First light with a GOTO - its astronomy but not as I know it

[Gem]

Hi all

Well, I have finally had a chance to take the new scope, 9.25" Celestron CGEM, out into the backyard for a session. The moon was nearly directly overhead and the air was damp from an afternoon shower, so conditions were FAR from ideal...
It was astronomy but not as I know it! In the past I have relied on memory or constantly glancing at the Sky Atlas 2000 with a red torch. Some parts of the sky I know well, others I don't. But with a GOTO... I suddenly saw a dozen galaxies I have never seen before in the space of minutes! I used to think two or three new objects per session was a good night, but this was mind boggling!! Most of the objects would have been really hard to find under suburban moonlight, but time after time smudges of galaxies were coming up centre of the FOV. I deliberately sought out objects that would be hard to find (constellations with few bright stars, galaxies, planetary nebula). I saw more planetary nebula last night than I have over 27 years of observing (although I haven't sought them out much in the past - I am more of a glob man).
Optically the Celestron is great. Hard to compare to the 10inch dob until the skies lose the moonlight, but definitely a crisper image overall. I only roughly polar aligned and used the two star alignment with an extra calibration star. I have not used the polar alignment feature yet... there will be plenty of time to learn it.
The mount is very solid and heavy, but I have not personally used the HEQ5 or EQ6 so I can't make a comparsion.
The manual is easy to follow and quite adequate.
One of the few negatives is putting the OTA on the mount... makes me a bit nervous! Putting the dob on its mount feels much safer!
Another negative was my eldest son - who had been looking forward to the new scope - has broken his leg in two places and I didn't want him to trip in the dark on crutches... he'll have to wait until he is a bit more capable on the crutches (he has only been on them for a few days and is still a bit ginger in moving). :(

Last night was the first time that I saw too many things to record in my log book! I am going to have to slow down if I want to keep track of everything I see!


Now, all we need to do is explode the moon and get rid of the rain that is predicted... :)

[MikeyB]

Congratulations on the new scope, Grant - your first light with it sounds like it was a real buzz.

Underlying your comments is a really good point that is too seldom mentioned in my view: GoTo scopes are much more efficient than push-to for those who are time-limited, especially those with poor viewing conditions from light pollution. Once the alignment is right, you can commence observing the objects of your choice, without worrying about the intermediate 'finding' step.

I've got nothing against learning my way around the sky, but I don't have the time, the location or the patience to try to do so for anything other than visually obvious targets. Using a non-GoTo scope would make astronomy a very frustrating business for me, rather than the ongoing journey of discovery that I enjoy so much.

Thanks for sharing your initial GoTo experiences, Grant, and best wishes for many more!:)

[Gem]

You touch on a good point. In light polluted areas, GOTO is much more time efficient. When I used my dob in years past, I was in Wagga and Narrabri and other dark areas. I am also lucky enough to have been around astronomy and astronomers all my life. Even with that background, having a GOTO is a buzz!! A whole new angle on astronomy. :)

[renormalised]

Welcome to the world of GOTO Grant:):)

Like yourself, even though I know my way around the black starry bit upstairs, having the convenience of the GOTO makes observing a lot more enjoyable. Also makes it a lot easier to show people around the sky and keep them interested.

[Ponch]

Hi Grant

That is great news as i am about 99% sure I am going to get the CGEM 800 or like you the 925.

I am just waiting to get a list of bits and pieces so i can start taking pics.

Oh and in reply to your last PM I am north side.

I just walked outside and the skies are pretty good my way with the moon at about 12 o clock.

Have a good one and i will let you know when I have purchased mine.

Ponch

[The_bluester]

I have a CPC925 instead if a CGEM. I have to say that I think that the goto is one of the best things about it. I don't have the time to go hunting manually for faint fuzzies and being able to use the goto for even some of the more obvious targets is such a time saving, usually the skies clear for me during the working week so I have limited time each night to be fit for work the following day. Time spent hunting is time spent not observing!

While it is not much chop for AP due to the field rotation, I think the alt-az mount has some distinct advantages for visual work, apart from some odd angles due to the diagonal, the EP is always accessible. Even pointed at the zenith you can still get eye to EP without an issue and pointed lower usually just requires the diagonal to be fitted pointed out to the side instead of upwards so you sit next to the scope facing at right angles to the object you are observing.

All I need is an adjustable chair! Might be an Office Works job to buy a gas lift office chair and simply don't bother fitting the seat back to it, make it into a low level gas lift stool.

[renormalised]

Paul, you want to do AP through your scope but don't want to buy the wedge or have the hassle of polar aligning....grab a field derotator.

[The_bluester]

I am considering a wedge but it will be a while away. To be honest with myself, any AP I am likely to do is in the happy snaps category and is probably going to be limited to obvious and bright objects so multiple 10 second or so exposures and try my hand at stacking.

[jenchris]

Grab a field derotator - my that's the only way I could afford one - rob it!
I don't have thehassle of polar aligning - I leave the wedge on the pier - takes me less time than it would for a alt az setup

[Merlin66]

I think the only derotators currently available for the amateur are the Meade version. They only work with an Lx200 system.

[renormalised]

Optec make one as do a few other companies.

[Merlin66]

Thanks for that.
Just checked the Optec PYXIS derotator is free standing and should work with any scope - $1000
There's also the Orion Steady Star AO with rotator at $2500!!!
http://www.telescope.com/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&keyword=rotator
Pretty expensive alternative to a wedge......

[renormalised]

Yep, they're expensive. Mind you, some wedges are nearly worth as much.

[The_bluester]

Hmmm, I think that the new Celestron wedge is about $600 or so, so permanently mounting a wedge on a pier would make more sense for me if I was going to try my hand at longer exposure AP.

[trek1701]

Check out this link of a CPC0800 on a wedge






http://peternagy.smugmug.com/

[renormalised]

I would suggest that also. But not everyone can afford a permanent setup and not everyone will want to stuff around with polar alignment. Not only that, the wedge mounted scopes on a tripod aren't the most stable of setups.

Most of the top professional observatories are alt-az mounted scopes with field derotation devices and this will eventually be the way that many amateur scopes will end up going. Alt-az platforms are a lot more compact and don't suffer the same problems that EQ platforms do with bulkiness, meridian flipping and such.

[The_bluester]

There are times I wish I bought the CGEM, but to be honest, I think that for my use (Almost entirely visual and likely to stay that way) the "Plonk and point" factor of the Alt-Az goto is almost impossible to beat. I can be tracking my first target within a couple of minutes of turning the mount on and generally don't need to worry about goto alignment again for hours. I took it to the ASV Messier night some months back, aligned it on the first three stars I could see as the light faded and it was still pointing and tracking well at 4AM when I decided I needed to sleep to be able to go home that day.