Your First Time

[picklesrules]

Your First Time Looking Through A Scope

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Ill Start

I set my goto scope first one ever a 130slt dint know much about DSO's (know i do :D) but the tour option and i choose Orion nebula

I was absolutely gob smaked the first time i saw it

[Octane]

8" LX90 LNT.

I couldn't wait for night fall. I set it up in my parents backyard about 2 hours before sunset in late December. The first object I saw was the Moon, and I was blown away. Just through the stock 26mm eyepiece that came with the system.

Regards,
Humayun

[dpastern]

3" newtonian (cheapie) as a 10 year old. The moon. Gobsmacked. :-)

Dave

[stephenb]

Although I cannot recall my first views through my 60mm Tasco refractor in the early 1980's, I clearly recall my delight at seeing Saturn around 1986 in my newly-completed 6" home-made Newtonian. It was your typical "2-inch galv pipe fittings" mount and wooden tube, which everyone used to build befor the truss dob became popular.

The rings were clearly visible and I recall showing my other family members with delight.

[Wavytone]

4.5" Cooke f/15 refractor. In year 11 at high school we found this in pieces in the science lab cupboards, got permission to clean and re-assemble it, and spent the first night trawling through the Milky Way dreaming of all the other civilisations out there among the stars. The first sight of Jupiter and Saturn through this scope is something I'll remember forever as the optics were textbook perfect.

Carl Sagan's Cosmos was on the telly at that time, of course...

The scope was a beautiful brass antique, with Ramsden eyepieces and a phosphor bronze mount with a weight-driven clockwork drive that tracked very nicely, setting circles and slow motion, donated to the school by Mt Stromlo in the 1930's. We soon acquired some modern Kellners and enlisted the woodwork classes to construct a tripod, concrete slab and roll-off shed for it, this was in operation before I finished year 12.

Went on to make my own 4.5" f/4 "shoebox" Newtonian, 6" and 8" followed, then a 12".

[PeterM]

Honestly?
Ok this is true, was about 13 years old, my first 60mm Tasco refractor (66T) on a table top mount, first night aimed it straight across the road to a house where a girl I was keen on lived and THEN Saturn. Two heavenly views I will never forget.
PeterM.

[BerrieK]

8" f5 reflector, which I still have.

Absolutely transfixed in awe trawling arond the milky. I was hooked.

1st DSO for me we M42 - couldn't believe my eyes as I could see a bit of colour. Spent ages basking in its glow. Second was the Tarantula nebula which I stumbled across whist oohing and aahing the LMC. I still think it is absolutely beautiful.

Kerrie :)

[TheDecepticon]

Seems to be a common theme, 60mm Tasco refractor. Downloaded a very early version of Starry Night, found Jupiter, what a sight, with the two dark major belts standing out and the four moons.:eyepop: I remember checking the objective to see if it was painted on there to trick me!:rofl::rofl:
Next was Saturn, and the War Department and I were hooked.:D

[pgc hunter]

First time was around Christmas 1998 (or was it 97?) I was around 9 years old. I got a 60mm Tasco Refractor for christmas. I actually got up before dawn to see the moon and then placed the scope on the kitchen table so I could see over the neighbour's roof to Jupiter I was that excited! First time I saw the moon...wow I was stunned, I was flying above the surface :D

I also remembering graduating to a Meade 4.5" Newtonian in 1999 at the age of 11.....a BIG scope, that beautiful white tube looked impressive and above all BIG set up in the lounge room to an 11 year old kid ;) First light was Jupiter and wow there's the GRS plain as day!! THe LMC was wonderful...full of little clouds and knots, and I could see galaxies! Some memrable views I got were the Grus Quartet and the Flame Nebula from dark skies near Renmark. Still got that scope, it was my primary instrument until 2007 when I bought a 10 inch dob. now serves as my grab n go.

