Reference Material
When I have a new interest I read everything I can get my hands on – both in print and on the Internet. There is a lot of good information out there but there’s a lot of noise out there too. My blog may fit into the noise… it’s just a matter of opinion.
Software
Included in my reference material is Starry Night Pro. There are similar products out there both free and not. I went with Starry Night because of things I read in forums and from the description on their web page. I’m wasn’t 100% happy with my decision at first.
I started with the download edition and I felt that was a waste of money. For the cost, I thought I was getting the Pro edition without printed manuals and media. That is not the case. 
The Download edition is more like the Enthusiast edition with some Pro features sprinkled in. This may be enough for some people but I was looking for planning and logging capabilities. While going through the manual (PDF), I had to check each feature to see if it was implemented. The Download version is not specifically discussed in the manual or compared on the website. The other issue is that you’ll need a pretty hefty computer. Starry Night runs about 50% CPU on my dual-core Win 7 machine. It is very responsive, but if you have too many applications open you’ll start to see a performance hit on all running applications.
If you must have Starry Night, I would suggest going at least to the Pro version. It has more catalogs than the Download edition, allows more configuration fine tuning and has planning and logging. Consider the free programs Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel. Both are quite capable. There’s also the the Worldwide Telescope project and Google Earth to consider.
For a dedicated planning and logging program consider AstroPlanner. There’s a free version and a pay version with a few more features. The program concentrates on observation planning and logging. In particular, you can record information about the evening’s session and within that session, record individual observations. I really like this feature – something that Starry Night’s basic logging feature does not implement. One thing to keep in mind about this application is that it is not a planetarium program. It can tie into Cartes du Ciel which provides the planetarium function. Consider trying out this pair before dropping the cash on Starry Night.
Books
I’ve got a small collection of books but I’ll only mention the ones I find useful. One thing I’ve noticed, most of the books at your book store fall into just a few categories. Closely look at the book you are considering and see how much it might overlap with other books in your library.
My overall favorite book is “Turn Left at Orion” by Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis. This book breaks things down by season and helps you find some of the best objects per season. You are guided to each object by overall, finder and telescope views along with a description of how to star hop to the object. Then there are very realistic sketches of how each object appears. This really helps me set my expectations properly. Finally, there is a description of each object so I can understand what I’m seeing. This book is definitely a keeper.
Next is “The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide” by Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer. This book covers everything from equipment to observing including some advanced topics such as photography. None of the chapters gets too bogged down in detail but each provides enough information to be useful. I can see me returning to this book often as I select new filters or want to dig a little deeper into a technique. I’d recommend this book to any beginner to intermediate amateur astronomer.
I picked up a copy of the “Collins dictionary of Astronomy” on sale at Barnes and Noble. It is actually fun to just flip to a page and read a short blurb on a topic. I’m sure this will become more useful as I get more experience but for now it is just fun.
Star Charts
I’m a little premature with writing this as I’m waiting for my copy of Sky Atlas 2000. I have big expectations for this. I didn’t order the Sky Atlas Companion yet but I’m sure that will be added to my wish list. I don’t plan on taking my computer out to the field with me. With the laminated pages, I think I’ll be able to use a grease pencil and mark up the pages without doing permanent damage. Consider purchasing this from Amazon or one of the other big retailers. It is pretty expensive at the publisher’s site.
I have two planispheres. The Firefly planisphere is a little too small for me so it will be a giveaway item. The Guide to the Stars planisphere by David H. Levy is more my size and the dark stars on a white background makes it easy to read under dim lights. I’m hoping that as I gain experience a planisphere won’t be necessary but for now it makes a great tool for figuring out where everything is.
The Boy Scouts of America Deck of Stars is minimally useful to me. My poor eyesight just won’t let me see the details on the cards even though they have the interesting feature of being glow in the dark. This is a giveaway item.
