First light with 12'' Dob 1/3/11

[orestis]

Hi everyone:hi:,

I have recently purchased a 12'' Dob and have had quite a few nights with cloud, until this relatively clear night with high cloud.

The telescope was not collimated and I understand that it may not give me the best views yet until collimated but nevertheless I set out to observe my most loved nebula M42(orion nebula) and as I centered on it and focused the image,the first thing that hit me was how vivid the green colour is now and on closer inspection I could see details never before seen in my little scope all the details I had to scrutinize to see throgh my little scope were already there,the view through the 32mm ep was spectacular.

I then Went to scan the canis majoris region seeing countless stars and eyed the tau canis majoris cluster which was splendid.I went to an old favourite open cluster of mine ngc 2616 which was great.

I then went on to see the eta cariane nebula which had countless stars and dark lanes and nebulous clouds(so much to see).eta cariane itself was a very vivid orange colour and popping in the 10mm with 2x barlow 300x showed the humunculus nebula like I've never seen it before the lobes themselves were orange which was absoloutley splendid.can't wait to get it collimated and eye out those real faint fuzzies.

Thanks for reading
Regards Orestis:thumbsup:

[astroron]

Good start Orestis:D
So Much to see and so much time for you to see all the great stuff the 12" scope will bring you :thumbsup:
Cheers

[Paddy]

Sounds a great start with it Orestis. I'm a bit green about how much colour you can see. How fantastic to visit these objects with which you're so familiar with such enhanced photon collection. Thanks for a lovely read.

[barx1963]

Nice to hear you managed some eyepiece time with the new toy. If I may suggest, with my GSO dob I went and purchased a set of Bobs Knobs (from Bintel, cost about $100, get the full set, primary, secondary and springs) which makes collimation much easier than the standard GSO kit. Stronger springs hold collimation better and adjustments are tool free. BTW I am not plugging Bintel, thats just where I got mine!

Anyway, hope it continues well and we see LOTS of reports.:thumbsup:

[Stu Ward]

Is it just your young eyes that allow you to see the colour, or is it aperture ?

[orestis]

Thanks everyone:thumbsup:



I'm guessing both + dark skies:D.

Cheers Orestis:)

[Stu Ward]

I guess my skies are a bit more polluted than yours, Orion is blue/grey for me. Beautiful though. I love it when you can distinguish the 4 stars in the core of the nebula.

[pgc hunter]

Cool report Orestis! How good is M42 in a 12"! The central region becomes really textured and detailed and is a real treat if you chuck on a UHC or OIII.

You just wait till you turn that baby onto the Sagittarius starclouds....

[mental4astro]

Guess who is just a little :jump: !!

Super stuff Orestis.

[Rob_K]

Great stuff Orestis, congratulations on the new scope! :thumbsup:

Cheers -

[orestis]

Thanks guys:thumbsup:



I noticed what you mention about the texture of m42 huggens region near the trapezium the box is really textured.I'm thinking of making a sketch of it soon to do a comparison with my lttle scope. I think i may have the dob collimated and hoping to have a obs report tonight.

Cheers orestis:thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

Orestis, would you happen to have an old Kodak film canister with its lid somewhere at home? Maybe your folks do. You can make a quick and effective collimation tool with one of these. They happen to be a perfect fit in a 1.25" focuser.

You need to drill two holes dead centre in the lid and base about 4mm in diameter. Stick it into the focuser and you can first check the centering of the secondary, and then the primary's collimation.

There are a few sites that can help out with this type of direct optical collimation. Very quick, effective, cheap and will get you by if you still feel you need something more fancy.

I use one of these film canisters to centre my secondary mirror on all my newtonians, including Odessius.

Mental.

[pgc hunter]

That's right, the Huygens region in a 12" is spectacular. Looking forward to that sketch buddy :thumbsup:

[Suzy]

Stu, young eyes are a definite bonus. In my 6" scope my daughter could see the green in the Orion Neb. but I couldn't. However, when I got my 10" I could easily see the green colour with it. High magnification (10mm ep) took it away, but was very obvious in my 22mm ep.
The Trapezium is one of my favourites. If you haven't already tried to split the E & F stars within it, here's a map. http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment_browse.php?a=83766
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment_browse.php?a=83766

[Suzy]

Congratulations Orestis on your first light - how exciting!!! :D

[orestis]

Thanks Suzy:thumbsup:

Clear skies
cheers Orestis:)