[multiweb]

Through a 65mm Perl Vixen refractor in April 1986. Saw the moon, Orion Nebula, Andromeda galaxy, halley comet and hercules cluster. Sold the gear a year later but I was hooked. Only got back into it 2 years ago or so.

[dugnsuz]

Tasco 4" reflector with the 0.965" EPs around 1990 - total piece of crap!
Still got me hooked enough to buy an 8" Celestron SCT on a Vixen mount - that's when things took off in a big way!
Views through that scope were so crisp and clear - loved it.
Doug

[toryglen-boy]

50mm Tasco refractor, when i was about 12 ish (1982), then a pair of Carl Zeiss 50mm bino's .... i wish i still had them.

The moon was my first target, and what a site it was to ...

[jjjnettie]

It was in 2004 and the kids school had an Astronomer set up on the oval. I think it was a Meade LX200, 10"??
The first thing he showed us was Omega Centauri. I was dumbfounded. Just the thought of all those stars in one tight little ball!! I seem to remember having to be dragged away from the scope.

[toryglen-boy]

That had nothing to do with Astronomy though JJJ, that was because your not right in the head !!


:lol:

[sadia]

C10N, a Celestron 10" reflector, year 2003. This was my first scope (I still have it), I had a very little space and window of sky from my balcony at that time, but the scope just arrived so i just set it up just to realize i need a 12v power source to power up the mount CG5. Doh! Anyway I was not to give up so I moved the mount manually pointed it to Sirius and oh boy! It looked very bright and crisp! That is still one of my memorable moment which kind of hooked me up in this hobby.

[Ric]

I started with a 50mm Tasco as well in the early 70's.

The Moon was the first object which was totally awesome with all the craters.:thumbsup:

I remember being dissapointed at not being able to see the Horsehead :confused2:

Just a little naive in those days.:lol:

[wavelandscott]

It was 1977 and I recieved a new cheap dime store reflector from the Easter Bunny...Easter for my family was always bigger that Christmas...My family was very dependant upon our tax refund check to make ends meet (I know now)...

I remember being so excited to see the pictures on the side of the box and the fabulous views awaiting me. Neither I as a boy nor my parents new anything about telescopes except that I wanted one. We pulled it out of the box and nothing but blur...no amount of adjustment would change the blur...I remember looking at the metal wire secondary holder (a single stalk) that could never support the small secondary reflective surface (I won't call it a mirror)...it was horrible...my parents and I were truly bummed (me from the non working scope and my parents from the waste of money on junk)

I did not look through another scope until High School were a great teacher began to show me what things were suppossed to look like.

[stephenb]

Tasco has a lot to answer for :screwy: But those little 2" refractors did the job, didn't they?

[toryglen-boy]

You're joking right? mine was chronic ... :rofl:

although it did serve to whet my appetite, i guess my first real look at DSO's was when i bought a 4.5" Tasco Lunagrosso Reflector


:)

[mental4astro]

My first 'telescope' was a pair of opera glasses in 1983. I think I still have them somewhere.

My first 'real' scope was, drum roll please, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, a Tasco 50mm refractor! :astron:, which I got in 1984.

I guess the first thing I saw was the moon, but what really did it for me was stumbling upon Saturn while tracking Mars way back in 1984. Blew my socks off. At first I too thought there was something wrong with the scope & checked the objective lens & eyepiece for dirt!

[kustard]

The first thing I ever looked through with my first scope (C8) was 47 Tuc and it blew me away. The second thing was Saturn :)

The first thing I looked through with my new C925 was Jupiter.

[UK1]

Disappointing only seen Moon, Jupiter and Saturn
still disappointed still not seen a good DSO no matter how I try, have all the equipment needed been at it almost 9 months now

[DavidU]

Late 60's with a 60mm Towa may have been Tasco. looked at the moon and Saturn for hours. Ruined for life:D

[AdrianF]

My first scope was a 50mm leather(?) bound retractable scope, fully extended was about 400mm bought at a school jumble sale about 1968 at a place called Mooroolbark. I thought it was a fantastic scope and would allow me to see color on the moon, since finding out it was CA. I lost the scope at some stage during the trip to qld in 1969 and only picked up the hobby again 12 months ago.

