downward?

Perhaps a simple tweak is in order. First, you could balance it by adding some weight to the back end. I use home made bean bags filled with BBs, and good old velcro. I can adjust the bags back and forth with the velcro to adjust for different eyepieces or finderscopes (I have more than one).

Second, is the friction when you move it about equal in both altitude and azimuth? For a Dob, the ideal is that you should be able to push it around and not have one of the motions be stickier than the other. If the altitude bearing moves too easily, you could add downward force to increase the friction without increasing weight. I use adjustable bungee cords running over the altitude bearing(s) down to some handles I installed on the sides of my homemade base mount. The bungees increase the force downward and thereby the friction on the altitude bearings.

Alternatively, if there is too much friction on one of the bearings, you can check to see if Meade used real teflon on the bearings and if not get some teflon to replace the bearings they put on there.

[Music Junkie]

I like the bungee idea. I think if I tighten it up at the altitude bearing locations, that could possibly do the trick. I will give that a try and see how it works.

Thanks yet again.......

MJ

[aurora]

Also, if it is way out of balance, consider adding some weight to the back end. Hang something off of it in someway. There's lots of different things people have used, I've seen fishing weights in addition to my aforementioned bean bags.

[Music Junkie]

Fishing weights also would work great as there would be good spots to hang them from.

Since I have your help, could you possibly recommend your favorite collimating link?????????

I have found a few, but I must be as dense as a nickel/iron meteorite, because I cannot quite figure it out. I consider myself a semi-intelligent dude, but the pics and directions that came with the collimating tool itself and with the scope itself leave a lot to be desired.

Thanks,

MJ