Hi all - a quick hello and a few questions from a new member

...if you can get through to the end...

hi all, the name is Paul and ive been having a look around to find a community that caters to a wide variety of skills - this looks like a place a newcomer to astronomy wont get eaten alive

ive recently purchased a telescope after years of wanting one but never having the opportunity (and/or will) to buy one. the one i has been purchased i see by a lot of people - the Bresser Skylux 700mm refractor that was in Lidl just before Christmas.I plumped for this mainly because i didnt want to spend a lot of euros on a telescope that perhaps wouldnt get a lot of use, and i can always upgrade to a larger scope in time.

Ive been using it on and off since then and i have a few observations and questions (mainly questions!)

I havent begun to star-hop yet - ive mainly been looking at some stuff on 'Stellarium' and thinking - "yesh, id like so see that", then id go out an point the telescope that way. basic stuff yes, but i have to say im really enjoying it so far:

the moon : with some clear nights i found this to be very rewarding. theres so much detail up close!

Saturn: seen this for the first time last night as theres been a lot of cloud-cover recently. i was shocked at what i could see - i really didnt expect to see its rings but there they were encircling the planet. now, it wasnt a huge image by any account but even to see the planet and rings was worth the price of the scope and worth the price standing outside at 1am. however, i found the image to be basically all white in colour. is this right? is is the lens size that wont let me see anything more? is it because Saturn is in opposition, and its the reflection of all the suns light?

Mars: small, but a definite disk - though it was small it was very pretty. same issue though - seemed all white to me, not really the red colour i expected. is this correct? do i need any filters to bring out colours?

my viewing place is from my back garden in Cavan - i have a view of east to south with very little light pollution. haveny had a chance to point north yet.

Oh - and comet holmes....before i bought the scope im pretty sure i seen this with naked eyes on a dark night (early December). however ive tried to find it recently around Perseus/cassiopeia but to no avail. any tips? has its size reduced a lot recently?

Ive a lot of questions to come! thanks all.

Hi Paul, welcome to the forum!

Like you I bought the Skylux before Christmas aswell. I was pretty amazed at being able to see Saturn too! Last night was probably the best view I've seen of it so far.

Mars for me was a bit of a disappointment, but to be honest it's tiny compared to the likes of Saturn, and at best all you'll see is a white disc.

My next goal is M31 Andromeda...

As for the colours, you'll be seeing the majority of the sky black and white. The color you see in images is from long image exposures, sometimes using filters.

Stellarium is a great program isn't it! Far better than the "Cartes du Ciel" that comes with the Skylux!


I'm not too sure about Comet Holmes, although I'm sure one of the others will fill you in on this

Keep the questions coming, there's nothing but helpful answers to all of them here

many thanks for the reply Greg.

this colour thing - its no biggie, i mean im not expecting hubble colours, but i possibly had expected some yellowing on Saturn. regardless, it was a stunning site despite not being a huge image. when i went out and looked up i thought "its so tiny- ill never see rings on it" but i was pleasantly surprised. my wife came out and had a look to - thats saying something as she usually wouldnt have more than a passing interest. (in anything i do :roll: :lol: )

this Stellarium program is fabulous - i had trouble with the "Cartes du ciel" that came that came with the scope. Stallarium is perfect for a beginner - what you see is what you get and i can predict where such-and-such will be in the sky at a certain time.

with comet Holmes- i may have glimpsed it last night, i cant be sure. is it very faint, or has the corona expanded so much and become less dense that it just looks like a tiny cloud?


any thoughts on what Jupiter will look like with a small scope?

Well considering this is what I'm seeing with saturn (of course it looks much sharper in the scope), my guess would be Jupiter will be a little bigger, so the cloud bands will be visible. Well I'm hoping that's the case, we'll just have to wait and see

When i finally get to view Saturn i'd be VERY happy with the above image.

heh heh. thats just what i see - it was beautiful.

BTW, what kind of setup do i need to take pics? do i just take off the diagonal mirror and snap a shot? do i need to track an object and do some kind of slow exposure? will a regular bog-standard digital camera work for this?