First night with new telescope (Dob 8") - but!

[aventic]

Hello folks.

Last night was my first night outside with my new telescope (Dob 8") - totally new to all of this! I was not disappointed in what I saw, but I would like to know, if I saw what there is to see in terms of quality and colors etc.

It was a bit cloudy, but I could see every star clear. I live in the suburbs to a rather big city and, yes there was a some light pollution I assume. I was sitting at my balcony.

The first hour I did not know that I was doing, but I guess thats very normal in the beginning. It was early in the afternoon, I saw a bright star the only and first star that evening and decided it to be my first target. I had no clue to what it was, but I guess it could have been Venus, through the scope it was bright and small!, but it seemed to be round or half round at least, with a blend of white and blue colors.

Next target was the Orion Nebula, I did not know where to look exactly, but I found the belt and was searching below it and there it was. But all I could see was a very faint shadow of it, not real colors, maybe some blue, a blue shadow if anything.

I know the pictures I'm seeing on the internet is processed etc. Would I be able to see more colors of it, if I go outside town to a dark site?

My equipment is mostly what came with my scope a 10mm and a 25mm, and I then bought a 2x barlow.

Anyone who can shed some clarity? Thanks in regards!

[Syed Saif Alam]

Hi there .! The discription of venus is pretty accurate .. it shows phases but you seeing a blue color around means the telescope is not collimated . Well there is nothing to worry about just buy a telescope collimator and some good eyepieces . Get the app googleskymaps or stellarium . It will tell you exactly where to look . Do some research and youll find out that what you saw of orion nebula was enough but is you get to a dark site with good eyepices and your scope properly collimated you will get better results but the colors of orion are not that easy to see with a 8 inch dob . Bigger scopes like 11inches or 14 inches will show some color under good seeing conditions . Color is seen when you stack images (long expousure) together not just processing of one image ..

Well ill suggest you to :

1 buy a collimator

2 get stellarium

3 browse through sgl and ask your questions the guys here are awesome .

Clear skies .!

[aventic]

Thanks for the answers. I do have a collimator a cheshire. But as a rookie I might not have done it right I will have to look up some guides on the internet. Already have the Stellarium for computer, but might be a good idea getting it for my phone aswell.

[damnut]

Hi Aventic,

I am afraid you have to reign in what you can expect to see of deep sky objects. Any expectations of Hubble views should be tempered down. When viewing dso's you should expect to see little in the way of colour and more on a fuzzy grey scale. But the longer you view the target the better the view becomes as your eyes adapt. You say you are on a balcony so you should   be aware of any thermal currents that may affect your vision.

Thats a great scope to take to a dark site too. If you can get some better ep's than the ones that came with the scope, BST Starguiders and Celestron Excel's come highly recommended.

[Paul73]

Well done on getting the right star (planet) and on finding the Orion Nebula.

You will see colours in stars but not much on the faint deep sky objects. The pictures on the net are generally from multiple long exposures and then processed to bring out the colour and contrast. Our eyes are never going to compete with that.

Try Jupiter next - it will blow your socks off. It will be small and very bright. You will see up to four of its moons all lined up.

There is a must read thread on here entitled "what can I expect to see". It is really helpfull and pinned to the top of the a" Getting started in observing" section.

Ask loads of questions.

Paul

[Paul73]

Here is the link to the thread mentioned above.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/

Hope that it is of some help.

Paul

[ccfcbob]

Thanks for the answers. I do have a collimator a cheshire. But as a rookie I might not have done it right I will have to look up some guides on the internet. Already have the Stellarium for computer, but might be a good idea getting it for my phone aswell.

Collimating can be very daunting the 1st time you do it. I recently purchased a Skywatcher 250px and knew the day would come when I would have a tackle it.

Tried it and I think I managed it without messing everything up. Tested it last night & even with a bright moon I could see an improvement in the views. The moon was that bright last night I could read the writing on the side of the eyepieces without the need for a red light.

I would say do your research and read up before tackling it & give yourself loads of time, dont expect it to take 10 minutes the 1st time you do it, could be over a few sessions.

[Lowjiber]

Collimation is a must-learn skill when working with a Newtonian telescope.  It's easy, once you've done it.

Here is what consider "the bible" of collimation from SGL's own Astro Baby: http://www.astro-baby.com/collimation/astro%20babys%20collimation%20guide.htm

Clear, Dark Skies

[cotterless45]

This should start you off , monthly , free and very useful,

http://www.skymaps.com

Nick.

[Night Hawk]

Collimation is a must-learn skill when working with a Newtonian telescope.  It's easy, once you've done it.

Here is what consider "the bible" of collimation from SGL's own Astro Baby: http://www.astro-baby.com/collimation/astro%20babys%20collimation%20guide.htm

Clear, Dark Skies

I'm a newbie whose just collimted my scope for the first time using a laser collimator. I read the above info and also watched a great you tube clip of a couple of guys at an astronomy center collimating a SW. It nearly as easy as they showed and took me around 30 mins or so, which I don't think was too bad for my first attempt.

I thought I was getting a good view but my seconday mirror was out by about 2-3 inches and primary was off target by about an inch on the last target. I can't wait for a clear night now.

If you're a newbie like me check this you tube link on collimation. It helped me.  http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=video&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDsQtwIwAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D8G98RTP6jbY&ei=3AT3VPf7B4vkaJPFgdAL&usg=AFQjCNEkYuDGjQuzz9JqWZR9_AyoIXMMcg

[aventic]

Ahh looks great, the laser collimate seem so easy

But I'll try read the guide you Lowjiber linked to, now I have a Cheshire. I actually tried to collimate it the second I had my scope it assembled. But practice makes perfect I guess.

And to all of you thanks for all the advice, I hope for clear skies tonight and hopefully I will have my scope collimated properly by then.

I'll go grap a quality eyepiece asap (read somewhere that the 2 eyepieces packed with the scope is rather poor of quality?), what mm would you recommend at first, I have a 25 and a 10, should I go 5-6mm or get one inbetween 10 and 25?

[Avocette]

Just to mention that coloured fringe on Venus is not necessarily due to poor collimation. Venus is very bright and usually rather low in the sky (since it sets not long after the Sun) and has colour fringing caused by the oblique angle through the atmosphere, plus you may have some chromatic aberration in the eyepiece.

A dark sky viewing area will improve your view of the Orion Nebula especially if you can get your eyes dark adjusted. This will not be possible until a week or so once the present almost full Moon is on the wane.