r/telescopes 1d ago

Astrophotography Question Can anyone tell me what this is

I bought my telescope and I captured a photo can anyone tell me what this is

0 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

45

u/Luke-Sky-Watcher 1d ago

Something very very out of focus

40

u/sjones17515 1d ago

No way to tell what it is because you're out of focus. You need to turn the focus knob until it is as small as you can get it. It's probably just a star, though there's a small chance you actually pointed it at a planet.

17

u/Simple-Recognition64 1d ago

An out of focus star

11

u/Benbellot Perl 200/1000 1d ago

You just out of Focus

9

u/Feeling-Ad-2867 1d ago

Is that the shadow of your secondary mirror?

8

u/ElatedMonsta mid life beginner astronomer with a Hertage 130p 1d ago

When you are out of focus, you see the secondary mirror in your reflection telescope.

3

u/Morcubot 1d ago

This is an out of focus light source. You would want to turn the focus knob in the direction, in order to make the donut as small as possible to one single dot.

With planets it is usually then recognizable as such, if it's a star one would need the neighboring stars to identify the star in question based on the star pattern

3

u/Superb_Raccoon 4" AT102ED. Dobstuff.com 13.1 Dobson 1d ago

That's no moon...

3

u/IceNein 1d ago

It’s a UFO!!!

An unfocused object

2

u/Tricky_Mushroom3423 1d ago

Collimate and focus, you should be fine

2

u/overand 1d ago

The knobs by the eyepiece are to focus, not to zoom; you'll want to adjust those until whatever that is becomes as small as it can, probably a pinpoint.

2

u/Gratin_de_chicons 130/650 Bresser Messier dobson 1d ago

You’re out of focus

3

u/PhilNH 1d ago

Why do folks post stuff like this?

7

u/overand 1d ago

Because they're beginners who don't understand how to use their telescope. (They're also often pretty young.)

My question: why do folks comment stuff like this? ;)

2

u/UmbralRaptor You probably want a dob 1d ago

There's also "why did they ask here before (or instead of) reading the manual that came with their telescope?"

1

u/PhilNH 22h ago

I understand but there IS a focus knob. And if they are using it at all they can see it. If they are using a phone that can also see it isn’t focused. As for the comment …it was snarky, I agree this isn’t the first post I have seen with images like this

1

u/overand 18h ago

We've all spent some time in Snarkytown, I think. It sucks there, though - you should try checking out, uh.

I don't have a good joke town name for this. Slidethekeyboardawayville? Takeabreakton? IDK!

1

u/IW0ntPickaName 1d ago

My question exactly

Like literally, just turn the knob right by the eyepiece. There's not much else to touch

2

u/darthvalium 6h ago

We see these donuts every other day, because beginners don't understand their focusers. This sub needs a comprehensive and accessible (for absolute beginners) guide on focusing. With pictures and red arrows.

2

u/Stoned2thebone420 1d ago

It's a ghosts doughnut a dead cop is eating it.

3

u/sgwpx 1d ago

Either out of focus or ring nebula.

2

u/rawilt_ 19h ago

Don't give false hope. It is definitely just a small telescope that is out of focus.

1

u/Growkemon 1d ago

Looks like unfocused...

1

u/NutsStuckInACarDoor 1d ago

This is blurry

1

u/Lumber74 1d ago

Very out of focus. Dial it back slowly.

1

u/caullerd 1d ago

Probably something bright and yo're out of focus, seeeing that middle plate thingy in your scope (i don't know its name)

1

u/Thatr4ndomperson 1d ago

Telescope eyepiece

1

u/General_Kenobi_II 1d ago

The light of the focus god

1

u/ATX2ANM 1d ago

If only there was one more horribly out of focus pic….. then you could tell what it was!

1

u/Born_Business_5342 1d ago

Its the fly! Aaaaarrrruuuugggg!

1

u/Look2LaLuna 1d ago

Is that Uranus?

1

u/jflan5 22h ago

An out of focus star?

1

u/boblutw Orion 6" f/4 on CG-4 + onstep 1d ago

Reflection of your phone

1

u/Public_Examination37 1d ago

That’s a so bad photo

0

u/a7cATR4z 1d ago

Collimate it properly.

1

u/Agitated-Antelope942 4h ago

Krispy Kreme?