Need help...I'm new.

[Walking_Lily]

<p>I bought an orion spaceprobe 130 last winter, however, I have not had much time to spend figuring things out. &nbsp;I've read enough to know that I needed a shorty barlow lense to zoom in on cool things, so I bought it. &nbsp;But I get a little lost trying to focus on the right portion of sky. &nbsp;I would love to be able to see planets, I have the right magnification as far as I can tell. &nbsp;But when I try to line up my scope with where I want to focus...I don't see anything. &nbsp;I'm pretty sure I'm missing something really important about navigating the night sky and my telescope. &nbsp;Does anyone have any suggestions or know of any good books with "simple" instructions for me? &nbsp;I tried to google for information but that didn't help me. &nbsp;So here I am. &nbsp;Thanks for anything you can share.</p><p>Walking Lily&nbsp;</p>

 

[astro_anthro]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I bought an orion spaceprobe 130 last winter, however, I have not had much time to spend figuring things out. &nbsp;I've read enough to know that I needed a shorty barlow lense to zoom in on cool things, so I bought it. &nbsp;But I get a little lost trying to focus on the right portion of sky. &nbsp;I would love to be able to see planets, I have the right magnification as far as I can tell. &nbsp;But when I try to line up my scope with where I want to focus...I don't see anything. &nbsp;I'm pretty sure I'm missing something really important about navigating the night sky and my telescope. &nbsp;Does anyone have any suggestions or know of any good books with "simple" instructions for me? &nbsp;I tried to google for information but that didn't help me. &nbsp;So here I am. &nbsp;Thanks for anything you can share.Walking Lily&nbsp; <br /> Posted by Walking_Lily</DIV></p><p>Since you are having trouble finding things I would suggest starting with the moon. Find it first using your lowest power eyepiece then try adding the barlow--you'll have to refocus after inserting the barlow. But I would wait until you are comfortable using your mount and finding things in the sky before trying to ramp up the power with a barlow. If you don't find your answers here I suggest posting a plea for help over at cloudynights.com. Its a dedicated amateur astronomy site/forum--they have lots of useful FAQ postings and the members there are very helpful. Clear skies, Tom</p>

 

[crazyeddie]

<p><span style="border-collapse:collapse;font-size:12px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-style:italic" class="Apple-style-span">But I get a little lost trying to focus on the right portion of sky. &nbsp;I would love to be able to see planets, I have the right magnification as far as I can tell. &nbsp;But when I try to line up my scope with where I want to focus...I don't see anything. &nbsp;I'm pretty sure I'm missing something really important about navigating the night sky and my telescope.&nbsp;</span></span></p><p>Did you make sure that the finderscope is correctly aligned? &nbsp;If not, take the scope in the daytime and insert the lowest-power eyepiece, which I believe in this instrument is 25x. &nbsp;Point it towards some faraway object, such as the top of a tree or a distant building. &nbsp;Then look to see if the finderscope points to the same object. &nbsp;If not, you need to adjust it so the crosshairs (if they have them) or center of the finderscope field is centered on the object in the telescope eyepiece.</p><p>And bear in mind, it can be difficult to observe the moon and planets at high magnification if your scope is not equipped with a clock drive. &nbsp;Even if you center the object in the field of the low power eyepiece, by the time you switch out to the barlow lens or higher power eyepiece and refocus, the object may have drifted out of the field of view.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Saiph]

Barlows are usually more trouble than their worth.&nbsp; Especially for new telescope uses.&nbsp; High magnification isn't everything, and you can actually OVER magnify an image, and lose detail.&nbsp; Sorta like sitting so close to a TV you see the pixels. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector.  Goes "bing" when there's stuff.  It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually.  I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[Walking_Lily]

Thanks to you all.&nbsp; Everything you said was helpful.&nbsp; Yes, my finder needed to be adjusted, yes, the barlow made things too big.&nbsp; I really appreciate your time to help me.&nbsp; I'm so interested in learning more about astronomy, I'm excited.&nbsp; I'm going to check out that other site suggested.&nbsp; Thanks again for everything.