The Star Party - How to Focus Your Telescope: Tips and Tricks

[WatchmenDrManhattan]

Celestron CLST-C70, Mini Mak Spotting Scope

[TheBrahoule]

I saw almost all astronomers videos on youtube and i never see any of them talking about real tricks for focusing...I am doing astrophotography and the "Trick" that i use to focus is called "Bahtinov mask" . This is easy to done by yourself. You can also find a webcite to help you to calculate your mask and print it .

Personnaly, this is the easiest way to focusing your telescope. The Bahtinov mask is not only good for astrophoto but also good for naked eyes observations...

[lilgrlkissesnhugs]

Hi, I recently recived my first telescope the classic dobsonian orion skyquest xt8, the eyepiece with it is the sirius plossl 25mm, telescope focal lenght is 1200mm so that gives me a mag. of 48x, I'm wondering if I should be able to see saturns rings with what i just described. what are some eyepiece's that I should consider for best viewing of the planets? will a barlow help as well? and one final thing will I be able to see galaxies? I know they won't be in great detail, but will i se them

[oriontelescopes]

Hi lilgrlkissesnhugs,

You would definitely be able to see galaxies with that combination, as long as you aren't in a very light polluted location. As for Saturn, yes you can see the rings, but they will be very small at that magnification. The barlow you mentioned would be perfect for bringing the planet closer and would be my first recommendation for an add-on to help see more planetary detail.

Hope that helps, thanks!

-Ken

Orion Telescopes

[lilgrlkissesnhugs]

@oriontelescopes Thanks alot! I will defeintly be getting the barlow and another eyepiece very soon. I seen saturn for the first time in my telescope and i was absolutly astonished, i was able to see 2 moons with it as well, defiently a image that will remain in my mind for a very long time.

[UnrealChainz420x2]

@oriontelescopes

I recently recived my first telescope the classic dobsonian orion skyquest xt8, the eyepiece with it is the sirius plossl 25mm, telescope focal length is 1200mm.

with just the eyepiece I can see alot however not much detail. I also wanna see Saturn's rings I did order a shorty barlow it is in shipment atm. But am I correct in thinking I want a smaller lens like 3mm or 7.5 wouldn't 3mm divided by 1200 be 400x mag? I'm confused on what would work the best.

[oriontelescopes]

Hi UnrealChainz420x2,

The Shorty Barlow will definitely help, and you can always add on another eyepiece to use by itself or with the Barlow. But I wouldn’t go much past around 250-300x at most. After that, the atmosphere is unstable enough to cause blurring of the image and you’ll lose detail. So 250x magnification would be around a 5mm by itself, or a 10mm with a Barlow lens.

Thanks

-Ken

Orion Telescopes

[sarahsum1]

Cool! I needed these tips!! Staring at blurry black is getting boring now :-D need to focus in on something! Thanks, Sarah :-)

[sedativechunk]

I'll try and remember these tips when my computerized Orion XT8 comes in the main in a couple more days!