Adrian

[erick]

I pointed my very old 7x50 binos at Jupiter in late 2006 and saw the moons! Then I found the Jewel Box cluster that my father had raved about. Hooked since then.

[jjjnettie]

You say the sweetest things.:lol:

[kustard]

NGC4755 is definitely one of my favourites.

[AstralTraveller]

I can't remember what I first saw through a scope but I do know which scope it was. The astronomy club used to have a home-made 10" f/8, which was a very big scope in '72 or '73. It had been made as a club project because individuals just couldn't afford such 'big' scopes when it was made in the late '60s. The mirror was ground from plate glass, the tube was 2m long supported by a massive fork mount (3-4 people to carry the fork alone) and the motor drive had a gear wheel about 1m in diameter. Unfortunately the mount was powered by a 1/4hp washing machine motor connected to the gearbox with a fan belt. The vibration was so bad that it was better to leave the drive off. Looking back I also doubt it ever reached thermal equilibrium. But the views must have impressed me because I built my own 10" a couple of years later and have been into the hobby - to a greater or lesser extent - ever since.

[Matt Wastell]

Good thread - I forgot about mine until now.
I received a scope that had to be assembled when I was 10ish - it was orange and angular. It took me ages to see through it, focus was awful and the 'plastics' truly sucked - it was a genuine toy - but I could see things far away. I never looked at the moon but it was a start.
My first real scope was a 4" Newtonian - that was cool!

[AlexN]

a year an a half ago,

8" F/6 Skywatcher newtonian pointed at saturn... I was actually looking through the 25mm eyepiece and just scanning around the sky aimlessly, all of a sudden, a super bright relatively small odd shaped object... I swapped out the 25mm for a 10mm and a 2x barlow. After doing that, I was blown away... I quicky ran inside, got everyone to come out side and made them look... everyone thought it was a trick of some sort... that some how I was deceiving them.. I was just as gobsmacked... I could not believe it... I was seeing another planet with my own eye...

Amazing experience.. Absolutely amazing...

Suffice to say, I've been hooked in astronomy since day one.

[dannat]

it was a 60mm celestron/aust geographic refractor on a wobbly fork mount..we didn't see much excpet for the moon which was an inspiring sight..we ddn't use the refractor much more but traded up..once or twice with the tripod was enough

[Astro78]

Was nervous as anything, she was slendor, long legged and beautiful...Japanese I believe.

While my instincts were to be gentle, it was clear that this scope had done plenty of viewing before. My confidence was sky high, having had studied a variety of videos, I knew how it should be done.

The eyepiece wouldn't go straight in, it was too dark and I had no previous experience. But I was ready to view and the atmosphere was just right.

Suddenly it hit me, what if i drop the eyepiece? it could be all over before its begun.

By now the sheer moisture on the scope caught me by suprise.....*delete*

Mesmorised for hours (I swear ;)) it was AWESOME.

Orion Neb :thumbsup:

- hope no offense caused here -

[Glenhuon]

My first look through a scope was a 60mm F15 of japanese make and indeterminate age on a GEM that I bought from the recycling yard at the local tip for $10. No eyepieces or tripod legs and a few knobs and bits missing from the mount. Addition of an old surveyors tripod and some salvaged bits fixed those problems, but the eyepiece was a bit more difficult. Found a front lens from an 8mm cine projector that with a mil turned off the barrel fitted the focuser. Saw my first views of M42, Saturn, and the host of stars in the milky way with that lovely littlle instrument. Still have it, been modified a bit over the years (must be over 20 now), won't part with it, still gets an airing now and then even though I have moved on to bigger apertures. Planning to finally make it a proper Jarrah tripod for its 40th? birthday. :)

Bill

[MrB]

I was about 12 or something, mid to late 80's and my mum was visiting one of her friends and I had to sit there bored while they talked for what seemed like hours on end.
At some stage I had ended up in the lounge of the house watching TV and one of mums friends kids(follow that?) had dragged out their dad's binoculars(which they were never allowed to touch) and was laying on the floor hiding behind a large chair looking at the moon thru the lounge window. The binoculars were at some stage handed to me.

