First Telescope - is this normal?

[REKAU (Russ)]

I finally broke down and bought my first real telescope today a 10" Saxon Dobsonian - very exciting. At the same time I thought I would join up to the IIS forum and provide my experiences. I went across to AstroPetes in Mt Gravatt, he was great and was very patience and provided me with great service and advice (highly recommended).

Anyway, back to my newbie question. Is it normal for the clouds to roll in when you finally invest in a telescope?

I did however manage to have a quick look at the sun earlier today (with all the right filters etc. so I didn't boil my brain). Looked brilliant.

Hopefully I'll be able to be able to look at some sort of bright shiny object later tonight, even if it is a street light. I'll post something back about how it goes.

I am sure I am going to have a million questions and by the looks of it have found the right forum.

[MrB (Simon)]

Hi Russ
Welcome to IIS

Originally Posted by REKAU

Anyway, back to my newbie question. Is it normal for the clouds to roll in when you finally invest in a telescope?

Yes..... yes it is.

I did however manage to have a quick look at the sun earlier today (with all the right filters etc. so I didn't boil my brain). Looked brilliant.

Please tell me this 'right' filter wasn't the type that is fitted to the eyepiece?

[TechnoViking (James)]

Hey Russ, Welcome! To the frustrating and satisifying world of Astronomy! (im having a frustrating day today)
Clouds always seem to mess up a night of trying new equipment, or looking for a new object.. it is our curse

You will get many nights of fantastic viewing using your Dob, they truely are a great scope! You will find the people here are fantastic and always willing to help, even when i ask for answers to painfully obvious questions

Make sure you download www.stellarium.org which will help learning the skies a much easier task, and its free! also check out www.worldwidetelescope.org for cloudy nights, its a great learning tool, a virtual telescope

and welcome again

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Welcome Russ , you got an impressive 1st scope there , well done and you wont need to upgrade any time soon .
Brian.

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

Congratulations Russ - happy night to you!

[REKAU (Russ)]

Thanks for the advice and the encouragement.

The sun filter is Baader ND5, which I understand is the accepted standard Nd safe.

I did managed to see Jupiter, Sirius, N42 and cumulonimbus (yip more clouds). They were spectacular. I'll probably head out again later once it clears up.

[Ric]

Welcome to IIS Russ

Hope you have a great time here and I'm you'll find answers to many of your questions.

Cheers