PaulCH

well there I have been sitting at home these last few nights seeing the clouds scudding across the sky, thinking that going out and setting up would be a waste of time and energy as I wont be able to see anything. Then I read DDs entry here and realise that it may not be perfect, but as i am coming from a base where i just look up at the sky with awe and dont really know what i am looking at, does it matter if it isnt exactly perfect? so despite the haze and thin cloud i went out last night, with a plan this time, not challenging, but it is about learning to observe as much as getting that elusive sighting at this time. Si I set my sights on the double star in the big dipper (Mizar & Alcor), a further study of Jupiter and it's moons and as it is in the night sky again, a first look at the moon. M & A well I didn't bother to allign the GOTO features, I could see my targets after all. One lesson to learn, make sure the red dot is turned off before i put the scope to bad at night!!! The red spot is very good and i seem to have it well alighned with the scope, looked through the low magnification EP and there they were in the middle of the field. One thing to note here is that if one doesnt set up the GOTO, the tracking wont be on but managed it fairly well using the buttons. Also need to sort out how to change the slew rates, it took for ever to go between the objects. The high power EPwas more difficult to use and i ended up having to go back to the low powered one to re-align, I presume that I did not need the high power for this object, but the viewing did not seem so good, ?is the high power EP not as good quality? Next onto Jupiter, this is my favorite at the moment, managed to see all four moons and several of the rings, no RED spot yet, will carry on Finally onto the moon, this was the first time viewing as it hadnt been visible in the night sky till now and i didnt get home intime to see it during the day. the detail was amazing, not really sure what i was looking at, but for a first go, wow. I was only going out for half an hour but ended up out there for an hour and a half, look9ing forward to tonight andromeda galaxy for sure.

well, last night, the sun had shone during the afternoon - after the hailstorm! - so it was with anticipation that the journey home occured. I got home just after dark, read the info about setting up the GO-TO function, had supper and outside i went, well wrapped up, cold wasnt a problem. I carried the scope onto the common and went through the set up procedure. The long and lat were expressed in different ways, but i got round that. Had difficulty reading the script on the hand set. is this because I am colourblind? so used white light from my torch, to be fair, spending some time out there, I realised just how non-dark it is, will have to find some better viewing sites. Anyhow, aligned first star, Polaris - thought that was the right thing to do, and then two more and the scope said I had done the setup correctly, AND First time!! I picked sky tour and it took off, during this I acceidentally knocked the tripod so dont know if this was why i didnt see anything when it stopped, didnt think i had moved it. It was tring to show me M54 i think, anyhow somewhere northish and there was some cloud cover. I fiddled with the controls and choose Jupiter, it slewed around and Jupiter was just out of the scope but ith a little hunting i found it and wow! there it was, with its cloud rings and three definite moons, no eye, but i know i would have seen that if it had been there. I spent about 20 minutes trying to look with my periferal vision. then a cloud belt came in. Impression: Although i had memorised the setup procedure, i dont know the computer well enough to go into and out of GOTO mode, it is quite intuative, but not completly. I also need to have a map book with me so I know what i am supposed to be looking at etc. I can see why people can get turned off at this stage because it is quite daunting. but i promised myself patience, so lets practice what i preech. AND it is supposed to be a better night tonight!

So the sun had shone in the afternoon, the clouds were scudding across the sky and by the time i got home there were these twinkling things in the sky! so it was windy and clouds, but there were breaks in those clouds and i had had enough of waiting! so out came the scope, set up in the front garden as I wanted to quickly move it undercover if started raining, didnt bother with aligning the scope, but pointed it straight at Jupiter, first thing to please me was that the red dot finder was perfectly aligned with the scope - so i can do things correctly! and wow, I only had the low power EP - hey I am using jargon already! - but I swear I could see 5 moons at least, will have to check the star charts to see what is a moon and what is a star. but best of all I was able to see the rings on jupiter. I then just had time before the weather closed in to have a quick look at the Orion nebula, again found it with the red dot, no problem, and another wow!! Why oh why had i not done this before! OK lessons learnt, make sure i take everything outside with me ensure i have a map book, I think turn left at Orion is going to be very useful do a bit of homework and plan what i am going to see, so that i can recognise what i am looking at Finally, this go-to computer, initially, i was dead against getting a scope with it on, but i am now pleased. It is not the be all and end all, it just gets you to where you want to go, not giving you a picture and telling you what you are looking at. I need to learn the night sky, and even when i have dialled the object i want to see into the go-to, I will naturally want to know where in the sky i am in and what is near - perhaps the binos will come in handy afterall, well back to work

