Well, I got my 8" Skywatcher Dobsonian... It's awesome!! Haven't tested it yet cause its not dark yet. So I got some questions...
1. The dob came with two lenses a 25mm and a 10mm, Which one is for planets and which is best for deep space and nebulas?
2. How do I Find stars and nebulas I want.
3. How do I take pictures with the scope and a camera??
4. When is the best time for observing?
Hi Tony and congrats ... a great scope that you will have for quite awhile ... unless you get the ... 'aperture fever'.
Hope the sky is clear down there for you tonight.
Use the 25mm for starters for a browse around the sky, and when you find find something you want, pop in the 10mm. Jupiter is getting low in the West so try and check it out.
Please do a search as the q's you have asked have been asked before so lots of info to sift through ..... enjoy!!
You need to become familiar with the brighter constellations, then you can gradually work your way around to the fainter ones. A planisphere is a great tool to show you what constellations are in the sky at any time of night and day of the year.
The Skymaps website is also useful- you can download a monthly chart and target objects. You need the Southern Hemisphere Edition towards the bottom of the web page. http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html
Binoculars are handy for scanning the sky and locating clusters and nebulae. You can then try to locate them with your telescope to get some fanatastic close-ups.
If you do your viewing pre-midnight, the darkest skies occur after the Last Quarter through to about 3 days after the New Moon (about 10 days each month). Outside this time, the moon makes the sky very bright and it is harder to see dimmer objects. The sky gets fairly dark about an hour after sunset.
Congratulations Tony. The 8" dob is the newbies scope of choice, able to get lots, but still small enough thats it's not a chore to setup.
I used an 8" for 6 months with a 25mm and a 10mm eyepiece and guess what, I probably used the 10mm maybe 4 times. Most of your viewing will be with the 25mm, only go for more power when the seeing is very good and steady or for looking at the planets.
Robs advice with the planisphere is excellent, learning the night sky is a lot of fun.
As far as taking pictures, this scope is really on suitable for some lunar and planetary work. Mike has an article here http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-201-0-0-1-0.html
That has some hints as to what can be done. Beware, this is a slippery slope with much risk of combusting banknotes at the bottom!
As for observing times, I am finding that I need to plan my observing. While dark skies are great, there is still much that can be done even with the moon in the sky. There are many bright open clusters that can be seen with a moon affected sky and it is fun to compare how ol' Luna changes their appearance. So plan your viewing to match, dim objects for dark skies, brighter objects for bright skies. And there is nothing wrong with lunar observing. Some of us get a bit hairy-chested about seeing the furthest dimmest objects, but there is lots to see and learn on the moon.
Hey guys, got my 6" Dobsonian yesterday!! So excited, can't wait to take it out (couldn't take it out yesterday because of the clouds), with it came a 2" Eyepiece Adapter, and since I am a beginner I have no idea what this is for :S. I was wondering if anybody could tell me what we use this for please, thanks a lot, and Tony, Congrats!!!!
Thanks everyone! great advices, And congrats on the dob Sebastien! I also got the 2010 astronomy essential pack for $50 bit expensive but came with a 2010 astronomy guide and a star disc also a sky watcher LED torch with red and LED light. Couldn't really do much cause of the clouds rolling in and the neighbors having their backyard light on..... And I don't think that I can go out today either... I looks like its going to rain...
Still... Patience is Virtue..
Tony and congrats on your new scope, boy are you going to have fun and see some amazing sights, get prepared for some long nights ahead! If you can afford it you may want to buy a Celestron SkyScout if you don't have a Go To on your new scope, they're your personal hand-held planetarium with audio (headphones included), or text descriptions (red LED display to preserve your night vision) of everything up there. Yes, everything. You just point (not with your finger, !) and press identify, or you can press locate and select from a menu - planets, nebulae, constellations, stars. Yes it's cheating a bit but there's a lot to learn and retain when you're starting out and anything that gets you there faster has to be a bonus. There's loads of free stuff you can download especially The Evening Sky Map available from Skymaps.com, I think they're essential for beginners (like me ), and of course this web site is your new bible. Prepare to be amazed!
Which nebulae am I expected to see with my 8" dobsonian, if any?
And what is needed such as filters to see one?
Cheers
Tony
P.S. Oh is there any link to pictures taken using 8". I'm curious what I need to expect.
P.S.S. Looks like observing won;t be possible for the week. rains forecasted for entire 7 days...
Congrats on the new scope - the 2" eyepiece adapter is for using it with 2" eyepieces - the dobs normally come with only 1.25" eyepieces included in the starter kit so when you have gained enough experience you might like to purchase 2" eyepieces which have certain attributes that the 1.25" lack
Cheers
Bill
Quote:
Originally Posted by sebastien
Hey guys, got my 6" Dobsonian yesterday!! So excited, can't wait to take it out (couldn't take it out yesterday because of the clouds), with it came a 2" Eyepiece Adapter, and since I am a beginner I have no idea what this is for :S. I was wondering if anybody could tell me what we use this for please, thanks a lot, and Tony, Congrats!!!!
Well, I got my 8" Skywatcher Dobsonian... It's awesome!! Haven't tested it yet cause its not dark yet. So I got some questions...
1. The dob came with two lenses a 25mm and a 10mm, Which one is for planets and which is best for deep space and nebulas?
2. How do I Find stars and nebulas I want.
3. How do I take pictures with the scope and a camera??
4. When is the best time for observing?
Yes... I am a total noob...
Thanks,
Tony
1. In periods of good seeing the 10mm will be useful for planets like Jupiter, but if the stars are twinkling heavily use the 25mm. For nebulas I find the 10mm useful fo seeking out small scale structure within the nebulas. I suggest the Trantatula Nebula in dark skies is a must with the 10mm.
2. The 50mm Finderscope in dark skies should be all you need to locate stunning deep skie objects like large nebula and star cluster. For fainter objects you can either use a finders chart or a Go-To software which you can use with your Dob like the Argo Navis which Im currently saving up for.
3.Taking pictures with a Dob isnt nessacarily hard. As the Dob isnt originally a Go-To you cant take exposures of deep sky objects. Howver, you can still take great images of the Moon and Jupiter which I have done.
Heres my best images of the Moon and Jupiter taken with a 4 megapixel camera-
4. The best time to obsreve is probably 2 hours after sunset as the sky would have cooled a bit. I would also suggest leaving your telescope outside 1 hour before you observe so the telescope can cool to the outside temprature.
Tony and congrats on your new scope, boy are you going to have fun and see some amazing sights, get prepared for some long nights ahead! If you can afford it you may want to buy a Celestron SkyScout if you don't have a Go To on your new scope, they're your personal hand-held planetarium with audio (headphones included), or text descriptions (red LED display to preserve your night vision) of everything up there. Yes, everything. You just point (not with your finger, 
!) and press identify, or you can press locate and select from a menu - planets, nebulae, constellations, stars. Yes it's cheating a bit but there's a lot to learn and retain when you're starting out and anything that gets you there faster has to be a bonus. There's loads of free stuff you can download especially The Evening Sky Map available from Skymaps.com, I think they're essential for beginners (like me 
), and of course this web site is your new bible. Prepare to be amazed!
Greatly appreciated 
