[Cosmic Charlie]

Hey all,

I'm brand spanking new to this hobby but have loved space all my life. I recently purchased a Celestron Astromaster 114 (Netonian refractor with a 114mm apature). This was the first clear night I've had since I got it. As there was no moon to look at, I took a shot at mars. I had looked at a mountain in the daytime to try to get the hang of the spotter scope and thought I had the hang of it, however, I tried for a good 2 hours and could not find it!I kept switching between the 10mm and 20mm eyepieces, not knowing what would be best to find it with.

My question is, what advise would anyone have for a beginner like me? Aside from the moon, what's something easy to find? Which eye piece should I be using? Any advise at all is greatly appreciated. I'm excited to and determined to learn! Thank you!

Cosmic Charlie

[sgcullen]

Welcome Cosmic Charlie! Very good questions. First off, make sure your spotter scope is aligned to your main scope. Center a far away object in the field of view of the main scope. Use something like the top of a telephone pole. Make sure it is far away. Then dial in the spotter scope to have the object that is centered in the main scope centered in the spotter scope. Once you've done that you can be confident that when you get something centered in the spotter scope, it'll also be centered in the main scope.

As for eyepieces, start out with a wide view and zoom in. If a 20mm eyepiece is the longest you have then start with that. Once you get your target centered and focused, start using higher magnification eyepieces. You will reach a limit on eyepieces where magnification will not help and will most likely hurt your view (because you will be magnifying the effects of the atmosphere along with the object you're trying to view).

Here's a few pointers on eyepieces. To calculate the "power" or magnification a certain eyepiece provides, divide the focal length of your telescope by the focal length of the eyepiece. So, for example, a 1000mm focal length telescope using a 25mm eyepiece is magnifying the object by 40x (1000/25). Now that you know that, the maximum magnification you can expect to be able to achieve is 60 times the aperture (in inches) of your telescope. So for a telescope like yours, with an aperture of 4.48 inches, the maximum magnification you can expect to use is about 268x. This means that, again for your telescope which has a focal length of 1000mm, you could potentially use up to a 3mm eyepiece.

As for objects to view, planets are a great place to start. You should also try M42 (Orion Nebula) which is an easy target. The Moon will be a good target in a few days too. That'll help you get a few objects under your belt. Next, I would start with the Messier list and just work your way through it with objects that are visible this time of year. Globular Clusters are pleasing sights too.

Have fun and take your time. This is a hobby that'll give back what you put into it.. And, you have a great community here at SpaceSpot who is always around to give you pointers!

Steve

[Cosmic Charlie]

Cool. Thanks for the advise! I'm excited explore the universe!

Cosmic Charlie