12" GSO Dob first light

[Craig.a.c]

Clear skies all day, then when the sun went down the hazy clouds started to roll in. I could see through it enough to take the scope out and have a look. Jupiter was first, I could see so much more cloud detail and I am almost certain that I could see the GRS. Omega centauri used to be a small fuzzy patch my 4.5", tonight I could actually see the pin points of light of the stars, even towards its core. Jewel box in the southern cross, through the 12" I could see it is much larger then I thought, blazing white, blue stars and near its centre a lone orange one, a beautiful sight. I then spent about an hour just scanning through the band of the milky way and was amazed at the amount of stars I was seeing. Then the clouds started to get a little thicker and I had to pack up and go inside:sadeyes:.

Cheers - Craig.

[Kevnool]

Great to hear Craig , I hope you enjoy many clear nights around the new moon to enjoy looking through a great size scope.......Find a dark site use the charts and there`ll be smiles alround.....Did you print and laminate the charts ?.........cheers Kev.

[Craig.a.c]

I printed the charts out and have them in plastic sleeves in a folder, haven't laminated them yet. Thanks again for the charts, They have been very useful, even with my 4.5" they were put to good use.

[CoombellKid]

It's always nice to get an aperture hit, you can spend time going back
over the showstoppers and see how they have changed. I've been using
an 8" for a half dozen+ years and I'm about to complete my new 16"
no doubt it will be the same for me. Although I've looked through some
large scopes up to 30" it will be good to have a bit of aperture in the
backyard.

Congrats on the new purchase, you'll get years of enjoyment from it
I'm sure.

regards,CS

[AlexN]

Good to hear you got a chance to get it out mate! :) The views must have blow you to bits... Just wait till you get a chance to point it at a big bright neb like M42 or M8... The difference between a 12" and my 8" knocks my socks off... I can only imagine the difference between 4.5" and 12"

Bet you looked like this :face: