8" GOTO Dobsonian - Collapsible vs Solid tube

[GeeM (Graeme)]

SW 8" GOTO collapsible Dob ordered..... Very excited now!

Thanks all for your help.
Cheers,
Graeme

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by GeeM

SW 8" GOTO collapsible Dob ordered..... Very excited now!

Thanks all for your help.
Cheers,
Graeme

Nice one Graeme
Let us all know how you get on when it arrives.

Malcolm

[Sconesbie (Scott)]

I was using a 4" Skywatcher on EQ mount and was enjoying using it. I could see the moon quite easily (no problem), Jupiters bands faintly, Saturn albeit a bit blurry, Orion Nebula and a few other bits and pieces which I can't recall. I found a used 10" Collapsible Dobsonian locally for sale and snapped it up. I tell you, the difference is amazing. I'm still learning also like you Graeme and Pete. Very much a novice. It has driven me to be more interested and I can't wait to see what Jupiter looks like through it. Saturn is certainly clearer too. The moon, well it'll burn your eyes out.

Last night, I looked through a star chart for January and made my own diagram of what I wanted to look at. I drew my own map of the sky and wrote on it where each thing is roughly and went out in anticipation to find it. Too cloudy!!! I'm waiting on a clear night where I can get it out again and really have a good look. Most nights when I get it out ready, the sky clouds over and I have to pack the darn thing up again. I'm becoming restless. Most of the maps I have require you to hold them upside down. That is a pain especially when outside. The trick is ensuring your drawing allows you to hold it normally and still be in the right direction. I wasted a few sheets of paper trying to get it right.

The best way is to have a look at some charts, plot two or three things that look relatively easy to find on paper and head out and go for it. The next night, try and find those two or three again and maybe a couple of new ones. Keep that pattern going. That's what works for me anyway.

I'm certainly no expert and am in the first stages of understanding the place up there but I tell you, it's fun.

[GeeM (Graeme)]

Well my new 8" SW collapsible GOTO dobsonian has arrived. Very impressed with the way it was packed. I have assembled the base and checked it all over. Build quality looks good. So far I'm happy. Hopefully I'll get a gap in the clouds tomorrow night to give her a whirl!

[madwayne (Wayne)]

Good choice Graeme, I have the 12" solid tube version and it's a fantastic telescope.

Hopefully you get some clear skies for your first light. Straight on the moon at the moment till it gets too low then the universe is your oyster.

Enjoy!

Wayne

[GeeM (Graeme)]

OMG! What an awesome night. Had to work with the gaps between the clouds but managed to do a 2 Star alignment on Sirius & Canopus.
Had a look at Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, M45 Pleiades & C41 Hyades star clusters. The clouds parted and I had a chance to look at M42 Orion Nebula - Wow! Then the crescent moon popped out from behind the clouds.... Geez I nearly fell off my seat! The view was amazing! The detail was clearer than I imaged it would be. Then something special happened... While my son was having a look at the moon I noticed a very bright fast moving satellite above the moon in the west heading north. It was the brightest satellite I've seen and I wondered could it be the ISS? I fired up my ISS tracking app and sure enough it was the international space station passing overhead! What luck!

By now Jupiter had risen above the trees so I swung the Dob around for a look. WOW! There was Jupiter with 3 moons clearly visible in a row on the right and one by itself over on the left side of the view. As it rose a little higher the seeing improved and I was able to make out the bands around Jupiter. That was really something!

To cap the night off I had a look around the Milky Way at C92 the Carina nebula, C102 Southern Pleiades & C97 Pearl Cluster. I had about 3 other satellites wizz through my field of of view during the night too. I had a ripper time and am very pleased with the scope. Very easy to use. I love the way it tracks what you have in your view so you can show others. I have been using my planetarium app to get ideas of where I'd like to look. The upside down view wasn't as big a problem as I was expecting it to be & the straight through finder scope wasn't a problem either. All in all it's a great package and the included 25 & 10 mm eye pieces mean that you have everything you need to start observing.

I'm looking forward to what I'll see tomorrow night!

[creeksky (Pete)]

Originally Posted by GeeM

OMG! What an awesome night. While my son was having a look at the moon I noticed a very bright fast moving satellite above the moon in the west heading north. It was the brightest satellite I've seen and I wondered could it be the ISS? I fired up my ISS tracking app and sure enough it was the international space station passing overhead! What luck!

By now Jupiter had risen above the trees so I swung the Dob around for a look. WOW! There was Jupiter with 3 moons clearly visible in a row on the right and one by itself over on the left side of the view. As it rose a little higher the seeing improved and I was able to make out the bands around Jupiter. That was really something!

All in all it's a great package and the included 25 & 10 mm eye pieces mean that you have everything you need to start observing.

I'm looking forward to what I'll see tomorrow night!

Fantastic Graeme!
Glad you have your scope now and got to use it. the GOTO function sounds great.
You must have sent the ISS my way too, just as you described, while looking at the moon I noticed that bright satellite coming from the west, and thought it has to be the ISS? But had no ISS app with me.
I tried to swing the scope around after it passed zenith but was very hard to get it into view.
Hope you have more star gazing tonight.

[raymo]

I'm probably getting a bit jaded after 65 or so years of viewing and imaging, but it is still great to see the enthusiasm of new scope owners.
raymo