First light - SW 200p Dob

[drnat]

Well, my first proper go with my first telescope. A fun night viewing but a lot to learn.

Planetary viewing was good - Jupiter was seen but not much detail due to light pollution & really low in the sky. Mars was bright & definitely red. Saturn stole the show - clear views & think could see 2 rings with a darker band across the centre of the planet. My max lens was a 10mm - I think that it could have coped with more magnification?

Then tried some stars. Spica, Arcturus (really bright) & vega. Tried to split Izar but no joy with that.

The telescope: good light bucket and easy to move, though not always completely smooth to move with some jerkiness. Telrad was good for finding stars but fainter ones were problematic due to red 'target' and dew. Dew was a big issue & the telrad came off in the end due to the dew. Didn't manage to get a good position for the telrad - finder scope got in the way - should I ditch this?? No DSOs seen despite a few attempts - more to thus than meets the eye!

Overall an enjoyable first light - need to get a good position for the telrad & persevere with DSOs! I had planned the viewing but was still difficult. I hope to get better at this.....

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[Sandraj]

I removed my finder to allow the Telrad the space, only once I have had dew here, I used a bit of kitchen roll to wipe both sides of the plastic screen, turning the red target light right down so it doesn't drown out the stars etc works for me. 

[rwilkey]

Hi there, that was a great start, don't worry about not finding things.  I often go out with certain targets and don't always find them.  Saturn was great last night, with a few moons on view including Titan, Rhea, Enceladus and so on, and Dione on the opposite side.

[Astro Imp]

A good and enjoyable start.

Have you downloaded Stellarium a great free planetarium program to guide you around the sky. http://www.stellarium.org/

Probably the easiest DSO to find at the moment is M13 the great cluster in Hercules, a really fine object. You already know where Arcturus is, go east from there to a crescent of bright stars, the constellation Corona Borealis, and then east again to a wedge shape of four stars for the keystone in Hercules, about a third of the way from the top of the two westernmost stars will put you pretty close. You should pick it out in your finder. Use Stellarium to follow my guide.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Avocette]

Welcome to the Dob squad and congratulations on a worthy first light report. Since you mention dewing of the Telrad, don't forget that there will be dew on the lawn as well (if that's where you do your observing like the photo in your other thread) and this can have a detrimental effect on the melamine-coated chipboard Sky-Watcher Dob base. One option is the Water Butt Stand like in the photo here which protects from damp and which I find raises the eyepiece to a better viewng position.

Finding objects can be done by star hopping and/or the use of a setting circle and Wixey angle measuring device together with a planetarium programme like Stellarium. Many people mod their Dobs especially in the summer!  http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/205732-my-sw-skyliner-200p-additions-and-modifications/

[drnat]

Thanks guys. Using sky safari 4 - an excellent program & have TLAO as well as star watch - both great & prefer the latter.

The water but base looks great & agree, will put the eyepiece at a better level.

Next time we have clear skies shall try to find M13 - forecast rain for the next week :-(

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