Plossl Eyepiece
I have a reflector telescope with 130mm/5 inches apeture and 1000mm focal length. What can I see with it?
It has It has a 17mm 100x magnification Plossl eyepiece. The telescope is a Konus Motor 130. It has a focal ratio f/8, whatever that means. What can I see with it?
here is the full specs:
http://www.uk-telescopes.co.uk/konus_motor_130%20telescope.htm
The 5″ Konus is an excellent entry-level telescope. If you are in the UK you’re going to have problems with Jupiter–for the next few years its orbit keeps it low to the horizon, so details will be hard to get. Saturn is moving into a rings-edge-on phase so we’re going to lose a few years there too, unfortunately. With Mars you’ll see polar caps and some dark markings on good night when Mars is fairly close (as right now). The person who said you’d see Olympus Mons was regrettably a tad over-enthusiastic. This is a 5″ Konus not a 5″ Takahashi, and even so, Olympus Mons–a big volcanic mountain on Mars–is an extremely difficult visual target.
The more general answer to your question is that you can do a lifetime of observing with a 5″ aperture, once you learn to appreciate its limits. If you like using a German Equatorial Mount, which is what came with your mount, then you could at some future point get a more stable set up (and less frustration hunting for things) by looking into a Vixen Great Polaris or Super Polaris. Otherwise at some point you might consider a Dobson configuration, but it won’t track.
There are several thousand open clusters, galaxies, globular clusters, and nebulae that are within reach of a 5″ telescope, as well as many double stars. Skiff and Tirion’s BRIGHT STAR ATLAS gives 600 deep sky objets (open cluster, galaxies, globular clusters) on well-drawn maps and only costs U.S. $10.00. I have provided a link below. Anything listed in the Brigth Star Atlas (which is more than just bright stars) should be accessible in your scope.
Another book written specifically for your telescope size is Sue French’s “Celestial Sampler” which should be available at any major (and many minor) book vendors.
If you are a true beginner you will need to get a PLANISPHERE which is a wheel-like map that will show you where the constellations are; everything hinges on being able to find the constellation, the books take over from there. Sky and Telescope (see the link to Sue French’s book) sells these but I’m sure you can get one in the UK cheaper. For astro-stuff in the UK try scastro (link below).
To sum up, you can see many many things with your telescope and it is a recommended beginner’s instrument (often discussed on astromart.com, which is a great resource, costs $12 to join; they have a “beginner’s” discussion group, and you can also buy used equipment on astromart). Many people never buy MORE than a five inch telescope, they just buy FANCIER (very expensive Takahashi refractors, for example). The Orion Nebula (M42), the Perseus double cluster (NGC 869 & 864), several dozen open clusters in Cassiopeia, Auriga, Sagittarius, Cygnus, and too much to go into here. Many double stars too.
Also: to help find things you want maximum wide field. That means low magnification, big view, to help you find what you’re looking for. (You can increase the magnification after you find it). The “comes with” eyepieces on your scope won’t do maximum field of view. Call your vendor and ask for an inexpensive 32mm 1.25″ plossl, or go on Astromart and buy one used. We’re talking U.S. $30 to $50. This need not be a quality eyepiece but quality can always help–when you’re feeling flush the U.S. $300 24mm Pan Optic is a nice alternative….costs more than your scope!! (this biz is all about accessories) For best views your scope will need to be COLLIMATED, your instructions probably tell you how to do it but you’ll need to have a real astronomy discussion group, not Yahoo questions, to get detailed help. Try this group for coaching:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/telescopes/
Moon and Saturn
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