First light...finally

[JD2439975]

Finally the sky cleared enough for me to drag the scope onto the lawn...YIPPEE!! :cool:

Seeing was average, as was my first collimation, but good enough to get some viewing in.
I discovered the other day that my nice new EQ6 was dead on arrival so that goes back to Andrews next week for replacement/repair which is fine I know stuff happens that's life, but a week to get there & a week to get back...sometimes it's no fun living in a backwater like Darwin.

But anyway...pushing it around dob style I started on M42, lovely.
No luck on the Rosette so went looking for Saturn...:D What a beauty, four moons visible, stayed with that a while (and went back a couple times more) then off to the Leo triplet nextdoor.

Found my favourite M104 with a definite dust lane, can't wait to try imaging that little bugger, then over to M4 where I concluded the evening as dew was getting a little ridiculous at that stage.

A couple of other "unidentifieds" were in there too ( hey I'm a newbie) so not a bad first night out, certainly made me happy...can't you tell from my rabbiting. :D
Loving my WO 28mm UWA & 9mm SWA, that porthole on the universe makes finding things a little easier.

So this looks like the start of a long & wonderful relationship between myself & the sky.
Long journey ahead with the photograghy side of thing, looking forward to that though.

Now while the mounts gone I wonder if I can strap the ED80 to the camera tripod...:screwy:

Thanks for viewing guys & girls, just had to tell someone.

JD

[Ric]

Congrats on your first light Justin.

It's a fantastic feeling to get out for the first time with a new scope. There will be no stopping you when the mount is fixed.

Cheers

[Jen]

Thanks for sharing Justin sounds like you had a great night :thumbsup:
Sorry about your mount, hope you get it back real soon :)

[JD2439975]

Just in time for the start of the dry season, months on end of clear dark skies. :D

[MrB]

Justin, apologies for the slight OT diversion, but..... what's going on there in your avatar?

[JD2439975]

Hi Simon

It's the variable star RS Pupis with light echoes in the surrounding nebulousity.
Not sure who produced it, ESO I think but don't quote me on that.

It's a wicked little animation.

[lacad01]

Great update Justin. How are the skies your way? Do you get much glow from Darwin?
cheers
Adam

[JD2439975]

Gidday Adam

Saturday was the only clear night we've had in a while, a few sunny days but gets cloudy in the evening.
A couple more weeks and the dry should really start to take hold.
As for sky glow it's not too bad, Darwin is a pretty small city (makes Perth look huge) and I'm about 50km out of town so it gets quite dark even at home.
My worst problem is trees, the only clear patch of sky on a heavily wooded block is over the roof of the house, not an ideal location for thermal currents.
The neighbour has 20 acres of mostly cleared land after ripping out his mango plantation...that's starting to look real good.

I went to update the Synscan with the files you sent me and it turns out it was already at V3.23...ah well, thanks for sending them anyway, much appreciated.

JD

[lacad01]

No prob at all, happy viewing :)