My First Viewing (a noobs perspective)

[andreas.jordan]

Hi All,

Well my first viewing was a little disappointing. Pointing my newly purchased 6" Skywatcher Dobsonian and pointing it at a bright(ish) star in the eastern sky...

All I saw was a close-up of a pinprick sized bright spot!
I shouldn't complain. No moon last night, neighbour busy working in the shed with all security lights glaring away and significant light pollution.

I must say though, transporting the 2 boxes (containing the scope and stand) was a challenge. Using a Nissan X-Trail, the box for scope simply wouldn't fit in the back. In the end I had to squeeze inbetween the two kiddie seats in the back and sit the box in the front.

In any case, Woot - I gotta scope!

[that_guy]

that's funny my mum has the same car and we used that for transporting 8" dob out of the shop... Had to take down one of the seats and huddle the scope so nothing brakes... :lol:

[mithrandir]

Welcome to the frustrations of astronomy. If it isn't people with security lights, it's full moon or cloudy.

Eastern sky in the early to mid evening? North of east would probably be one of Sirius (brightest star in the sky) or Rigel. South of east probably Canopus (2nd brightest star). There are lots of things to see in Orion between and Sirius (which is actually in Canis Major) and Rigel.

Fitting stuff in my car (Prado)? One box with the scopes and guide camera. Another with the main CCD camera. Mount, eyepiece case, accessories case, laptop bag, DSLR camera bag, table to put it all on, chair to sit at, miles of cables. Work laptop in case I get called. Thermos or two, nibblies.

There might be room for milady if she wants to come.

[andreas.jordan]

The X-Trail would have accomodated the box for the scope, just that I couldn't fold either of the seats down as we had both kiddies in the car.

Insofar as which star, it was about 10pm (in Adelaide), looking east...at least in an easterly direction :P, and if I had to guess, approx. 45 deg up (sorry not up to spec yet with any astro terms).

We'll have to organise a road trip to Morgan or Mannum for an overnight camp and check out the stars in a more darker surrounding.

[mithrandir]

Download yourself a copy of Stellarium http://www.stellarium.org/ or Cartes du Ciel http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/download.html

Once you tell it where you are, you can find out what is where in the sky.

Jan 8th + 10pm + Adelaide - Sirius would have been just north of east and around 60 deg up. Rigel a bit north of NE and similar altitude. Canopus roughly SE and similar altitude.

[Liz]

Hey Andreas ... great to hear you got your scope!!
Do you know your way around the sky much?? A star can sometimes not be too exciting ... unless it is double/triple/coloured.:)
There are a few wonderful objects up there for you to check out!!
http://skymaps.com/skymaps/tesms1001.pdf
Print out the January copy of Skymaps, and it shows you what constellations are up, and planets ..... then on the 2nd page it gives you a list of objects to find.
http://www.stellarium.org/
Stellarium is another great and free resource you can download onto your computor pop in Adelaide in the location, and it will show you what is up ... and you can forward the times to can plan ahead.
Try and catch Jupiter before it sinks in th west after sunset ..... though it doeasnt get dark til late in SA so may miss it, but Mars is rising about 1030pm ;)
Good luck and have fun.

.... oh ... Andrew has beat me to it !!

[andreas.jordan]

Oh yes, I do have Stellarium. According to it, I believe I was looking at Alphard...

[andreas.jordan]

Hi Liz,

Can't say I do know my way around the sky and you are right (addendum: ...as is Andrew), Stellarium is an excellent resource. I'll check out the pdf you sent over. Re Jupiter, it is really low in the sky just as twilight is breaking. Will try and catch it tho...I know my 6-yr old son is asking what we'll be observing tonite already. I love it!

[StarGazing]

Hi Andreas,

Keep it up buddy there is a big sky out there with lots to explore. There will lots of good and bad nights, just hang in there.

Alex :thumbsup:

[Roobi]

Hey there andreas,
as a newbie too i know what you mean about it first being a little dissapointing, its hard to find stuff to see at first, but don't be dissmayed, Stellarium is a godsend. I had it a few months before i got my scope which helped me learn a few things. I've started in the area of the saucepan as there is plenty around it to start with. Check out the great nebula in orion. If you search in stelarium it will show you where to look and then just tweak the time, to find out the best time to look at it, though at the moment its right up high early. I have a 5.12" astromaster and can see the nebula much like a ghostly cloud though its still very impressive to me thats only at 65x mag, so you should be able to see it better i think. also theres a beautiful open cluster called Pleiades to the left of aldebaran. Im in Melbourne and Mars is up at 11ish for me to see, and if you can wait up for it Saturn is fantastic. Even in my small scope at 65x mag, i can see the rings. Jupiter is worth trying to just as the sun dips behind the horizon its still just high enough to see and this too is fantastic with moons clearly seen at this magnification. Otherwise like i said, im just trying to concentrate on the saucepan area of the sky till i learn some names and my way around a little bit.
Happy seeing. Youl have alot of fun im sure.... i know i am.
Oh and also if your interested, ive just started a website to log what im seeing your welcome to check it out or if youd like to join, we'd be happy to have you. . http://torien-skies.webs.com

Cheers

Roobi:)