wayne anderson
15-07-2013, 10:14 AM
My 12yo Nephew has been showing a growing interest in astronomy so instead of buying myself an autoguiding system I decided to buy him an 8" GSO Dobsonian, GSO Superview Eyepieces and star charts.
Before Sunset we setup the scope and I explained to him how to setup, use and look after the scope then I explained to him about how the scope and our eyes work together to show us views of objects in space.
After explaining to him how to use starcharts and how to find these objects we went in for a meal then just after sunset we went out for a night of stargazing.
As both he and myself found these objects I explained to him in detail what he was looking at. He was amazed at the views and now totally hooked on astronomy. It was well worth putting my autoguiding system on hold for a while to help him get off to a good start in astronomy.
Object list for the night:
Venus
Saturn
Alpha Centauri
Alpha Crux
Ruby Crux
Jewel Box
Eta Carinae Nebula
Omega Centauri
Centaurus A Galaxy
Antares
M4 Globular Cluster
Butterfly Cluster
Lagoon Nebula
Triffid Nebula
Swan Nebula
Eagle Nebula
I was also amazed at the views through this 8" GSO Dob especially with my 17mm Televue Ethos eyepiece, this really is a good choice for those starting out in Astronomy.
Before Sunset we setup the scope and I explained to him how to setup, use and look after the scope then I explained to him about how the scope and our eyes work together to show us views of objects in space.
After explaining to him how to use starcharts and how to find these objects we went in for a meal then just after sunset we went out for a night of stargazing.
As both he and myself found these objects I explained to him in detail what he was looking at. He was amazed at the views and now totally hooked on astronomy. It was well worth putting my autoguiding system on hold for a while to help him get off to a good start in astronomy.
Object list for the night:
Venus
Saturn
Alpha Centauri
Alpha Crux
Ruby Crux
Jewel Box
Eta Carinae Nebula
Omega Centauri
Centaurus A Galaxy
Antares
M4 Globular Cluster
Butterfly Cluster
Lagoon Nebula
Triffid Nebula
Swan Nebula
Eagle Nebula
I was also amazed at the views through this 8" GSO Dob especially with my 17mm Televue Ethos eyepiece, this really is a good choice for those starting out in Astronomy.