The Web
Talk about information overload! In just a few days of hunting around the web I’ve bookmarked hundreds of potentially useful sites. In the end, much of the information is just rehashed from one site to the next. In a short time I’ve whittled down my list to some key sites that give me the information I want.
The first site that will stay bookmarked is the local astronomy club’s site. The Northern Virginia Astronomy Club’s site has some good local information. Becoming a member has gotten me access to the club’s observing sites along with a mailing list of the locals… a great resource indeed!
Cloudy Nights Telescope Reviews is a useful site for equipment reviews, forums and classified ads. I check the classifieds daily to see what needs to be on my wish list and then search out the reviews for some other ideas. A similar site that I check often is Astromart which seems to a more active classifies section but less active on the reviews. These are two good sites to have bookmarked.
Wikipedia has a wealth of information for the amateur astronomer. Until I memorize the chart, I often refer to the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale but there are many more searches I run through Wikipedia that brings back useful information. Type in Messier 38 and get all the details of this open cluster. Then click on some of the links on the same page to dig into the background information.
For general astronomy-related news I check in with Universe Today. The articles are always interesting and the writers are good. They also have a fine podcast.
Speaking of podcasts, I’ve gotten into listening to them while I’m walking the dogs. My favorite podcast is from Astronomy Cast. Fraser Cain seem to be a little too caught up in how suns might explode and kill us or how we might fall into a black hole but he asks great questions and Dr. Pamela L. Gay gives great, understandable answers. My only problem is the show only comes out once a week. I need more!
I may update this post or add a second post at a later date. There is so much information out there that it is impossible to cover even a small percentage in a blog post. I need to keep focused on just a few of the most useful resources and not allow myself to be overwhelmed by the flood.
More Accessories
I’ve been through the telescope and eyepieces. The next set of accessories fall into a couple of categories. Some seem absolutely essential while others I’ve yet to use them to their fullest. I’ll either figure them out or they’ll collect dust in the closet.
Filters
My kit came with a few filters that have not been particularly useful yet. The first filter, a polarizing filter, is beyond my ability to understand how it could be useful for astronomy. Essentially, it is sunglasses for the telescope. What makes it even less useful is that it is a two-piece filter that needs to be adjusted. Placing it at the bottom of the eyepiece means I need to remove the eyepiece to make the adjustment. Maybe I’ll find some use for it with the next full moon but so far it seems to provide the opposite effect I’d normally think is needed when viewing the sky. Two moon filters also came with the kit, one for 1.25” eyepieces and the other for 2” eyepieces. I’ve used this while viewing the Moon, Mars and Jupiter. It doesn’t seem to do much for the Moon but I think I can see a little more detail when viewing the planets. It could be my imagination. Further investigation is required.
I purchased an Tele Vue Oxygen III filter because of my dismal record of viewing nebulae. For M42 it definitely brought out some contrast though it still looks nothing like the pictures. For others in Orion, I saw no difference. I’m not expecting the color of the pictures I see but more the extent of the nebula cloud. I’m going to keep working with the OIII filter and hopefully it will become a useful tool as I discover other targets to try it on.
I just ordered the Tele Vue Mars A and Mars B filters. Mars has been in a pretty good position and if I read right, this is the best viewing available for the next few years. With no filter, I could detect the brightly lit north polar ice cap but no other detail. See the Observation Log for more details. Both of these filters seem to be geared towards looking at surface features according to the Tele Vue description but I’m sure I read somewhere that one of them should bring atmospheric features of Mars into view. Because they are 1.25” filters I’ll be using them mostly with the Ethos 10 eyepiece.
Finders
I have two finders working for me and I’m not sure I could get along without either of them. The Zhumell 8 Ultimate Package included both an RACI 9×50 finder and the Telrad finder. For the first few nights I only used the RACI finder and I had a difficult time finding anything. I tried sighting down the scope to get close and then scanning with the finder to bring the object into the field of view. Once there and aligned with the telescope, the object was right in the middle of the eyepiece.
