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aaron01
newbie
Reged: 08/13/08
Posts: 2
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Greetings to everyone! I've wanted a telescope for years but for some reason have been putting it off. I guess money probably has a lot to do with it.  I decided it was finally time to take the plunge. I did a little research and decided on a Celestron CPC 800. After spending quite a while reading reviews, looking over documentation and determining what accessories I would need to get started, I finally ordered Wednesday and it arrived today!
Tonight it seemed clear when it started to get dark, but shortly after it started to get cloudy. About an hour later it had cleared a little again so I thought I would venture out. I'm in the city so it isn't the best place to view but thankfully I do have a place away from the city that I can head do when I have a chance.
I started out with the 40mm EP that came with the scope. I tried to find Jupiter but was having a tough time. I had it centered in the cross hairs of the finder scope but couldn't find it in the eyepiece. So I decided to wander over to the moon, an easy target! After spending some time focusing I finally had a clear view of the moon. I decided to change to an 8mm EP with a moon filter. It was a good view, but there was definitely some haze.
I switched back to the 40mm and tried to find Jupiter again, and was finally successful! It was awesome - I mean the moon is great and all but we can see it so well with the naked eye. It was amazing to see the bands of Jupiter and its moons as well. I decided to switch back to the 8mm and the view wasn't as good - lots of noticeable haze. So I found out first hand that higher power isn't always better. Rookie mistake I guess!
There is one thing that I was having a tough time with and that was just viewing through the eyepiece in general. I had a tough time getting my eye in just the right spot to see clearly. Any viewing tips as far as that goes? I guess I will have to give it time and get used to it.
Well that's about it - just wanted to stop in and say hello. Oh, I have a Canon Rebel XT and plan to put that to use with my telescope.. so expect some pictures in the future!
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Lamb0
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/25/07
Posts: 668
Loc: Fairbury, Nebraska
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 Welcome to Cloudy Nights! You started of with a whole lot of scope. 
One thing you'll want to do is allign your finder. Start with your 40mm eyepiece, and pick a ground based target miles away. Center your finder. Swap in your 8mm eyepiece, and repeat.
The 40m eyepiece provides about .8° @ 50X. A 20mm eyepiece fills the field of view, about .5° @ 100X with the moon. A 25mm @ 80X leaves the moon a little elbow room. The 8mm delivers about .2°, but @ 250X. Something in the 15mm to 10mm range, 133-200X might have worked, though. Your scope may not have cooled sufficiently close to the ambient temperature to perform well. The Atmosphere may not have been stable enough either, especially if Jupiter was close to the horizon.
Some eyepieces, especially those with little eye relief like the 8mm are tough to look through. It's one reason why so many people spend a bit more on some eyepieces, and Barlows. A 2X Barlowed 25mm eyepiece providing .32° @ 160X probably would have looked better, and been easier to view besides. Fortunately, with your scope's f/10 optics, less expensive eyepieces are likely to perform better than they would in my f/5 Dob.
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John "Have eyepiece - will travel!"
8" f/5 Dob w/2.14" sec in a 12" alum tube 'The Mortar' - w/PCorr 2° TFoV @ 36.5X ~70% illum *NICE*
Typical eyepieces: 32 Burg, 24 Pan, 20T5, 5-8 SW, Others ALL 2": Pcorr, 2X PwrMt, Ast H-b, Lum UHC + OIII
60mm $50 Walmart Special in training - aka "Backpack Observatory"
Minolta Activa 12x50 , Steiner 15X80
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vinnie
Latinist
Reged: 01/05/08
Posts: 1444
Loc: Queensland, Australia
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GDay Aaron,
Welcome!
Great intro, and you have already given yourself some great advice as in "give it some time..."
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Protheus
Vaguely offended
Reged: 09/01/07
Posts: 4619
Loc: Illinois, US
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Welcome Aaron. As far as getting your eye into the right spot for the eyepiece, this is quite a common problem. Some eyepieces will give you more trouble than others, and it all depends on the person as well as the telescope. My best advice is that if you can't comfortably use the eyepieces you have, find one that you can use comfortably. Joining an astronomy club might help in that department. There's not usually a shortage of enthusiasts willing to let you try their equipment out to see what you like.
Chris
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"To tread the sharp edge of a sword;
to run on smooth-frozen ice,
one needs no footsteps to follow..."
"Well, people sometimes ask me 'how did you get involved in astronomy?' I said 'I got born, what's your problem?'" -- John Dobson
"In discussing the large-scale structure of the cosmos, astronomers sometimes say that space is curved, or that the universe is finite but unbounded. Whatever are they talking about?" -- Carl Sagan
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amys
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/12/06
Posts: 1757
Loc: Groton, CT
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Welcome! Also, remember that with shorter focal length eyepieces, the exit pupil is going to get smaller and that will require that you get your eye in just the right spot or the image will black out. Using an 8mm eyepiece with that scope is going to provide pretty high magnification. My conditions here in CT would rarely produce a sharp view at such high magnification.
Here on the CT shore, I usually don't bother with anything shorter than a 12mm eyepiece (150X) on something like Jupiter because the image starts to blur. On globular clusters, however, I can use the higher magnification.
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Amy
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Avalon
super member
Reged: 06/18/08
Posts: 110
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Quote:
I would need to get started, I finally ordered Wednesday and it arrived today!
Tonight it seemed clear when it started to get dark, but shortly after it started to get cloudy.
Welcome,
the first thing to remember is that whenever you get something new, and you take it out the first night, it will just about always cloud over. I think its some kind of universal, be happy with the new toy, and THEN you get to appreciate actually using it!
It gives you the time to play with the new toy and understand it before you try to play with it in the dark.
-A
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