well here we are, set up the scope on saturday, charged the battery, took the scope outside in the little bit of sunny weather we had, aligned the red dot, bit difficult in the sunlight, but with a bit of shading of the object manged it, i hope! so, it is daylight and let me start playing with it in the daylight whilst i can still see, connect the battery and switch on - nothing - fiddle with all the connections - still nothing - stiff upper lip and as it is easier to take the battery back to the shop rather than the scope, put it in the bag for monday. So we are back at the shop - and at first it doesnt work, then they change the lead to the scope and, low and behold, it does work - i was plugging in the wrong lead - even though i was told by the guy in the shop when i picked up the battery, that the lead was the correct one for the celestron. What is more, i am told that the lead was in the box, i did say that I had compleately unpacked the box, but agreed to look through it again so, after another game of Russian Dolls, when I was tired after work and surprise, surprise, nothing there, I am now going tback to the shop, again, to pick up a spare one. well the bright side is i havent got to wait until one is sent from celestron. meanwhile the weather has been sunshine and tipping it down. I know i have said before that I wanted to take it slowly, but i would like to use it for more than looking at a chimney pot at the end of the street.!

well having just laid down my thoughts, i forgot to save them! lesson learned! tried to use my new adapter for my camera tripod and realised that it is too short. thought about a box, but will that not be unsteady? If i find myself a chair. presumably a fixed height one would need several cushions to change height with. Recommendations please! anyhow, monday night was good and so, dispencing with the tripod, went to work on the roof of the car, still to wobbly but better than nothing and the glimpses i did get are really enticing me to go forward! spent quite a lot of time looking at the moon, is there a beginners map of the moon that i can take outside and reference? I have been trawling through various blogs and threads on here, I must say that there is so much help out there! - thanks, I am going to take my time, no rush, nothing is going anywhere and i particularly like the thread about what i will actually see through the scope, I thought as much, but for sure i will not be dissapointed now. I get delivery of my scope tomorrow, in a way, I wish it wasnt coming so soon, but the price was very good, and that i spent more time learning the sky with my binos, but i guess with the goto feature, i can "point" at the area of sky and look at it with the naked eye, binos and scope, comparing and contrasting. But take my time........

Well this is my first entry. Been interested in the heavens for years, remember first getting hooked at school by a book called something like "search for planet X" and of course, now Pluto is no longer a planet! living in London I thought that it was a waste of time viewing the skies anyhow. then family, work etc took my time. Watching stargazing live got my interest going, but then looking at star maps full of stars made it a bit overwhelming! So January again, stargazing again, and now i have time on my hands and a thought that maybe I will give it a go. I can blow hot about things and then they cool, so I hope that this is one I will stay with. As usual, I like to read up on things and hate being a dummy, thank god for the internet! I also have visited the various local Astronomy stores and found them all very helpful - thank you very much! Starting a hobby like astronomy in the weather we have had over the last few weeks is a trial in itself, rain, rain, go away! The light pollution I think may be a bit of a problem, I live in Orpington, SE London and I can see the glow of the city to the NW, think the main problem is keeping my night vision with all of the street lights that surround me. I dont think i can observe from my back yard as I have a path with lights and tall trees. However, I have some common ground to the side where i can set up, and meet lots of dog walkers probably. From there I can see most of the main constellations, ther moon and jupiter. I have started reading various books and bought myself a pair of 10 x 50 binos, on the one clear night so far, the moon was astounding and I think I saw three moons round Jupiter and something of the orian nebula, but I was shaking, so first accessory to buy is a clamp to attach it to my camera tripod. I have also signed up to do the Astronomy GCSE - reason - it will give me a structure to my learning and also it will help me if my interest were to wain. Think my interests are going to be solar - already looking at the daily sunspot pictures on the SOHO website, planets and things like star doubles and at some point some astro photography. So have been looking around at scopes and liked the Nexstar 5SE but it is a bit above my buget at the moment and so I am opting for the Nexstar 127 SLT. Will probably join the Orpington Astronomy club, but joining new groups is a bit daunting as I dont like to look like a compleate fool! anyhow suppose I had better get on with some work! finally, this site is great for somebody starting off like myself!