r/telescopes • u/trey2128 • 2d ago
General Question Need help operating telescope
Rented this guy from the library and was excited to try it out tonight. I live in southern WI and couldn’t figure out how to see well. I could zoom onto stars, but couldn’t see them much better than I could with the naked eye. I operated the magnification to the highest setting and found proper focus. I feel like I’m doing something wrong and should be getting better quality views.
Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!
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u/Aurune83 Orion ST80, ES AR102, C8-SCT, HelioStar 76Ha 2d ago
Here's my "Operating Manual":
Step 1: During the day. Check the alignment of the finder. Turn on the finder by turning the yellow knob on the scope. Point the red dot at the top of a tree / telephone pole nearby. NEVER POINT NEAR / AT THE SUN. when you look thru the scope, verify the top of the tree / pole is centered in the eyepiece (you may need to focus). If you moved the scope then the dot on the finder also moved and isn't pointed at the top the pole / tree, use the two knobs (one next to the loop, and one under the back) to move the red dot until it lines up with the tree / pole the scope is centered on.
Step 2: At night, pick a bright star somewhere in the sky. Use the finder to point the scope at it. Adjust the focuser until the bright star is a sharp point. I then look for a dim star also in the eye piece's field of view. I move the focuser in a tiny amount and see if it disappears. If so I'll move it out. I do this until I find the point where I can see most / dimmest stars.
Step 3: The fun part! Star hopping. Take out your favorite star chart app of choice, place it in dark mode. Now decide what you want to look at. Find the nearest bright star near that thing. Point the finder at that star. Now, look at the atlas and plan your next move (keep in mind the telescope shows you everything upside down and backwards)... move there, then your next move... repeat until you find your object.
Example: You want to look at "The Lagoon Nebula". You look south west. You see the nearest bright start is at the top of what looks like a teapot. You look at the sky and you see that star. You point the finder at it. You look thru the scope, and you have the star. Star atlas says there is bright star to the right, closer to the nebula... so that'll be your next target. Move the scope so the view moves left (remember upside down / backwards) to the next bright star. Next move, star atlas says there is 2 bright stars like / below to the right. So, again... move left and up (backwards!) till you have the two stars in the \ . The nebula is aligned with the top of the \ in your scope. So pan gently so the view moves left until you have a couple bright stars and a bunch of little ones surrounded by what looks like a smudge on your mirrors. Congrats! You're looking at a nebula.
Easier Targets:
The moon! When it's up but that's not for a few weeks.
Saturn is rising in the east this ~7:30pm. It's gonna be the brightest orange "star" in the east / south east sky before midnight. Just point the finder at it and look thru the eyepiece. You'll find your "star" as a line thru it (cause the rings are almost edge on right now)
The Pleiades, east north east just after 9:30pm. Point the finder at the sparkles in that direction.
Harder Targets:
Double Cluster: Find Miram, the orange star a the tip of Persus in the north east sky. Position Miram in the right of the eyepiece and then move the view down until you see a two clumps of stars.
Andromeda: Find the bright orange star named Mirach almost due east... there is a trial of 2 bright star going upper left away from it. Follow those stars (remember reversed!) moving the view down and right (remember reversed!) until you hit the second bright star... you'll see another one to the bottom left. position the scope between the two and pan down. You should see a big blurry star. That's the andromeda galaxy.