I originally mounted the Telrad on a 4” extension which I bought separately. Once I had the Telrad figured out, finding any visible object was an absolute breeze! When the Telrad is aligned with the finder and the eyepiece, I can use the Telrad to get in the general area. Actually, the Telrad will put me spot on if I’m careful with centering it. I could often go from the Telrad right to the eyepiece when viewing Mars and Jupiter. Compared with any other accessory I have on the telescope, this inexpensive device proved the most useful.
I did have a couple of problems with the Telrad that was probably mostly due to my carelessness. On the first night I was carrying the telescope back in the house with the Telrad still mounted on the 4” extension. I bumped against some clothes that were hanging on a door and the 4” extension shattered. It was around 20 degrees outside so I think the plastic became very brittle. There was no apparent damage to the Telrad. Then, on the next evening and just to prove that I don’t learn my lessons well, I knocked the Telrad off again. This time is was flat on its base with no extension. The double-sided tape just let loose of the OTA. I think the cold was again a contributing factor. I now have the base tie-wrapped to the OTA and I have been taking the Telrad off the telescope before moving it too far. I also have a new 4” extension on order. The Telrad is much more convenient to use with it hovering off the telescope.
Collimation
I won’t even attempt to write an article about how to collimate a telescope, firstly because I have no clue and secondly because there are tons of great write-ups and videos out there already. There is a wonderful video at Andy’s Shot Glass that will get you started.
The Ultimate Package came with a Zhumell laser collimator. In reading forum posts concerning laser collimators, especially the inexpensive ones, they can be more of a frustration than a fix. The biggest issue is whether the laser itself is collimated. There are tests you can do that I have not done yet with the Zhumell. The one problem I noted was that the laser was a blob by the time it got back to the hole in the device. By removing the heavy spring in the back of the collimator the laser formed a nice beam but I’m not sure what else it might have affected. By the way, all that is inside the collimator is one of those cheap laser pointers you can buy anywhere. My confidence in this device is minimal but I still use it for now during the final collimation.
I also purchased a Celestron collimator (not laser, Cheshire?). I find this difficult to use but I think it is mostly because I don’t understand how collimation works yet (despite the excellent video). I’ve been using the Celestron to try and get the secondary mirror centered in the focuser hole. Then I use the laser to get the beam centered on the primary. Finally, still using the laser, I center the beam in the laser’s window by adjusting the primary. It all seems good but when I go back to check it later it seems out of adjustment again. I don’t think I’m tightening things down right but I’m worried about breaking something.
Collimation is a subject I’ll probably return to later but I don’t believe I will ever be able to top the already great resources out on the Internet. I’m considering replacing the Zhumell laser collimator with the HOTECH 2 Inch SCA Laser Collimator. Check out their videos to see exactly the problem they are trying to resolve.
Comfort
The first few nights out in the cold and bending over the telescope took a toll on my old bones. I decided to find a nice seat to make things easier. I’m 6’2” and weigh near 300 lbs so I needed something sturdy and I think I found it. I purchased a StarBound Observers Chair from TELESCOPES.com. It was easy to put together and after the first night’s use I believe it is indispensible. I was able to sit in front of the telescope for long periods of time concentrating on single objects. I think this was the major factor in being able to see the polar icecap on Mars. It didn’t show up for the first five or ten minutes. Maybe I’m giving the chair too much credit but try it out with a barstool or something. If you can comfortably follow an object in the sky for longer periods of time I think you’ll be able to notice detail you never noticed before. In addition, I replaced the chair at my desk with this chair. It really is a perfect accessory and priced right.
Miscellaneous
I have some other things on order that may be marginally useful. My work has an on-the-spot incentive program where we earn credits and can purchase items from a catalog. With my collected credits I purchased a set of Bushnell 7×50 Marine binoculars. From everything I’ve read, binoculars are a real requirement when scanning the skies. The 7x magnification may be a little on the short end of the recommendations I’ve read but the lenses are fully multi-coated which I guess means the coatings are on both sides of each lens. This is something that was recommended in the books I’ve read.
