I just bought a telescope called bushnell and it's Model78-9003. How do you see planets and such with it?

Question

I have a 25mm a 15mm 20mm and a 4mm eyepieces. Will I be able to see some stars and planets with these or do I need new eyepices?

Thanks for all your help I will be returning it to the store

Answer 1

Yes you should see things quite nicely. The 4mm is a little much and will probably be dark and fuzzy on somethings, it exceeds Daws limit for your scope, but you can use it

Start with the 25mm

Venus or the Moon (if around) would be a good starting target.

Unlock both locks on the scope and position it so you can see that bright white "star" (actually the planet Venus) in the center of the cross hairs about 30 minutes after sunset high in the west and then look into the scope and see if you find it. If you don't move the scope side to side a little, then up a little and side to side until you finally see venus in the center of the eye piece. Then switch to the 15mm and focus until it's sharp. Venus should be half a disk or possibly a crescent.

Keep it in the center, lock your scope. Make sure it's in the center.

Then go to the view scope and adjust the screws by locking and unlocking them until you get Venus in the center cross hairs (make sure you still see it in the scope).

Once you have that set, you can look at anything else (except the SUN, unless you have a SUN FILTER

With the 4mm lens you should clearly see Venus as half or crescent.

Elsewhere in the sky is Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

Saturn is higher in the sky than venus and more towards the south it is a dull yellow looking star and you should EASILY see the rings in all lenses.

Jupter is in the East about the same height as venus and it is about half as bright as Venus and more white yellow (venus is white blue).

You should EASILY see the disk and 4 bright moons

If you have a MOON filter try putting that on the 15mm lens and looking at Jupiter. It will darken it considerably, but it will also tend to show you some of the cloud belts

Mars is in the morning and not fantastic at this point in time. IT's a dull red. Wait for the fall and winter for Mars.

Get a star chart and start finding stars.

You can sort of see the Ring Nebula in Lyra (which is almost overhead) it's a faint whispy globe

There is also the Pleadides, an open clusters almost over head.

The moon will be the most startling at half phase.

You can also sort of see the Andromeda galaxy, again as a whispy globe or oval dim in the sky.

You really need a bigger scope or time laps camera to see these galactical objects better.

In the Wintertime you can see the nebulocity of the Great Nebula in Orion if you look at the second star down from the belt in the sword.

Again it will look like a star in a haze field. That's the nubulocity.

You can't see it as it looks in pictures except in pictures



http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_3009227

The Bushnells is an OK scope. I'd get a 6 or 12mm lens for it (small diamter, the metric size) as taht 4mm is a bit much.

If you paid $100 or less it's a very good deal. If more than $150 you maybe should have shopped around a little.

Answer 2

I just looked at the instruction manual. The telescope is a 3" Newtonian reflector on a wooden tripod with an altazimuth mount.
I agree with waht the other answers are saying but if you want to keep the scope you must first make certain that everything is tight. Second, like on of the posters stated you need some weight on the tripod to make it more sturdy.
Next make certain that you optics are aligned properly. If they are out of alignment things may not focus properly. Next align your finder scope (the little telescope on top of the main scope). Use the Moon or a bright planet to align it. Don't use a terrestrial object as it won't align properly.
Once you have done all of this you would look in the sky and find a non-stellar object to look at like the Moon. Use the eyepiece with the biggest number first. This gives you a lowere power but a greater field of view. Power is not really imoprtant.
Once you have followed all of these step you can view the Moon and planets. You should see the rings of Saturn, some of the atmoshperic featues of Jupiter along with the four Jovian moons, Mars, Venus, etc.
Since the scope is only a 3" reflector do not have great expectations as the important feature on telescopes is light gathering power and a 3" reflector would be a good starter scope. Stars will only show up as bright points of light so you will not be able to see any features of stars (unles it is a multiple star system such as Polaris).
Invest in some good star maps and maybe subscribe to Astronomy magazine. They will let you know what is in the sky each month.
Hope this helps you.

Answer 3

Bushnell telescopes tend to be pretty crap though if you stay away from the 4 mm (and any Barlow lens that might have come with it) it should be just usable. You might also want to add a weight onto the tripod to make it a bit more stable.

Anything you can see with the naked eye it'll be able to show you and it should be able to get Uranus and Neptune. The moons of Jupiter should be within its capabilities.

Though if you can get your money back that would be my recommendation (then you can get a better scope).

Getting a good book on astronomy and some star charts would be a good idea as well.

Answer 4

Your question goes back to pre historic age. So Its difficult to give a scientific answer to it. I just try to answer your question on my presumption.That was the time when our Sages & Rishis were equipped with devine powers to look beyond the physical capabilities. They acquired these powers by means of their TAPA known as TAPOBAL. what to talk of planets they knew about The pole star which is the only stationary body in the whole of creation. If you go for recent discoveries you would know that the knowledge given by them is gradually being proved to be true, tale for example the Ram setu it still exists there some 14 to 21 feet deep in water between Lanka & India. & it has been proved too that it has no pillars under it. It es made of the floating rocks & it has gome under water because because it both ends are stuck to the ground on both sides. Astrology in thse days was more advanced than it is to day. There are two ways of knowing things. One is by using scientific equipments & the other is the metaphysical way of knowing things. During those Metaohysics was more advanced than Physics.

Answer 5

It might just pay big dividends if you were to spend some time reading the owners manual ☺

Doug