Astronomical Excitement

andys · #1 29-12-2006, 12:46 AM

Woohoo, my cheeky missus bought me a telescope for Christmas, finally tonight the weather has been good enough to see something. A lot of looking at the moon and then trying to figure out where Saturn was, before realising it was just out of sight. And then lastly, more by chance than design, I got a good look at M42.

Awesome...

Speedy · #2 29-12-2006, 01:28 AM

sheeny (Al) · #3 29-12-2006, 07:08 AM

Andy... and Speedy!

Glad you enjoyed it. What scope have you got?

Al.

mill (Martin) · #4 29-12-2006, 08:43 AM

To iis.

saturn c (Leo) · #5 29-12-2006, 08:47 AM

ving (David) · #6 29-12-2006, 10:35 AM

i remember the first time i saw m42. it was in my 60mm ebay refractor. i was stoked!!!

congrats!

Ric · #7 29-12-2006, 12:10 PM

Welcome Andy, M42 is always a great object to start with it never fails to fascinate.

Enjoy

astro_nutt · #8 29-12-2006, 04:06 PM

I agree with you there Ric...Oh!..and a big welcome to Andy and Speedy.
Hey Andy..this is just the begining!!
Cheers!

andys · #9 29-12-2006, 11:32 PM

Thanks for the welcome - I've just spent a mildly frustrating hour or so trying to find the tarantula nebula, to no avail - the wind didn't help. M42 is dead easy to find again and I showed that to all family members!

I have a Skywatcher 130mm Catadioptric Newtonian with an EQ2 mount. I'm very pleased with the results to far and I've not even really tried doing it properly yet!!!

So I'm off to Bintel tomorrow to find out why my RA drive doesnt seem to attach properly and I'm planning to get a red torch, possibly a polar alignment scope, maybe another eyepiece or two and investigate photography options. Any tips on other useful purchases?

I'm using Stellarium, to help with my poor knowledge of the stars.

Also any tips on how to find stuff?

sheeny (Al) · #10 30-12-2006, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andys

Also any tips on how to find stuff?

Do you have a planisphere yet? They are useful to determine what is visible at any given time on any given day. They typically show the brighter stars, but in conjunction with other star charts this is the first step to hunting down your targets!

Al.

andys · #11 30-12-2006, 09:41 PM

Well, I have a different telescope now! Went along to Bintel today because the drive wouldn't attach to the EQ2 mount properly and eventually came away with an upgraded telescope instead! So now I have a 150mm Newtonian Skywatcher on an EQ3 mount. A lot more stable (if a bit bigger) and a lot more suited to my ambitions of astrophotography. I got the dual motor drive and it's all working great. Also aquired an EOS mount for my 350D and have already got a great shot of the moon in twilight tonight.

Can't recommend Bintel enough - Roger was great.

The missus didn't seem to be too displeased about me doubling the cost of her christmas present to me and now describes herself as an astronomy widow...

Yep I have a planisphere and the 2007 guide along with the Collins guide to the stars.

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #12 30-12-2006, 09:44 PM

Quick everyone, take your telescope and mount to Bintel Melbourne. You walk out with it twice the size of what you took it in!!!!

Must be Magic!!!!

That's good news Andy.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #13 31-12-2006, 12:57 AM

Hi Andy,
What a great Christmas present for you.
M42 is one of the best sights in the night sky.
The constellation Carina, which is to the east of Orion is another place that is full of beautiful objects for you to hunt down.
Welcome to IIS.

Ric · #14 31-12-2006, 01:49 AM

Congrats on your upgrade Andy, you should have no trouble finding the Tarantula Nebula now.

Cheers

erick (Eric) · #15 31-12-2006, 02:40 PM

Andy, you'll soon discover that suburban Melbourne is very bright - I'm in Knoxfield - and you'll need to "go bush" to get darker skies to really enjoy the delights. I've been using a spot about an hour north, but Melbourne still glows too brightly under Crux. I've checked out Ken's (ballaratdragons) offering in Snake Valley. It looks like a superb venue and all I've heard and read of the Snake Valley Astronomical Association (http://snake-valley-astro.homelinux.org/) seems great. However it's a 2.5 hour drive for me, so you wife might have to suffer being a widow for a longer time then just vanishing into the backyard. Unless, of course, you can convince her to come. My wife may come on 19th Jan, if I promise no mosquitoes!

Eric

rmcpb (Rob) · #16 01-01-2007, 12:14 PM

Try pointing that great scope at Saturn.

As well as a planisphere to learn your way around a pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binocs are really and truely valuable.

Welcome to IIS

andys · #17 04-01-2007, 09:01 PM

Well, I've not had a great deal of luck with the cloud cover here, though I did manage to get a good old look at the moon last night. I've been using my 350D mounted via a T Ring onto the telescope and got some great pictures of the moon, but naturally I want to go further. So I've been reading about needing an adapter which can take an eyepiece, so that the camera take a picture of what's seem through the eyepiece. Any advice what I should be looking for. Can I use it with a barlow as well?

Phil · #18 04-01-2007, 09:34 PM

good to hear you enjoyed yourself. The more you look the more hooked you get. Try some bright globular cluster they will blow your mind.