I'm not one of THOSE new members

[Kirkus]

Don't want anyone to think that I joined IIS, started a thread, made a few posts, and will never be heard from again. :D

I'm still loving my 10" Dob. I've been out almost every night for a week (and cranky every day at work because of it). Just love staring at the Orion Nebula (M42?). Found the Andromeda Galaxy last night for the first time (lousy seeing conditions, but I'm persistent).

Imaging via web cam and a Dob is quite the adventure! But I have all the necessary tools; decent Firewire webcam, good capture software, good aligning/stacking software, and my trusty Mac PowerBook that braves the darkness and cold like a true champion. I've collimated the Dob to as near perfection as I think I can. Now all I need is the experience and seeing conditions that will give me something to align and stack. ;)

Mars is still nothing but a bright yellow-orange star and Saturn comes up so late I have to view it close to the horizon (otherwise I'd get no sleep at all). I've got several gigs of totally unusable video... but it's my video and I still like to watch it.

Anyway, just wanted to pop in and say hi again. Maybe some day I'll have a reason to post on one of the Images boards.

[erick]

And "Hi!" to you as well. Every night for a week - you are making us jealous!

I'm sure you'll have something to share very soon. Show us an image of Saturn?

A few words here, a comment there, a joke over there and next thing you have >1,700 posts up! :eyepop:

[erick]

OK, yes, the major Orion nebula is M42. Have you pushed the magnification up on the stars in the trapezium? If you are well collimated in a 10" dob and have good conditions, you should be seeing some faint stars in addition to the four bright ones? What can you see?

[iceman]

Hi again, great to hear it's going well for you. I haven't seen clear skies in several weeks.

And of course when it has been clear (like last night, on and off) I had the work XMAS party so wasn't at home!

You'll soon want an EQ platform or an EQ mount to put your 10" dob on - especially if the imaging bug bites you! :)

[Kirkus]

I went up to a 12.5mm on M42 (I don't have a clue what that means as far as magnification or Focal this or that :shrug: ) and only saw the 4 brightest stars. It was cold and I wanted to get some more video of Mars so I didn't push it on Orion. If it's clear this weekend I'm planning on an all-nighter Friday or Saturday and want to concentrate on M42 some more (it just fascinates me).

I posted my first Mars and second Saturn in the Images>Solar System board: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=279649#post279649

My first Saturn will stay locked in a vault where occasionally I may visit it to point and laugh.

[erick]

Hi Kirkus

Your 10" is maybe 1250mm focal length? The magnification with a 12.5mm eyepiece is 1250/12.5 = 100 times.

Keep looking for a couple of faint stars ("E" and "F") along with the four bright stars in the Trapezium (stars "A", "B", "C" and "D") - you'll see them when seeing is better. It's satisfying to see them. A bit of research on the internet will show you what to look for.

Eric :)

[Kirkus]

So my stepson came to visit for the weekend with his 6" Dob (We both got interested at the same time because of Comet Holmes). The seeing was really good for this area. We stayed up until 2 a.m., just long enough to get a good shot at Saturn. I saw 4 of Saturn's moons... that was an absolute hoot!! I think I may have squealed like a little girl.

Anyway, I put in a 6mm (208 times -- thanks erick! :) ) and caught 2 more stars very close to the trapezium! They were faint, but there they were.

We have one more night before he has to head back home, so we'll throw another pot of coffee on tomorrow night and do it all again.

[erick]

Well, like an excited amateur astronomer, anyway! ;) Standard practice - better get used to it!! :thumbsup:


ps. A diagram of the stars in the M42 trapezium is in this thread:- http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=26693

[chunkylad]

HI Kirkus

I first saw Saturn through a 114mm (4.5") Newtonian :eyepop:. I had the same "wow" moment you describe. Priceless! It got me hooked. I couldn't wait to see more and learn more about the night sky.

Enjoy yourself. You're in for a great time.:thumbsup:

Dave

[Kirkus]

I don't know if it's cool to keep posting randomness in this thread, if not, I apologize. With my stepson being the only other person I know who would understand or appreciate any of this, I just like to spout off every so often about how my total beginner status is going.

While hopping about the IIS forums today I discovered how to check and collimate my laser collimator! I wish I could remember whose post it was. Four nails and a piece of wood. Who would've thought! Anyway thank you for that. I know my fancy schmancy laser collimator is off because I collimated my Dob using a chesire/sight tube until I was convinced the thing was spot on. Then I slid in the laser collimator and it missed the mark by a country mile.

We've received our first big rainstorm of the season and you talk about lousy seeing conditions! :D I actually got my first full night of sleep in about a week. It's still raining, but I have to do something associated with my new hobby so I'm going to collimate my laser collimator tonight... and maybe wipe the fingerprints off of the tube and shine it up a bit. I may sort my filters according to color, or number. Something. Anything.

I have to say, I feel so welcome here. Reading through some of the threads today was a real enlightening experience. Lots of friendly, generous folks. It's really disappointing that I live in North America and not in your neighborhood. I'd have been at Pony club on the 15th if I'd had to have pushed my scope there in a shopping cart.

[ving]

hey, wlcome aboard... oh, you are already a member :P

glad youare enjoying stuff... :D

(i cant even get clear sky ":()