Hi all,
Please excuse the length of this. My enthusiasm ran away with me..
Three weeks ago I’d never heard of the IceinSpace website. And, frankly, where the night sky was concerned I didn’t know my Aries from my Eridanus.
But now - thanks to your collective corrupting influences - I’ve been inspired to dive headlong into the murky world of amateur astronomy. And all I can say is “thank you”. And “Look out NASA”….
Week 1:
April 11th. Took a few blurry time exposure pictures of the stars above our house, and became intrigued….
Made a solemn vow not to buy any gear -
especially not a telescope - until I’d paid my dues for a month or two and learned a lot more about the night sky.
Week 2:
The nearest equipment shop was shut for several days over Easter so I was able to keep my vow for
almost a whole week before I bought a telescope. My Grand Plan for something elaborate shrunk dramatically at the sight of the price tickets and I slunk out of the shop with a very basic Skywatcher 80x400 refractor on an AZ3 mount, for around $300. It can double for earthbound viewing as it shows everything the ‘right’ way up instead of the usual astronomers inverted view. As if being 70 with lousy eyesight and creaking bones wasn’t already enough of a challenge to my wobbly attempts at astronomy...… You want me to cope with upside-down as well?? If there isn’t already a cheesy bumper sticker that says “Astronomers do it upside down in the dark” then there ought to be.
Luckily, it turned out to be an OK choice. No problems finding the Southern Cross and Orion or focusing on bright targets like Jupiter, Canopus, Sirius etc. especially as they seem to stand well out in their own patches of sky. In the first few days I was able to see Jupiter and its moons, a tiny but impressive crescent Venus, and eventually - after a long hunt in completely the wrong location - Saturn. Well pleased with the new toy.
Couldn’t
quite see Cassini diving through Saturn’s rings though.
Actually the rings looked more like modest bumps around the middle, but at least it was Saturn. So that’s four planets spotted already (naturally, as it’s also a terrestrial scope I’ve been viewing the planet Earth, so I count that one as well…) And of course various aspects of the moon and its craters. Plus the ‘Jewel Box’, The Southern Pleiades, and a chunk of, well, other random starry stuff.
Even with such a modestly magnifying piece of kit it was still dead easy to get hopelessly lost though. For instance, orienting myself in the old familiar Southern Cross proved initially challenging when only one of the four main stars could be seen at the one time. But which one did I land on? It’s OK, I figured it out now…
Getting a reflector had also been part of the Grand Plan. Maybe an 8” Dobsonian? They seem to feature in most of the polls on “Which telescope should I buy first?” But I really didn’t want to rush it.
So I waited…..oh, quite a few more hours before cracking on that one. The shop didn’t have a suitable Dobsonian in stock on the day, and anyway I was rather taken with something that looked more portable, and actually more practical in our location. And it had a properly sturdy and fancy looking mount. So I handed over some more cash and came home with a Skywatcher 150x750 reflector that came on an EQ3 mount.
And, now, for the past two weeks
I haven’t bought another telescope. I’ve completely kicked the habit. Honestly. The rush of blood to the head seems to have subsided for now. Which is good, because I really don’t want to add a total eclipse of the bank account to my achievements list. Yet.
Setting up the EQ3 was fun, even though the South Celestial Pole proved to be hiding behind a jacaranda tree, and it wasn’t marked by a convenient signpost or handy star. But I got close enough and duly dropped three dots of paint on the driveway to mark the spot for the tripod. Pondering the wonderful geometry of the thing was fun too.
Week 3:
At least, setting up was fun for about a week. Then the gloss went off spending time fussing about re-aligning it each evening and I began to wonder if it was worth the bother. Especially as I wasn’t ever going to motorise it or use it for anything more complex than straightforward beginner viewing and perhaps an occasional basic single shot picture. And over-taxing the ageing brain by swapping repeatedly between using an Alt/Az mount and an Equatorial was getting to be a bit of a pain, especially at certain angles.
So I levelled the EQ’s latitude dial back to zero, made some other small adjustments, and now I can use it in a roughly similar way as an Alt/Az mount - up and down or side to side. It’s still a lot sturdier than the Alt/Az than came with the smaller scope and the control mechanisms are better quality and nicer to use. And just so that the smaller scope didn’t feel insulted or left out, I mounted it on top of its bigger mate. Not perfect but fine for now. Doubtless, I'll adjust it all back again later...
So now I have 4 stages of option.
1. Do some initial scanning with binoculars
2. Line something up with the small finder-scope.
3. Look a bit closer with the refractor, do a bit of basic star hopping, and then
4. Get up closer again with the reflector. And the reflector can see the rings of Saturn as clear as a bell. Splendid sight.
Books have also been bought - including Cosmos by Carl Sagan, plus Turn Left at Orion, and The Southern Sky Guide. The Stellarium software has been installed and has proved to be a great tool for learning and identification. As has Sky Safari. The reading and research is proving to be every bit as enjoyable as the stargazing, if not more so. And essential if I’m to bring to life the sight of all those little white dots.
And here’s the “Observatory”.
1. The camera — mounted backwards on the plate to allow tilting right up. Under the prevailing Pensioner Rules - (which state that it’s forbidden to buy anything that you could make out of a bit of old junk you have lying around in the shed) - bits of plumbing pipe have been used to provide a free sighting tube, and also to make an extender to one of the setting knobs to allow for finer adjustment. Sadly, an all-cardboard toilet roll telescope never saw the light of day. Or night.
2. The current kit and caboodle, including Stellarium, just in case I should get a little lost….as if that would ever happen…. And a small red light torch just in case I drop a lens cap and need to find it, or forget exactly which side the adjusting knobs are and need a prompt….as if that would ever happen…. And of course some imported Scottish warming fluid for medicinal purposes on those cooler nights. Also handy to cheer up the viewer when viewing conditions are disappointing.
Now to boldy go where…… where most of you have already been…. So I hope you left it tidy.
Cheers, and thanks again to you all for the inspiration and encouragement. It’s proving to be a fascinating hobby. And if you read right to the end of all that waffling then award yourself a star.
Chris