Well, the new 8” GSO Dobsonian has now had first light and christened Robby (the dobby). I spent the first night putting it all together and was pleased to see that the collimation was close enough. I fiddled with it anyway to see what did what, but didn’t want to fiddle with it to much for fear of putting it out.
When finished, I went outside but found nothing but clouds. Mind you, I expected this after reading all the IIS posts on the affect of new scopes on the weather. No worries, I'd waited 5 months to get to this point.
The next night was clear skies so mini-Morbius and I carted Robby outside to cool off while we had dinner. Much to the disgust of the missus… it was a very quick dinner for the two of us… Unfortunately we had a few things on later that night so we would only have a half hour or so of viewing time. It was a shame to rush first light, but I wasn’t about to pass up this opportunity.
I let mini-Morbius choose the first target and he picked... Saturn. Oops! I’d left it too late and she’d already dropped below the horizon. That’s ok, pick something else… Betelgeuse (he loves the name). Oh dear, we weren’t off to a very good start. One more try.
After a few seconds deep in thought… Rigel Kent! Whoa… now that was impressive. I can't believe he remembered that one (crikey... I couldn’t remember that when Zubenel quizzed me on the weekend). Never mind, good choice… let’s see if we can split Alpha Cent A & B.
And there they were… the headlights (as mini-Morb calls them). I don’t think I’d seen a prettier star... er, stars. From there it was a quick trip up to Omega Cent. That view was rated an “Awww… sick!” from mini-Morb. Then to Eta Carina… yes… a real live Nebula!
After viewing the Jewel Box and a couple of open clusters in Scorpius we were running out of time, but there was one last target that I wanted to try. This one made me nervous because it had the capacity to disappoint me if I couldn’t see it through my new scope… NGC-4945. I’d seen it before through larger dobs and it was faint even then. Would my 8” pick it up.
It took 5 minutes, but there it was... a misty smudge nestled amongst the stars. I don’t know... maybe it was just my imagination, a speck of dust in the eyepiece or the tears in my eyes. But it didn’t matter; I now had a real telescope . Bring on clear skies!
congrats doc!! sounds like you are on to a good thing there
you will be suprised what you can see with the 8"... theres a whole universe out there to explore
Great stuff Randall! Sounds like you had great fun for your first night out! If you can manage to get the scope out early tonight, check out the Moon, Saturn and Mars all within a cosy 10 degrees of each other. See finder chart here. And Jupiter of course, the big bright one straight up.
Well done Randall, if it's clear we will have some other observers out here this weekend, the moon sets at 22:00 but about half an hour earlier because of the hills,but you still can see some DSO even with the 5 day old moon
Congrats Randall, I know just how you feel coz that was me just 3 months ago or so with my new Dobby! So glad you're enjoying it, and grabbing great targets to view! We'll have to catch up soon and you can introduce me to Robby. I'll bring my wide field eyepiece along and we can see how Robby looks wearing that - more Dalek perhaps with that big an eye stalk.
Thanks Randall for the memories of what it was like at first light with my big Dob!
How soon we forget the first 'WHOAHHH!'
Tip: Try collimate the Dob after you have it set up & cooled, not before, if possible. Nothing worse than getting it spot on, then knock it on the way out there.
Good write-up, and great that Little Doc was involved in a big way
thanks for including me in your report randall. it is great to remember the mystery , awe , and wonder gained from First light. May it never leave you.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! remember to cuy out some milk bottle washers for the az axis. 2l are thinner than 3l bottles.also with such a low scope your best option for a seat is a 1, 2, 3, box with 1 being the length of your elbow to wrist or just gauge zenith to horizon difference.Darren from seqas has used one of these for years with his 6''. Zubenel
Oh dear, we weren’t off to a very good start. One more try.
. Bring on clear skies!