The view of the moon had me gobsmacked, I had never seen anything so amazing before... needless to say I was hooked in seconds and did not want to give the bino's back!
Don't remember what the bino's were, but to kid me they seemed huge. They were probably only 7x50's.

[Baddad]

Hi All, :)
1996
I was in York Op. purchasing binos to view the AFL games.:D

There were large scopes, Dobs. My attention went to these big scopes. "What can ya' see with that one?" I asked.:shrug:
"See those photos? That is what you can view.":einstein:

"Wow. How 'bout Moon craters?" I asked.:eyepop:

"Yeah, just like that photo." ;)

"How much?"
"$539"

"Hmm," thinking. "I'll see if my son, Andrew, wants one for his birthday"

Andrew, surprisingly said no. Nothing more happened for 13 years.:question:

So in Apr 09 I treated myself to a Celestron 8" SCT. :thumbsup::)

Focused on Venus. Wow. Set up again in the dark to look at a bright star. "OMG its got rings, its Saturn.:eyepop: I found it by sheer coincidence.

Now I don't get enough time to view as I would like.

Cheers Marty

[White Rabbit]

My first look though a telescope was my just before 12th Xmas.

I had been raiding my parents cupboards looking for xmas presents and found my telescope. I took it out of the box and had to to my eye looking out of thier bedroom window just as my mother walked in and sprung me.

Lol hehhe.

Sandy

[seanliddelow]

My first expierence with a telescope was when I found my self walking around the local shopping center. I went into jerry gibbs camera house and I instantly feasted my eyes on a lovely 12" dob. That was earlier this year.
I saved up my pocket money (Being a kid) and eventually brought it for 1200 dollars. Since then I have been to dark skies only once :mad2: but with spring coming I will be doing more observing with my babie ( The telescope). After an extremely embarrasing incident I left my dust cap on so I was observing with a 50mm for 2 months:lol:.

[DavidU]

:thumbsup::lol:

[seanliddelow]

Bloody Hillarious!
I was wondering why omega centuari was so faint under dark skies!
I basically had 2 finder scopes!

[Matt Wastell]

... everyone thought it was a trick of some sort... that some how I was deceiving them.. I was just as gobsmacked... I could not believe it... I was seeing another planet with my own eye...

Amazing experience.. Absolutely amazing...

Suffice to say, I've been hooked in astronomy since day one.[/QUOTE]

I remember showing Saturn to a guy in a park and he refused to believe it to be true - he kept going around to the front of the scope expecting to see a 'stick on' Saturn - not enough people look up!

[seanliddelow]

Some people dont know that you can see planets with your own eye.

[picklesrules]

i was at a party couple months back and everyone was maggot and we were all laying on the grass , we were in chittering so the darkest sky's out not 1 arc second of light pollution and even in my drunken state was still able to make out most of the constellations and planets that were visible no one except my best mate who is used to my astronomical rants believed that the little pin point of light was in fact Saturn, shame i didnt have my scope on me haha oh well i loving educating it to people

[seanliddelow]

When I went on a school camp the weather was crap so i was dissapointed because I wanted to see the constellations.

[square_peg114GT]

My first time would have been with my brother's Sears refractor in the early 1970's (late '60's?). The moon and sun were the only things we could keep in view on its shaky old alt/az mount.


Then 5 years ago my daughter gave me the 114GT. That's what started me down the path of being an amateur astronomer. First view with the 114 was either Jupiter or Orion. And then I saw Saturn. :eyepop: