First time for everything

[expon (Jas)]

I'm still new to all of this and haven't had the best run of clear nights vs work shifts therefor not looking up as much as I would like to. So I have been on night shifts lately and I woke up this evening to what would be reasonably clear skies over Melbourne. I grabbed my 90mm refractor and went out for a quickie under the stars (not that kind im married).

The moon was out for the first time since I got the scope and I thought i'd give it a view. WHAT A MISTAKE THAT WAS! It was like looking into a flood light. So tomorrow im going to get a filter to calm it down a little.

After about 10 mins waiting for my eyeball to return to 20/20 vision I had a peak at Jupiter. A few weeks ago I tried this only to see a muddy ball, but this time it was different. With a 25mm lens I could see the moons very clearly, well only 3 but they were there. I switched to the 10 then the 6.7 and I actually saw two bands (well I think I did). It looked amazing, so amazing I cannot describe it because I am terrible at describing things.

I thought to myself "i'm on a roll, go for orions nebula". Having never seen it before, or even tried looking I actually wasn't sure where it was. I don't have a goto so a quick guide on a website gave me a rough idea where to look. Throw the 25mm back in, look up and.....nothing damn. So I tried to 10mm thinking maybe I needed a little more zoom. Left right, up down went the controls and wallah! there it was, a grey smudge through the view finder.

For some reason been a total noob I expected some colour. So to be honest I was a little dissapointed at first but then came to realise what I was looking at had nothing to do with colour at all. I was looking back in time at photons that had travelled a very long way to hit me in the eye. I just sat in silence thinking about what's out there and how much more there is to see, to marvel at.

That's why I do not intend to get into astrophotography. I want the views to be mine, right there in the moment. I managed to see all of this through a cheap 90mm refractor over the skies from my front yard in Melbourne. I can only wonder how much more I could see through a reflector or a better quality refractor or perhaps a drive out of town. My next purchase will be soon. Trouble is getting a bigger budget without feeling guilty about it. Perhaps getting the wife on board a bit more could help there.

I guess the rambling can end here but I throw out the question, what was it like your first time you saw the planets? the moon, orion? and for those with high end scopes, do the higher quality components make more of a difference over larger aperature?


Thanks for reading and I look forward to participating more as time goes by.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Dys, I think everyone here has been blinded by the Moon at some stage!

The first planet I saw through a scope was Saturn.

I had (and still have in the shed) a cheap 6-inch Chinese reflector, with a spheroid mirror. Not the sharpest views by any stretch, but Saturn was easily discernible, once I found it in the eyepiece. The rings were edge-on at that point, so it looked like the planet had an insert at each end.

I'll never forget that discovery, and also my wife's amazed response at seeing it for the first time.

That precipitated the research that led me to my current setup.

And I have had similar feelings at my first sightings of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. And VY Canis Majoris, but that's a different story!

Now, if the clouds would only clear long enough for me to see Mars...

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Hi Dys,
Great post!
Brings back memories.

And, be warned, your views of Orion Nebula (and all others) will be 100% better when the moon is not out there to wash the skies out.

Still no colour, but much better contrast and definition.

As to viewing the moon itself, best viewed when a crescent (ie less than half showing), and most definition will be visible along the terminator (the line where it goes fro lit to unlit) as the shadows are longest there.

Keep the excitement, and
Happy stargazing!

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Dys
Congratulations on the start of a wonderful journey. My first planet that I remember was either Saturn or Jupiter when I was about 3 or 4 in my brothers refractor, which I think was only a 2 or 3 inch but the view was stupendous.
Your question about size and quality optics is a very good one. The answer really depends on circumstances. For viewing the faint fuzzies, size really does matter, in a 90mm scope NGC 1365 is going to look like a faint round blob even under the darkest skies. But grab a 16" dob at a dark site and watch those spiral arms slowly brighten out of the dark sky.
For bright objects like planets quality optics are lovely, but the best bet is big and good quality.

Malcolm

[Paddy (Patrick)]

I remember seeing Saturn through a friend's small refractor and seeing the rings and being amazed, also by seeing Jupiter's moons. The thing that blew my mind most was the first time I saw Omega Cent through a 10" dob.

For better views, dark skies reign supreme, after that aperture and I would think you might find an 8-10" dob an economical way of increasing your wow factor. 8" would collect about 5 times as much light as your 90mm.

And definitely get your wife involved if you can...

[Rob_K]

My first view of Saturn was through a cheap 60mm refractor and when I first saw the tiny ring around the tiny orb it was like being hit in the back of the head by a sledgehammer. This was real, and I could see it myself! All those pictures of Saturn & rings I'd ever seen in books, magazines etc flashed through my mind and I was numbed by it. I looked away and couldn't bear to look back in case it was gone. But I did and the rings were still there. I got really excited and desperately wanted to show someone, anyone, but there was no-one else there!

Jupiter & moons was spectacular but more a confirmation of the wonders of the Universe that lay waiting just beyond the veil of naked-eye limitations. The thin crescent of Venus as it nears inferior conjunction is another sight that evokes the 'reality' of it all to me.

Cheers -