My first night observing with a telescope

[DobDobDob]

Tonight was my first night observing with my new 6" refractor which I swapped for a car. To say I have a lot to learn is an understatement! My first impression was that the stars are very small, compared to what I have been seeing through my binoculars. I was sort of expecting that and by the end of the night I was over it, and the star sizes weren't an issue anymore.

I have since learned on another thread that the 40mm eyepiece will give a wider field of view and make things seem smaller, so tomorrow I am going to buy a couple of eyepieces, unless some forum member has a couple they want to sell :whistle: at a reduced price.

I am at this stage totally useless at pointing and finding objects, after 4 hours I was starting to get the hang of it. One thing is certain, it is better than the sore neck of binocular observing.

My first real observation was Jupiter and it looked awesome, however there is a funny aspect. When I first saw it, I saw one moon above the planet at 1.00 o'clock, and two moons under the planet at 7.30 pm, so I instinctively thought the fourth moon was hidden behind the planet. The planet itself looked full, bright, and crystal clear, a true spherical shape and despite my limiting eyepiece, it looked a reasonable size.

I went off and on to Jupiter 2 more times, the second time was similar to the first, but the third time (I was starting to become a pro at this :whistle: ), I started using the focuser and lo and behold, the single moon at the 1.00 o'clock position, split into 2 moons, no doubt about it, I was mistaken twice earlier but was so happy that the universe was back in it's correct order :P

I'm sure this would have been apparent in a lower powered eyepiece, time will tell. I wanted to see some of the better known objects, so I did a sort of go anywhere star hoping jaunt and went to Sirius, to see how big it appeared in the scope, it was by comparison with surrounding stars, as massive as you would expect.

I switched to Canopas to try and see the difference between these two giants and did observe a notable difference, however having said that Canopas is no tiny pushover in it's own right. Btw (Ving if you are reading, I could not see the double in Sirius, but will try again when I understand my equipment better).

I then visited Saturn and it was tiny in my FOV, I tried to estimate how many Saturn's could fit in my FOV from side to side and guessed about 25. Despite it being so small, it was totally sharp and crisp and for the first time the rings open up to me, beckoned me and memorized me. I was stuck on the shadow between the rings and the planet. I stared so intently my eyes watered and I had to look away occasionally. I think in that moment I caught some malady that has haunted men for eons.

Forever more I will be addicted to the beauty and magnificence of this jewel in the crown, to me, I have found my holy grail. Now my mission is to see it better and better and better, no matter what the cost. I assume that money is the primary difference between amazing and some other adjective that is infinitely higher than amazing ;)

I then had a go at the moon, I just had to, I knew it would be the end of my vision for awhile, but I did it anyway. It was crystal clear, I saw craters inside craters and shadows inside those. I saw it all, exactly the same as some of the photographs some forum members have been posting lately. I won't try to put into words how the moon appeared to me, other than to quickly say that it looked like a ball of iron that had taken many hits in its time. I thought to myself that if it rained (I know it can't), the moon would rust, that was my impression of this gun barrel grey ball of iron that was hanging precariously what seemed only inches above my head. The telescope was in harmony with the moon, it was an exquisite sight.

My final though about my first nights observing is how fast the objects move out of your field of view. The way I was setup, which will get better in time, the objects were gone in seconds.

I do have clock drives on both axis but I think I am going to get a proper goto system, does anyone have any suggestions which is the best one that will fit my 6 inch Synta Refractor on an EQ5 mount?

In summary, despite being an absolute lunatic, having zero ability, being outside all night without shoes, and having an unstructured session, I had a ball, it was the time of my life astronomically. I can only wonder at the treats in store for me as I gain experience and better equipment. Thanks for reading this, as I have written it, it has reinforced that I was destined to do this and my journey has well and truly begun. :thumbsup:

[mickoking]

Sounds like your having a ball Ron. Fantastic:)

[DobDobDob]

Yes mate, the newness of it all, so much to learn, all my mistakes, like pushing left to go right etc. It's all good honest fun, I doubt that I will ever lose interest in this hobby, well perhaps when and only after I have observed and catalogued every star in existence :P

My point of course is, that you will never exhaust the possibilities of this hobby, there will always be something new tomorrow, and as my jail buddy (Cervantes) said 500 years ago, the road is always better than the inn :thumbsup:

[sammyff]

Hi Ron.
Sounds like you had a great first night. I had never seen a telescope in my life. But my daughter (11, the youngest one) showed a bit of an interest in the solar system so to be a good dad, I bought one. Couldn't spend too much, on what may be a one hit wonder, so I bought a 4 inch Celestron Neutonion. I was told I could see the rings of Saturn with it. Well, after I assembled it, I read the instructions, and re-assembled it the way I should have if I had read the instructions first. Then after a week of cloudy weather we ventured outside. One look at the moon and..........wow, it's so close, and so beautiful. Well okay, we're now hooked. Next after working out that most of the stars appear as white dots and nothing more I decided to do some research. Worked out that the only planet I can see at the moment, without staying up all night, is Saturn. I found it, but a bit of disappointment, could only just make it out with a 4 inch scope. So I went and bought a stronger eyepiece, now, It is still tiny, but yes, we saw the rings. Need I say more, we are hooked. I start holidays next week. We've picked out a spot to go camping not far from Buchan, Vic. The scope of course is going with us, and, we are converting to nocternalism (is that a word). Sleep is out of the question. Being an amateur and knowing nothing is okay, it's a learning process. That's why I found this site. Compared to me, you are a professional. I had no idea astronomy could bring so much pleasure. My only regret is, I should have found this site and spoken to people before I bought the telescope, now I want a bigger one.;) ..........Ps...I also saw comet McNaught.......wow.:D :welcome:

