First light for 10" DOB!!!!

notoriousnick (Nicholas) · #1 22-11-2009, 10:47 PM

Hi Folks,

Well, the Gods have been smiling on me tonight

- the rain clouds went away!!

Before it was dark, I went outside with the scope - only the moon and Jupiter were visible at this stage and these I examined. I didn't wait for the mirror to cool down, just aligned the finder scope then looked at the moon with a 10mm Plossl (121x). Gee, despite the thin, high cloud, were those images of the moons craters ever sharp! Craters within craters ... Blew me away

It was easy to make out the bands on Jupiter, but I couldn't see the GRS. I rushed back in to check Stellarium and sure enough, I'd have to wait a few hours for the GRS to be visible. Then I was worried because I could only see three moons, not four. Checked Stellarium again and sure enough, IO and Europa were right on top of each other. A little while later they were clearly separated in the scope.

Had to get used to moving the scope too, as things drifted out of the field of view, but this didn't seem too difficult. Might drop the tension a bit on the central bolt for azimuthal movement though.

Also did a quick star test to check the collimation that I'd attempted for the first time in my life the previous day. Found a star, defocussed, and got the concentric circles thing. So far so good!

There's too much cloud cover now, so the Great Orion Nebula, the Pleiades and 47 Tuc. will have to wait until tomorrow night - weather should be better then, but I'm ever so grateful I still had a chance to use this scope tonight

I think I'll be sleeping well tonight (unlike most nights!) knowing that this is going to be fantastic. Just need to plan on getting those WO UWAN EPs

Cheers,
Nicholas

Blue Skies (Jacquie) · #2 22-11-2009, 11:11 PM

Well that's good news that everything is working ok. Perhaps the only tip I would give is to start with the 25mm ep first and only go down to 10mm once you get things centred.

Don't worry about being a hurry to see things, you've got all summer to explore the sky...

leon · #3 22-11-2009, 11:27 PM

Good advice Jaquie,

and Nicholas, well done mate enjoy,

but start off slowly, and work from there, and in 35 years like me, you will be breezing.

I was a viewing person for all those years, then at 55 years of age technology caught up with me.

I had to learn quick time with lots of mistakes, and i still makes heaps.

However as Jaquie says, take it slow mate, and do not attempt the high powers until you are confident.

Leon

DavidU (Dave) · #4 22-11-2009, 11:31 PM

Enjoy Nic. I love it when new folks get excited.

Paddy (Patrick) · #5 23-11-2009, 04:00 PM

Great to hear that you had a good "first light". I suspect that there will be many wonderful nights ahead for you.

gary · #6 23-11-2009, 05:29 PM

Hi Nicholas,

Thanks for the post and congratulations on First Light!

It's been 400 years since Galileo observed Jupiter and it is great to
see people still just as excited today!

Have a great summer of observing.

barx1963 (Malcolm) · #7 24-11-2009, 12:00 AM

Nick
First light is always exciting and I'm glad you have enjoyed the experience are are looking forward to more. You will love looking at Orion neb and the others you mentioned. Eta Carina will become more prominent over the coming months so you can also check that out. Also grab a look at NGC 253, one of the best targets to start your star hopping adventures.

notoriousnick (Nicholas) · #8 24-11-2009, 11:22 PM

Thanks everyone!

All advice gratefully received

This should be called 'second light' as it's only the second time the sky has been clear enough for a viewing. It started off cloudy but then thoughtfully cleared.

One thing I've learned - don't stick the 'scope on decking! Decking seems to transmit every vibration to the 'scope, including my heart beat even if I'm not touching the 'scope

Tonight I scored the gllobular cluster 47 Tucana

and magnificent it is! I note there are a lot of other items of interest in that region, but the trees at my place block anything much lower down. Might have to get the chainsaw out... who needs trees anyway

M42 in Orion was huge! I didn't realise it would be quite so nebulous (if that's the word). I can clearly see how the Trapezium gets its name

I'm quite prepared to spend lots of time using my two Plossls to get to know the sky, but I can see why someone would want those wide field eps. If I glue my eyeball to the plossl, it does start to make the whole thing feel more like a spacewalk, but doing so becomes strenuous after a while.

Anyhow, thanks for listening (or rather, reading)!

Cheers,
Nicholas (who's off to bed now, star-struck).