First light last night!

[Albaba]

Hi all!

It's been weeks and weeks of cloud since i bought my first scope (nexstar 6se), i'm assured this is completely normal after buying new equipment...

Anyway last night it was pretty clear so i thought i best give it a whirl. Set the scope up about 8.30pm and got the finder calibrated and sat in wait.

I am slap bang in the middle of the city AND it was a full moon so i wasn't expecting much. As it got dark i saw Mars and manually guided the scope to that for a quick look with the 32mm and then the 13mm. Was just like a bright red star but nice all the same. Moments later my good wife came out and pointed in the other direction over the chimney and said "whats that?". 

It was jupiter apparently and i slewed in that direction and then went for a solar system align. then POW! Put the eyepiece in and there she was, red bands and 4 Galilean moons! Was a tremendous sight, small but truly beautiful.

It felt like a very special moment, seeing photo's from hubble or anything else can't really compare to viewing stuff with your own eye.

After 20 mins the cloud rolled in and things got murky but the first glimpse was AMAZING.

I predict a future of larger apertures and £1000 eyepieces.

Feel free to donate a 14" sct and a set of naglers

Thanks for listening

Ali

[kerrylewis]

Nice report Ali. It's always a special moment that first view. You don't say where you are but where I live in Britain we have had a succession of clear nights and the planetary viewing has been wonderful.

I wish you many more clear skies... And yes equipment fever will strike!

Kerry

[oldpink]

always a good moment when you get the WOW factor
cloud is mandatory with a new purchase

[Albaba]

I live in newcastle kerry and yes the viewing has been great for quite a few nights but i was just too busy/tired to get the scope out! 

[Rustysplit]

Nice report Ali. Don't give up on Mars. Go back and look again. Mars tends to respond well to high magnification, 200x +. Give your self a good while at the eyepiece, and it may well surprise you.

[Albaba]

defo rusty, will have another go with darker skies up north

[Steve777]

Nice report, Ali, a reminder of that first look excitment, and I think it's good you emphasise how important it is to see these things *for yourself*

[Stargazer33]

Nice report Ali. Sounds like you are hooked already!

If you want another "WOW" moment, try M13 in Hercules; it won't disappoint!

[Rustysplit]

That is the beauty of the major planets, dark sky not a necessity

[Albaba]

Def wanna start looking for some of the messier objects, i just hope 6 inches is enough! (i'm sure we've all thought this!)

As a aside, the 8ah tracer battery seems to power the scope for quite a few hours, well worth the £120 from FLO.

[Albaba]

Also, i did seem to find the 13mm was the "sweet spot" for viewing, when i went to higher magnification things seems to go downhill. I'm guessing this is to do with the "seeing", the quality of my actual eyes and also the quality of the eyepieces (regular celestron plossls). 

As im led to believe going above 200x is very dependant on the above factors?

Ali

[Myopicus]

Yay!  Fab, innit?  

[Rustysplit]

The "seeing" is incredibly variable, even over one session. Your 13mm @ the 1500fl of your scope gives you about 115x. You can and will be able to go much higher than this. Waiting for targets to be at their highest in the south often helps. Just get out observing as often as you can is the best advice though. Sometimes those gaps in the clouds provide some stunning views.

[pmchugh1961]

Awesome

[Albaba]

Good advice rusty! Just need to spend more time at the eyepiece!

[TwinkleTwinkle]

Aww I'm really pleased for you , I wish I knew what I was doing wrong, apart from the moon all the stars seem like tiny dots. I think the eyepiece that came with my 6se is pretty useless , well I'm hoping it's that, but I can't wait to see a planet in mine x well done anyway ' not jealous at all !!

[Albaba]

Stick with it twinkle!

[Luke]

Nice report, Ali, and congrats on the scope! I had a C6, very nice scope.

Jupiter really is a fantastic object to observe, I love it when you can see a shadow from one of moons casting onto it

[stenik]

The "wow" factor is great. I had the same feeling the first time i saw jupiter and her moons and it's the first thing i look at when i get the scope out. Being a compkete newbie i still need to recognise whats in the sky. My next purchase will definateley be "turn left at orion". From whats been said on the forum it's the book to have.

Happy scoping

[Albaba]

Yeah me too stenik, been looking for a cheap second hand copy, looks like the book to have

[TrixieLoyalist]

Ooh Jealous!

I wish I could afford a 6SE alas all I could get is the 4SE, though if I waited another month could of managed a 5SE but eh impatience is a bane.

[Owmuchonomy]

Yeah me too stenik, been looking for a cheap second hand copy, looks like the book to have

Have you asked at your library? I did. You never know.

[Albaba]

Good idea Owmu!

[Tommohawk]

Hi Ali

I just got hooked a couple of months back too. Theres some really good software out there which is free and very helpful. Do you have Stellarium? I've been using this for a couple of months and it still surprises me. If you spend a bit of time with it you can learn your way around the night sky quite well. You can also use it to skip forward in time to see what awaits. Maybe you already have it.

Cheers

Tom

[Albaba]

Tom, yeah i grabbed stellarium, it's a really amazing program isnt it. Due to the cloud for the last month or so ive spent more time on stellarium than anything else! I even programmed my telescope and camera parameters in so i get an idea what to expect.