On a whim I also purchased a Celestron SkyScout – Personal Planetarium. I have no clue why I did this other than the possibility of not having to carry around an atlas. I read about the SkyScout a few years ago and it didn’t seem too impressive at the time. Now, from what I’ve read, it appears it is functional and the price isn’t too bad. I think I can use the SkyScout by searching for an object I’m interested in, getting the general direction and then pointing the telescope in the same direction. If this works out, then my biggest problem will be that of not learning how to find things on my own. It could become a crutch. We’ll see how this whim turns out.
Summary
Well I think that’s it for now. I basically have the telescope tricked out with eyepieces and other accessories and I’ve had a few nights out under the stars. You can check out the Observation Log (see link at the top of the page). Next time I’ll probably talk a little about the reference material I’ve picked up. Eventually, I hope most of my posts will be about actually getting outside with the telescope but I wanted to set the foundation first.
Accessorizing – Eyepieces
I love gadgets and this hobby seems to feed my obsession. The concept I’m using to develop my accessory kit is to consider the future. Mid-sized Dobsonians seem to be the most recommended starter telescope. Just by having the tag “starter” tells me that if I’m going to stick with this hobby I’ll be looking for a new telescope within the next year or so. Therefore, I’d want to consider the future while I accessorize.
There are a number of categories to consider when looking at accessories. So far, I’ve been considering:
- Eyepieces
- Filters
- Atlases and References
- Binoculars
- Site Conveniences
Looking at each of these categories, there is a dizzying array of products to choose from. In fact, I know I’m jumping the gun when, at this point, I’ve only had the telescope outside seven times. But, being driven by gadgets, I really need no justification. It is all for fun. Here is a quick overview of my starting accessories. Some are absolutely unnecessary but hopefully all will be useful as I upgrade to different telescopes. Please don’t take anything I say as an expert recommendation. I’m an absolute newbie!
From what I’ve read, the eyepiece is the heart and soul of the telescope. Granted, the quality of the telescope primary optics is the limiting factor. Because a single eyepiece can cost more than the telescope, I want to get the best I can afford and eventually grow my telescope to match the eyepieces capabilities. It doesn’t make sense to me to compromise on eyepieces at this time, upgrade the telescope later and find that my eyepiece kit becomes the limiting factor.
The Z8 can use 1.25″ and 2″ eyepieces. It appears the smaller eyepiece focal lengths are 1.25″. The magnification ranges that my telescope seems to support is from 27x to 400x. The extremes will probably test the quality of the primary optics of the Z8. The telescope package I purchased came with 9 mm 50 degree 1.25″, 16 mm 100 degree 2″, and 30 mm 68 degree 2″ Zhumell eyepieces. All three seem to do a fine job so far. Not having anything to compare them with, there is no way for me to judge the quality. My initial observations are:
- Moon – beautiful details with all three eyepieces. The 30 mm and 16 mm gave sweeping views of the surface with brilliant contrast between the dark and light zones.
- Jupiter – an obvious beige globe with all eyepieces and a hint of banding using the 9 mm. The four visible moons are pinpoint sources of light.
- Mars – in the first few observing sessions there wasn’t much to impress me. There are no visible moons and the very small peach-colored orb held no detail.
- Stars – they seem pinpoint to me. each star appears to have a cross of beams bisecting the star. The brighter the star, the more prominent the cross. The Pleiades is a beautiful sight. It looks much different than the view from the finder so making out the pattern is difficult with the other stars that pop into view.
- Nebula – I can’t report much success. In M42 I can see an obvious cloud-like image around the Trapezium but I can see no other hint of the nebula. Moving up towards Alnitak, I see no clue of the nebula which includes the Horsehead nebula. I was pretty disappointed as the magazines and books set my expectations for some dramatic views. Posts to a couple of forums confirms my expectations were set too high but selecting the proper filters and patient and detailed study of areas will improve things.
