First night out.

[Tsan]

Ahem, please excuse the newbieness of this post, but OMG!

Setup the scope in the back yard in suburban Perth on Saturday night. Wife and I opened a good bottle of red, and looked out over the sky.

First thing we did was look at the moon, and tried out all the eye pieces, zooming in as far as we could before the image shook too much, learning the limits of what we could do, and how the scope worked.

For a bit of fun, I thought I would take a look at Jupiter. I didn't think it would appear so clear, and we could see the distinct banding - I had to have the wife look through too, to make sure I wasn't imagining it, she didn't know she was looking at Jupiter, and asked what the banding was in the "star". We also saw 3 of the moons. I was not sure it was the moons we saw, until I took a look at images others had taken, and confirmed it definitely was them.

Totally hooked. Now we are planning a trip out to a friend's farm to sit in a paddock for a night.

[Allan_L]

Excellent !:thumbsup:
Yes, Kerrin,
That's how it starts.
As Obi Wan said:
"You've taken your first step into a larger world"

[Rick Parrott]

Great 1st go and great report Kerin! Enjoy, and keep at it!

[Atmos]

Now we are all just waiting for aperture fever to take over and make your bank account disappear ;)

[75BC]

Great to hear your first time out was a success. Jupiter was one of the first things I saw through a telescope. Years later I still love looking at it. It never gets boring for me.



Funny that for those in the know, this sounds like a great way to spend an evening.But to the unenlightened it would be cause for concern. :screwy:

[BeanerSA]

A nice report. You'll be amazed at the things you can see under dark skies with your dob.

[AEAJR]

So, what is the best red wine to go with the moon and Jupiter?

I prefer white with Saturn but Mars, well Mars is hard to match. Perhaps a white zinfandel for Mars.

[vlazg]

White wine with the red planet :question:
The God of War needs something a bit heavier, perhaps a cab-sav
:welcome:

[Robair]

Top report Kerrin, looks like you have had a great start. Awesome stuff.

For myself beer in the summer and in winter a nice scotch or cognac does the trick nicely.

However one should keep a close eye on the time/ consumption beverage curve, you do need to eventually pack it all up and you don't want to stack it because you are unwittingly many sails to the wind. Dobs can be quite heavy and cumbersome if you try to move with tube on base.
Alternatively have a willing and capable "designated driver" to help pack up the scope.
Plan B is to have an old sleeping bag and a tarp to throw over the scope and leave it in place until the morning and move back to your storage location after a strong coffee.
Don't ask me how I know this.

Rob B

[doppler]

Hi Kerrin, jupiter is a great target, the planet rotates fast and the moons orbit fast as well, keep an eye out for its moons transits and shadow transits (a bit easier to see than the actual transit) and occultations. Here is a good link for what's coming up in the southern night sky.

http://www.users.on.net/~reynella/skywatch/ssky.htm

[AEAJR]

All kidding aside, that is a great report. Welcome to the cosmos. :)

[Tsan]

Thanks guys for the encouragement and tips on drinking and scoping.

Jupiter is a Shiraz I think, Mars would be a robust Merlot.

[Sconesbie]

Welcome. I'm still learning and have only been playing around for a couple of years. It's addictive and the bank balance will tend to vanish quickly.

As far as which beverage to enjoy whilst stargazing, you'll find the more you consume, the more blurry your viewing will become. I'm not sure what causes it. Maybe faulty lenses in the piece? This phenomenon is still being investigated.

[Tsan]

More field tests need to be undertaken to get more data points for the investigation.

[Constant]

Great report and a warm welcome!

[zimzum71]

ahem...ive done much research into this, conclusion is much better sober, especially with binos: with enough down the hatch your eyes simply wont merge the image(s)...