i just got a telescope for christmas and i can't locate the planets?

Question

i have a reflector telescope 600x power potencia 600 and i have cybersky that tells me what i can see any night and never goes out of date. i live in lakewood, Ohio and last night was a clear night and i could see th e moon and stars. Do you think i could also see andromadons galaxy and orions nebulae? Help

Answer 1

Everybody here has good info, my favorite most convenient site for sky maps is

http://www.heavens-above.com/

use the auto mode to select your location from the database, once done you can get not only skymaps but info on viewing satellites, the ISS, Hubble, and Irdium flares

Right now, Mars, and Jupiter are in the morning sky to the east. You'll get a great view of Saturn around midnight, northeast of Orion. Venus is the brightest object just above the sun just after it sets. The best way to get going is to actually spend time with sky maps doing naked-eye astronomy, becoming familiar with the constellations (they are your roadmaps). Start with Orion and work out from there.

The Orion nebula is an easy target, wait till about 9:00, located the 3 stars making up his belt, and notice the small fainter group of stars below and to the right (his sword). The nebula is about midway between the sword and the leftmost belt star. Recommend looking for it use your lowest-power eyepiece.

The Andromeda galaxy is spectacular under a very dark sky far from city lights, but as mentioned, it's not very well positioned right now for viewing. When you do go hunting for it, you definitely want to do so at very low magnification, as it's actually about 10 times the size of the moon, just very faint (it's core is naked-eye visible under dark skies).

And here's a little tech info for you - advertised power means nothing; objective diameter and quality is everything. In general, a diffraction-limited (this means virtually perfect, to within a 1/4 wavelength of light) primary/objective is good for about x50 magnification per inch. So unless your primary mirror is 12 inches in diameter, don't expect a usable view at x600 mag. But that's okay, most of the most interesting objects, other than the planets, are best viewed at much lower mag. One reason is that some of these objects, like Andromeda, are actually fairly large and won't fit into the eyepiece at extreme magnification. Another is that the lower magnification you run, the better the contrast resolution. In other words, "faint fuzzies" llike nebulae and galaxys will appear smaller but brighter and easier to see with more detail visible.

I'm emailable if you click my name, for any specific other questions you may have. As you progress, not only will you become more and more familiar with the night sky, getting to where you can find dozens or even hundreds of interesting targets without maps, but you will also probably begin to learn about the theory of optics, as doing so will enable you to be a better astronomer, able to select the right telescope, eyepiece, and filter for a particular target. Happy hunting.

Answer 2

Yes, you can see the Andromeda Galaxy and the Orion Nebula, but use LOW power for those objects. 600x is WAY too high; 60x would be far better.

A popular misconception is that things like the Andromeda galaxy and the Orion nebula are small and so you need high magnification. That is not true! The planets are small, but many galaxies and nebulae are quite large as seen in the sky. Both the Andromeda galaxy and the Orion nebula are LARGER THAN THE MOON as seen in the sky. The only problem is that they are VERY DIM, while the Moon is extremely bright. For a size comparison, see the source.

The picture in the source looks fake because it is. It is a composite of two different pictures. One is a long time exposure picture of the Andromeda galaxy. You need the long time exposure, even with a telescope, to show the extremely faint light of the galaxy. The Moon image is a regular snapshot. The two images were combined in a computer in a way that you could never see in nature. But the SIZES of the two objects are correct in relation to each other.

To view nebulae and galaxies, you need a DARK SKY, far from city lights where you can easily see the Milky Way in the sky, and a telescope with LOW MAGNIFICATION. You need the low magnification to make the large object fit in the field of view and to make the object look as bright as possible. But even under the best of conditions, these dim, deep sky objects will never look like they do in the pictures. Even professional astronomers using giant telescopes cannot see these things like the pictures show them. As a result, most people are extremely disappointed at how these things look in a telescope, even a big one. That is why profesional astronomers never just look through the telescope. They use photography and digital electronic detectors. The human eye, even with the help of a telescope, simply cannot see these things like a camera or electronic detector can.

Now the Moon and planets are totally different. The Moon is both big AND bright. It should be the #1 target for any new telescope owner. The planets are bright too, but they are extremely small. For planets you DO need high magnification. But not 600x. If you try to use such high power, you will have many problems. The image will be dim and fuzzy because you have exceeded the limits of what any small telescope can do. Also, the field of view at such power will be very narrow and you will have extreme difficulty getting the planet in view and keeping it there. At 600x, any little bump, or some wind or whatever, will set it shaking so much that you can't see any detail. Or it make move it totally out of the field of view. I find the best power for planets is between 100 and 200x. I suggest you start at 100 and only go up to 200 later. With a high quality telescope (no telescope that is advertised as 600x is high quality. Quality manufacturers know magnification is not important and never advertise it) and perfect atmospheric conditions (the stars not twinkling at all), you might get good views at powers as high as 600, but I never have, even with very big telescopes, like those at professional observatories.