I immediately began considering the next steps. After a lot of reading of forums I decided the TeleVue Ethos eyepieces were where I wanted to concentrate my eyepiece upgrades. In addition, I would need to consider filters beyond the polarizing and moon filter which came with the telescope package.
I purchased a 10 mm TeleVue Ethos eyepiece. This was kind of a strange choice because I have the 9 mm Zhumell eyepiece but it did give me the ability to compare similar focal lengths. What I found with the Ethos 10 is that the relative size of objects, such as Mars, were similar in the 10 mm and 9 mm eyepieces, the surrounding area in the Ethos 10 was much larger. It is easy to get the impression of looking out the portal of a spaceship when using the Ethos 10. I actually look from the side of the eyepiece to see quite a huge area around the object of interest. It also means I can keep an object within the field of view a lot longer. I don’t have to move around the telescope as much as I do with the 9 mm eyepiece. I’m committed to building out my eyepiece collection with Ethos as the foundation. When I go beyond 21 mm, I’ll have to consider another model but I will probably stick with TeleVue.
It seems to me that part of the issue with selecting eyepieces is to get the right eyepieces to fill out a range without a lot of overlap and without the feeling that there are gaps in coverage. Now I have 9, 10, 16 and 30 mm. I will probably sell the 9 mm Zhumell and then look at 6, 21, 36 and 40 mm eyepieces to complete my kit. I still have a little more research to do to figure out exactly the eyepieces I want but I hope to have a complete set within a year. I don’t plan to get rid of the 16 or 30 mm Zhumells right away.
I don’t want to discuss software yet but I do want to mention AstroPlanner briefly. I am using AstroPlanner for my observation log (but may replace it soon). AstroPlanner allows me to specify my telescope and eyepiece combinations and then visualize the effect using DSS images of deep space objects. I found that this is a fairly realistic representation if I keep the size relation in line with what is seen in the actual eyepiece. I think this will help me decide on which eyepieces to get. I’ll talk more about software later.
So this sets the record straight for my current eyepiece collection. Along with my previous post about the Z8 telescope, I think I’ve got the basics documented. Next post I’ll discuss the second level accessories which includes filters, barlows and correctors.
Keep in mind, these first few posts are just to set the baselline and catch things up. Over time, I’ll be getting more detailed.
Zhumell Z8 Deluxe Dobsonian
This is my first telescope. I have nothing to compare my observations with other than pictures from books and magazines. This is a BIG mistake. If you haven’t heard this yet… what you generally see in the books and magazines, especially as it relates to colorful nebulae, has little to do with what you see in the telescope. I learned quickly that there is quite a difference between visual observing and photography. With that lesson learned, my expectations are more in line with reality.
The Z8 is an 8″ f/5.9 1200 mm Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian base. The base package includes a 9 mm and 30 mm eyepiece and a 9×50 RACI finder. The Ultimate Package, a little over $200 more, includes a Z100 16 mm 100 degree FOV eyepiece and a Telrad finder. I decided to go with the Ultimate Package.
One thing missing with the telescope was instructions for putting it together. If you look online, you can find instructions in PDF format but both models I found weren’t exactly like the model I had. It appears Zhumell has improved the Z8 over time but has not kept up with the instruction sheet. No matter, this really is an easy telescope to put together. Most of the effort is in getting the base pieces built. This was about a 30 minute job. Watch which side the two side pieces are mounted. One of the side pieces has pre-drilled holes for the lens holder. I didn’t realize this and put the holder on the opposite side of where most of the work is done. This isn’t a big deal for me because I don’t use it.
I won’t discuss collimation because I don’t think I have done it correctly yet. I have offers of help from our local club, the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club. Also, the University of Maryland is holding its annual New Telescope Owners Night at the end of the month. I’ve signed up for this and expect I will be learning a lot.
Since the telescope was put together, I have had it out in front of the townhouse seven times. The Moon and Jupiter were my first targets but I’ve also been working in the constellations of Orion and Auriga trying to pick out Messier objects.