[xelasnave]

Hi there Ron, Its great to hear your news. I know how you must feel I was staggered when I first saw the Moon thru the 150 ar. Dont be to hasty getting a goto or even more EP,s but if you want a little more power consider a cheap 2x barlow sure they cut a little light but that takes you to 2400mm f/l I imagine so figure how your eps may respond to that..one ourchase but double all EP,s. Try cruising down to the CSP on the Milky Way you may find a wealth of objects without even trying as they say. AND if you can get it polar aligned try a piggy back shot (see how long you can go before trailing) and if you are thinking about astro photos maybe think of an illuminated reticle if you have not already.
Great to hear you got out there but for goodness sake dress for the occassion or you will be found frozen out there.
alex

[DobDobDob]

Firstly thank you Jimbo and you are a great Dad, :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: three cheers for you mate, also welcome to the forum and yes, I read every word you said and your story is reminiscent of so many I have heard, it is just the sort of activity that stuns you or leaves you cold. I doubt that you could half like it :whistle:

I am already scheming and thinking up ideas to get bigger gear, I know that I will continue to outgrow my budget at every level, perhaps that's just nature, but the pursuit of better gear will be ongoing. Perhaps as Alex has alluded to, smarter gear, is the way to go at least whilst i/we server our apprenticeship.

Now to Alex, my old mate, are you still coming to Sydney next week, if so, we should try to hook up, we could look like a right couple of odd-balls sitting out in the middle of the night looking at tiny pinpoints of light in the sky :P

As far as your Barlow suggestion is concerned, I will buy one from Andrews, whom I live about 3 k's from, but can't get there till Tuesday, this will be the first thing I buy, I am also pretty certain I will get a 9mm EP also, so that I have at least one high and one low powered EP.

Then of course, after I buy these, that should be the catalyst for another week of rain, sorry to everyone in NSW, blame me :shrug:

[neB]

This my friends, is the true spirit of Astronomy.

Great tale.

[Ric]

Hi Ron, thats a great report and glad to see you had a lot of fun.
With your EP selection I would suggest that a middle of the range could be a good choice as well, say a 18mm or 20mm.

Keep on enjoying yourself mate, that's what it is all about.

[mickoking]

Its always good to hear people enjoying this great pastime of ours. I had a ball last night just casually looking at heavens with my Dob. Fantastic :thumbsup:

[seeker372011]

congratulations on a great first light with your new scope

[DobDobDob]

Thanks Ric, Micko and Seeker :D I can't help thinking in the back of my mind that all of the bad weather is my fault, is it normal for a beginner to have that feeling??? :whistle:

[Ric]

Dont worry Ron, when I bought my 18mm UWA Eyepiece I got a month of cloud for my effort and when I bought my 12" it sat in the lounge as a conversation piece for two weeks. :mad2:
It's a collective effort :rofl:

Cheers

[DobDobDob]

Phew :whistle: what a relief, thanks Ric, I was starting to develop a complex. Since mid January, I have had 3 really good nights, that's an average of roughly one in every twenty days....not a good batting average :(

[Ric]

I've had about the same Ron.
But it has been a big improvement down here since last Friday i've managed 3 out of 4 nights so far and might even get another go tonight.

Cheers

[erick]

Great report Ron, I'm glad you've had some success and enjoyment from your acquisition.

We've had one bad night in the last week (Sunday) - and guess which night I was free and went up the mountains and set up! :sadeyes: I got rained on, then the clouds kept giving me a peek at the sky (new location - pretty dark - looked very promising) and then a continuous 15 minutes clear - so I said - "It'll clear, hang on." But after 3 hours with only some 20 minutes seeing anything, I packed up and came home.

But absolutely clear outside now and forecasts say tonight will be clear - so I'm trying to clear the decks for a few hours tonight! I have to know whether this site is worth persisting with - it's much closer to home. :)

[DobDobDob]

Keep everything crossed Ric, especially your cheques :thumbsup:

[DobDobDob]

Your story sounds like a familiar tale, until astronomy came along, I never gave a second thought to the weather. It's amazing how things change ;)

[ving]

what a great first view write-up. yuo will find that your afair with saturn will get stronger when you get more eyepieces, she's a beauty :)

congrats ron :thumbsup:

[DobDobDob]

That is exactly what I am counting on :thumbsup:

Btw, with Sirius, is it possible to resolve the double with my 6" refractor, especially with better seeing and the new EP's, or is it just too hard and requiring bigger aperture?

P.S. I was a librarian in a former life.

[mickoking]

Apparently Sirius B is detectable with a 150mm 'scope but it is not easy. I have never seen it my self.

[DobDobDob]

When my new EP's arrive, I'll give it another whirl, but I am doubtful :P

[ving]

former life?

i think i was a lizard in my last life ;)

[DobDobDob]

Hey Ving, I just came inside from 3 hours of relatively good observing and wanted to tell you that I saw Alpha Centauri A & B, don't forget I only have the 40mm EP at the moment on a 6" refractor and it was only my second night out, but I managed after a fair amount of focusing back and forwards to separate the two.

They did not totally come apart to be two completely self contained objects, but they parted enough for me to see that they were (in my orientation) on top of each other and that the shape was clearly of two similar shapes one on top of the other.

I felt pretty good after that, so I swung towards my west to check out Sirius but after awhile I knew it was still eluding me as far as seeing the double, but I have some EP's coming and hopefully will arrive within a day or two and then I might be able to see objects a little larger than what I am currently seeing.