Answer 3

The bad news:

You've been conned by a cheap telescope company. Your refractor probably has a main lens of no more than 60mm in diamter which means if you use an eyepiece which produces anything over "118 power" with your telescope, you will most likely get a horrible blurry image.

I have a large 13" reflector and "600 power" is pushing it for me on a good night. What is important in a telescope is it's aperture, or light collecting ability. This is gauged by the diameter of the main lens in a refractor and primary mirror in a reflector. A telescope is light a light funnel and the larger it is in diameter, the more light it can collect. It takes this light and condenses it to make it bright enough for us to see, and then the eyepiece, in conjuntion with the focal length of the telescope, works to magnify the little bright image. Most people use fairly low powered lenses with the exception of planetary viewing. The reason is most things in space actually cover a large portion of sky, but they are dim. If I were to use anything higher powered than a 25mm eyepiece in my telescope when looking at the andromeda galaxy, the galaxy wouldn't fit into the field of view.

The Good news:

As long as you use not to high of a magnification, you should be able to get a nice view of the Andromeda Galaxy. It's visible sometimes to the naked eye and very visible in most binoculars. It will look like a fuzz ball. You will be able to see the Orion nebula too but you won't be able to see the structure that larger telescopes can see...though you might see some if you use a OIII filter.

To figure out what magnification an eyepiece will produce, find the focal length of your telescope...it should be printed on the box or something, and the focal length of the eyepiece....it will be on the eyepiece in mm's usually.

Making sure both measurments are in the same units, such as millimeters, here is the equation:

Magnification = (telescope focal length)/(eyepiece focal length)

Answer 4

This interactive website will show you exactly where the planets and other celestial objects are located in your sky in Ohio ==>http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/

There's also an excellent free program with super graphics you can download to locate celestial objects at ==>http://stellarium.org

The Andromeda Galaxy is up in the summer, so this isn't a good time to locate it. It can be seen with the naked eye if you know precisely where to look. The Orion Nebula at this time of year is almost directly over your head around 9:00 pm. Look for the three aligned stars in Orion's "belt" to find it.

The planets all follow the same general path across the night sky (..called the eclliptic..) Look due south from your location and about 45-degrees up from the horizon. Any object(s) you see along an arc from horizon to horizon with that 45-degree spot as its high point is probably a planet, especially if it's not twinkling.

Answer 5

Well you have taken your first step. Now there are a few things you are going to need. 1. a compass, you will need to know north. 2. A watch. 3. Then you need a sky chart. 4Then you will need a solid place to put your scope. 5 Then patience. Your location right now might not have any planets in line. But they are out there.
I recommend first to start off with the moon. You can find many wonderful things to watch on the moon. Then after you are able to locate different craters you will be much better at using the scope to find planets, stars, and maybe on a good night, if you are luck you will find a nebulae. And count your self lucky, one of the great sites i have ever seen.
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Answer 6

bacchus has given you some good information. also:
1-the moon and the planets always follow the same path across the sky. whichever path the moon is taking, the planets are in the same path.
2-planets do not "twinkle".
3-venus can only be seen early in the morning or late in the evening because of it's proximity to the sun.(the same for mercury)
4-jupiter is one of the brightest objects in the night sky.
5-saturn is fairly bright
6-study the sky without your telescope and try to find the planet with your naked eye.
7-remember--all of the planets follow the same path as the moon across the sky.
8-get an almanac. it will give you information about the planets and stars.
9-have fun.

Answer 7

You should be able to see those enlarged through your instrument. But rememberr that you have a very narrow field of view and must correctly aim your device at an exact location and then track that or repoint frequently. If I remember correctly, nightsky.com gives compass bearings and azimuth for specific times from specific locations. Wherever you find the information you will need to know your exact coordinates to use the data correctly. Ask someone to borrow their GPS if you don't have one to determine where you are. You may need to do a little research on magnetic declination(indicated on any topo map) in your area also. Good luck.

Answer 8

Buy either Astronomy or Sky & Telescope Magazine, they both have excellent sky charts for the month that show you what you can see in the night sky.

Answer 9

thats funny be cuz i bought th astronomy magazinestop 10 stories of 26+and00 got a microscope the day after christmas,


are you a war vet from viet man

Answer 10

if u get the plain dealer i think in the weather section they have times u can see the planets...

i am pretty sure they are so if u get that newspaper around you have a look at it