First light fun ... and a strange sighting

[Vox45]

Yesterday was first light for me ... ever. I got my new SCT 6" on october 7th and did not have much luck before that with the weather (the curse)

So yesterday I set out to look at a few objects and hopefully Uranus. I have to say that my sighting location is not the best. I installed my gear in the kitchen (due south ... that's good) and looked through the (open) window.

It's cramped, but I do have the fridge close by.

The biggest issue for me is that my 'window of opportunity' (pun intended) is very small. There is a big wall in the backyard of the appartment building and I am on the 1st floor. So, I can only look as high as Altair (48° alt) and as low as Deneb Algedi (23° alt).

 Fortunatly the earth spins, so I get to see the whole of Orion. My life is not that miserable.

Being confronted to the salty sea of tears that is real life, I have made all the mistakes known to mankind regarding stargazing.

Here's a sample:

- I opened said fridge. There is a light bulb in there.

- I bumped the tripod, minutes after carefully aligning it.

- I tried to turn on the red dot finder and while doing so, I turned the wrong [removed word] and messed up the carefully done alignment I had made the day before.

- I tried to move the mount using the hand controller and, for over an hour, was furious at how long it took to move it from point A to B and then realized there was a 'rate' button to move it faster.

- I spent the 1st hour not seeing anything. Trying to focus by turning the focusing knob and seeing no stars even though I could see stars in my (small) binos. After a while I decided to keep on turning the knob for what seemed like an eternity and then some stars appeared in the FOV. I was surprised by how long I had to turn the focus knob (at least 15 turns either ways) and quite worry I broke something.

- I Aligned and re-aligned my scope multiple time because I could not see Polaris from my kitchen and the only stars choices that were given by the mount were too low or too high on the horizon (see 'window of opportunity' above) I guess I will have to use Ye ol' Bigourdan method next time.

After scanning the sky for most of the night trying to spot Uranus, it suddenly appeared in my FOV !

I think...

Since I've never seen it I can only guess that it was Uranus. It looked different, greenish, not like the stars around it, and in the general direction of where it was supposed to be according to Stellarium.

Then something weird happened when I tried to focus, It changed shape ! It looked doughnut like and it started dancing and changing shape like a moebius ring. It also became colorful (blue, red, green) so I guess that was some kind of diffraction. It sure was fascinating to look at

While this object changed shape, the stars around it just went out of focus. So this may be proof that it was really a planet... or not.

Can't wait until the next session !

[Vox45]

Edit: I say "I turned the wrong knob".

It seems that the forum does not like this word without the letter K so it was removed from the post.  English is not my first language, so I 'll be careful with this one next time

[Zakalwe]

When you defocus a bright point of light 9such as a star) can appear as a "doughnut". The different colours were probably caused by atmospheric diffraction.

[ronin]

When planets go out of focus they turn into a doughnut, the trick is then getting them back in focus.

You always got the wrong way.

Stars can form small blobs but if dim the light is so low they disappear, and Uranus was in an area of very dim stars, and the scope will have  anarrow field of view.

The dancing will be the atmosphere and the colours also, just where the red came from I have no idea. I can never recall if Uranus is the blue-green one or the green-blue one. I think it is more green then blue so sounds right.

Sounds like you need a nice not very bright red torch.

[Vox45]

thanks guys

I do have a frontal red torch but the kitchen is so cramped I keep bumping into stuff. I need to move more like a ninja !

[ghostdance]

Lovely post!

I imagine you in your kitchen hideout, Frankie the Fridge glowering at your shoulder (will it threaten to bring in 'da boys' if you don't behave ie Dishwasher Mo & Cookerhood Louie?) 'Go onnn...open da door, open da doooorrr.....'

And then the Terrible Tripod, packing the 'manual' in its overcoat pocket....and let's not get started on Krazy Knobby, who really knows how to work a hand over.

Boy, and I thought my damp but at least outside and appliance-free lookout was not ideal!

And through all this, you manage to grab a small planet millions of miles away! Vox, you are to be commended!

Great report - I LOVED reading it!

[Vox45]

Lol thanks, you made my day  with "open da doooorrr" !

Hopefully It really was Uranus Awww the agony of self doubt ....

[ghostdance]

I reckon it must have been Uranus if Stellarium confirmed the approximate position. Otherwise what? Neptune? But that's not exactly near U's position iirc (haven't checked Stellarium for awhile). I really must go looking for both once the curtains get pulled away. Doesn't seem likely this week at all

So, I'd say you had a palpable hit. Well done! Especially out of your garret window

[Vox45]

Thanks Ghost !

I am positive it wasn't Neptune as it was too low under the horizon for me aI missed it by an hour or so according to Stellarium.

[Vox45]

Either way ... My next assignment is to find a way to do a good alignment without the polar scope...

I believe I can achieve this with the drift alignment method. Hopefully the precision will be enough that I can use the goto and be as close as possible to my target This would make my life a bit easier.

From what I understand I will need to get a reticule Eypiece... More money to spend

[D4N]

Nice report, made me chuckle

I'm sure most people will have made one or more of your mistakes at some point, except maybe the fridge thing, most of us don't have to contend with that!

The little dials being the same on the rdf drives me nuts too, why would they do that?!?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Vox45]

YES ! My thoughts exactly

In complete darkness you reach for the finder to turn it on and the 2 dials are on the same side, one to turn on/off, one to adjust the finder... what could go wrong ? As if they put the nuclear launch button next to the 'press for free beer' button.

[D4N]

Yep, well my RA clutch is exactly the same as my dovetail release bolt... nothing could go wrong there right?

Fortunately I rarely have to declutch my mount unless I forget to park it.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Vox45]

Reading this sent shivers down my spine D4N ! We live in a dangerous world:)

[Dave In Vermont]

While the doughnut-like disk has been properly explained, I'll take a stab at the dancing colours:

If you view from inside a house, you can often expect the image to shiver and shimmer. This is due to the convection-currents created by the cooler air outdoors meeting the warmer temperatures inside the house. The greater the temperature difference between house and outside - the greater the dancing will be.

Clear & Still Skies,

Dave

[ghostdance]

Dave's spot on.

Unless I wait until the small hours, and keep the windows open til then, observing from inside the house is pretty much a no-no. Damn sight warmer tho, especially in winter - so I did occasionally show guests some stuff if they didn't want to go outside -even a fuzzy Saturn was still a big hit!

[Vox45]

That one I did right !

I put the OTA outside on a small balcony (on a blanket) for 1 hour to get it to cool off. My kitchen being rather small I open the window 15 minutes before observing, that is more than enough I understand that is far from ideal but I think I minimized the issue.

[RT65CB-SWL]

- I opened said fridge. There is a light bulb in there.

My fridge light refuses to work within two weeks after defrosting it!   

[Vox45]

I am thinking of painting the light bulb red but my wife thinks it is a bit silly ...

[ghostdance]

I am thinking of painting the light bulb red but my wife thinks it is a bit silly ...

LOL....Paris....red lit window...?

You may be having some unexpected callers.

Good job you don't live in Amsterdam

[Vox45]

I spent the 1st hour not seeing anything. Trying to focus by turning the focusing knob and seeing no stars even though I could see stars in my (small) binos. After a while I decided to keep on turning the knob for what seemed like an eternity and then some stars appeared in the FOV. I was surprised by how long I had to turn the focus knob (at least 15 turns either ways) and quite worry I broke something.

I should have read the manual

"A single turn of the focusing knob moves the primary mirror only slightly. Therefore, it will take many turns (about 30) to go from close focus (approximately 25 feet) to infinity."