first night out with my 12"

[doogal]

wow these dobs are cool! ive seen more tonight than i have in the few weeks of owning my little 127mm powerseeker. ive never seen a dob close up or even realized how they moved around but now that i have its just awesome. you just stand there and push the thing to wherever you wanna go:thumbsup:

spotted the cassini division tonight even though saturn was right near the moon and m42 earlier on had like a blue/green tinge to it,does that sound right? jupiter just came into sight then and we checked out the bands on it but it is right over the city atm and its kinda shimmery so im guessing thats the heat maybe. i also found some nebula up in the milky way but have no idea what it was.

but im just amazed at how user friendly these dobs are.

can anyone give me some directions of something of note to look at in the milky way by using some easy directions? i just stand there and slowly push the thing around till i spot something and never really know where im looking.

i think im hooked on this:help:

[leon]

Glad your hooked Doogle, cant help with the Dob thing, but I'm sure some other member wont be far away.

Cheers Leon

[astroron]

:hi: Doogal and :welcome: I'm glad you are enjoying your 12" dob.
If you face South and can see the southern cross just point your dob in the direction of that greyish band that goes from left to right all night across the sky (The Milky Way) and you will be enternained all night with lots of goodies, and while your at it have a look at Alpha Centeuri and some of the stars in the cross and you will see that they are doubles.
Go and buy yourself Astronomy 2007 from a book shop or one of the astro shops you will be amazed what you will find in your 12'Scope.
Keep on enjoying your new hobby:thumbsup: astroron

[Ric]

Hi Doogal, glad to see your enjoying your new scope.
You might want to download the monthly skymap from here, I think it will help you find your way around and give you some nice goodies to hunt for

http://www.skymaps.com/index.html

Cheers

[duncan]

Hey Doogal,
Glad your up and running. Just enjoy doing and looking at whatever for the first couple of nights and then start to figure it all out.
Cheers,
Duncan;)

[John Saunders]

Doogal, get along to your local astro association and go out to a dark sky night. I have learnt a lot from the folks in the AAQ and I can actually find things in the sky now.

John