The Moon was an absolutely wonderful sight. The stark relief of the features were something to behold. The moon was mostly full but I could see peaks lit up bright white in the dark edge. I know I’m going to be spending quite a bit of time observing the Moon.
Jupiter was where I started to get my first dose of reality. For the first night or two, I saw little more than a very small orb with two or three bright points of Jupiter’s moons to the sides. I wasn’t able to see any detail and wondered how it would even be possible with such a small object. I found out that after some equipment additions and persistent observation details start to come alive. I’ll talk more about this later.
Horsehead as seen in Magazines
Moving to Orion brought my second dose of reality. The Horsehead Nebula and all nebulae surrounding Alnitak are invisible with my current setup. I had more luck with M42, the Orion Nebula, where the four stars of the Trapezium lit up a cloudy patch in the immediate vicinity. Again, it is nothing like the pictures.
For the first few nights I didn’t have the Telrad finder installed on the telescope. Finding things was very difficult. I live about 8 miles from Washington DC in a very developed neighborhood full of townhouses, street lights, porch lights and headlights. I can make out the main stars of Orion naked eye but little else. So there were very few visual clues for finding objects. In fact, while I could easily see Jupiter fairly low in the west, it seemed to take forever to get it in the finder and the eyepiece. It was a little easier once I had the eyepiece and finder aligned with each other – but it still took time.
Well that’s it for this chunk of information. I still have some catching up to do.
Getting Started
My first few posts are going to bring things up to date. I should probably keep these posts small. This first post is about what I selected and who I dealt with.
Around the middle of December I decided to take the plunge and order a telescope. Starting weeks before I did quite a bit of research on types of telescopes available. The obvious choice was a Dobsonian. The prices are reasonable and, from what I’ve read, the performance is good. I knew photography wasn’t going to be an option but I don’t have much interest in that right now.
I had a maximum price of $700 in mind so that basically meant the maximum aperture would be around 10 inches. With all the reading I’ve done, I decided the smallest aperture would be 6 inches. Anything less and I thought I would tire of it quickly.
So far, I know I want a six to ten inch Newtonian on a Dobsonian base. Unfortunately, that didn’t narrow things down a lot. It seems all the mass market vendors out there have something that will fit the requirements. It also seems that there isn’t too much to differentiate the products available from each of the vendors. If I dug deeper, I might have found some difference worth consideration but at this point I decided to go by price.
I had a short list of telescope makers I was interested in. The list included Orion, Sky Watcher, Celestron and Meade. Searching around for prices I kept coming back to TELESCOPES.com. While looking at the options I came across the Zhumell Z8 Deluxe Dobsonian ULTIMATE TELESCOPE PACKAGE for $600. The package included the Z8 and standard accessories then added the 16 mm Z100 eyepiece, Telrad finder and some filters along with a nice book.
After checking out the Zhumell Z8 on Cloudy Nights Telescope Reviews I decided this is the way to go. I sent in my order on December 16th and was notified it was shipped on December 19th. It arrived just before Christmas.
Dealing with TELESCOPES.com was pretty pleasant. I sent a couple of emails to them and got answers the next day. Also, I called them twice with questions (all before I even received the telescope), and a real person picked up the phone! Not only that, they sounded like they knew what they were talking about. That was unexpected.
One of the pitfalls of ordering from TELESCOPES.com is that, with every order, they include from 10% to 15% discount on the next purchase. I’m a gadget guy. This hobby is going to be deadly.
So I have the telescope and the purchase experience was good. Next post I’ll talk a little more about the telescope itself.
Hello Universe!
Just what the world needs, another blog. Well, I don’t expect this to be different than any other blog out there. It is mostly here for me. I’m thinking of using it to keep track of the lessons I learn, sights I see, and equipment I use. It probably won’t last if I don’t find it useful or it interferes with other things I have going on.
Just maybe, someone else might find this useful.
