Newbie Intro

[Quoll]

Hi everyone

I’m a newbie to the forum and a sort of newbie to astronomy, so I suppose a bit of an intro is in order before I bombard you with questions.

We had a refractor scope many years ago when my son was a wee lad (he’s in his forties now). I can’t remember the size of the scope, but it wasn’t a “department store” scope. We had a lot of fun observing the planets, which is about all I can remember, although my son remembers viewing the Orion nebula, which we viewed again recently. However as time went by our enthusiasm waned (I can still remember how bad the mozzies could be!) and my son traded the telescope for binoculars, which are long gone.

However we never lost our interest in astronomy, and my son said when his daughter was a bit older he’d like to get another scope. Well my granddaughter turned 12 just before Christmas, so we decided it was time to get that scope!

We got a Skywatcher 8” Dobsonian, and we’ve been so enthusiastic its had heaps of use already. We’ve even been up in the wee hours to see Saturn! And best of all, the mozzies aren’t as bad as I remember them!

How much easier it is these days with the internet and Stellarium to find out where objects are in the sky compared to years ago. I don’t know how we managed then. Of course, knowing where they are in the sky is no guarantee we can actually find them with the scope!

So much for my longwinded intro - my questions will be following shortly!

Cheers, Bill

[glend]

Welcome Bill, I returned to astronomy when I retired and yes a lot has changed but most of it is for the better, the exception being more light pollution. Have fun and clear skies.

[Quoll]

Thanks Glen

[barx1963]

Bill
Welcome back to astronomy to you and your son. An 8" dob is a fantastic starting place, plenty of aperture, easy to setup and use, just watch out for aperture fever! It is a very expensive disease.

Mozzies are a nuisance, just remember to make sure you keep repellent well away from optical surfaces, especially expensive eyepieces, DEET eats optical coatings!

Look forward to hearing about the objects you observe over the next few months.

Malcolm

[omegacrux]

Welcome Bill
The 8in dob is a good choice , bang for your buck , and ease of use

David

[Quoll]

Thanks guys for the warm welcome.

Clear skies (I'm learning the lingo :))

[ClearSkiesTV]

Greetings Bill. I don't know about WA mozzies, but the ones in NSW have gotten bigger and nastier. Either that or I've gotten tastier.

A dob is a great way to go, and is my recommendation for anyone looking for a first-scope. You should be able to see a good partial solar eclipse from Perth on April 29th. Now is the time to organise a primary solar filter for your scope.

Regards
David
Follow on Twitter @clearskiestv

[Quoll]

That must be it David - I'm not as tasty as I was in my younger days!

Seriously, I think there are not so many mozzies now as in years past because some of the ponds that were near here have houses on them now with the spread of suburbia.

We have lost the water birds and gained more light pollution.

Cheers, Bill