Sunshine

That was a fun read, congratulations on your first session with your first scope! it could not have been better by the sounds of it. Running into the house excitedly is something we've all done 

one time or another, great feeling.

Though I cannot offer any technical advice or critique, I can honestly say I absolutely love this image of Andromeda, I love the warm tone and it is so nicely contrasted against a dark sky.

Those dust lanes are beautifully detailed and, you seem to have controlled noise so well. Bravo, it is beautiful and this is what I want my first andromeda to look like that I mount on my wall.

If this is your first ever image through a telescope then I cant wait to see future images.

Welcome to SGL! It’s never too late to start the greatest hobby.

5 hours ago, F15Rules said:

"Trinity", my Tak FS128, hoping to get a rare outing this evening, after  a long combination of cloudy skies, flu and Covid jabs and busy retirement life have conspired to really limit my sessions recently.

What beauty of a scope you have there, judging by the similar responses it seems to be quite the celebrity. I'll trade you! ahh what's 128mm difference, you won't even notice 😂.

Just beautiful, the contrast against that black sky is striking!

A 4" refractor and, the realization that aperture fever only leaves me with large telescopes that are very pretty to look at but rarely get looked through. Never have I spent more nights out and thoroughly enjoyed this hobby more

than when I decided bigger is not necessarily better.

Congratulations! welcome to the 102 club, you will have loads of fun considering it may just be your most used scope moving forward.

Guilty of submitting another night shot of the same scope in action, no more after this, I promise!😝

This seems to be a "hug and go"  refractor,  for those with pockets as deep as the Marianas Trench.

Great info! I will have a go at Sirius but, from what you say I feel my chances are slim with a wee frac 😂 but there is nothing like a good challenge. I'll point my scope at impossible targets for its aperture and try anyway,  just to say I did, lol.

15 minutes ago, Priesters said:

 

Same here.  I think there were two in stock from Flo and I got the other one 😂. Photos attached to show what collimating an SCT looks like. Pretty simple and I’m really pleased with it.
 

This is a brilliant little gadget, straining ones eye through pinholes is so last decade.

11 hours ago, Dave scutt said:

Nice postman just brought me this thanks to callisto it survived the trip across the sea

Beautiful looking refractor!

2 hours ago, John said:

Very surprised by that. My Panoptic 24 is pin sharp right across the field with my F/5.3 12 inch dob

 

 

As mentioned above it could very well have been a product of my astigmatism in my right eye along with coma, whatever the cause, it was there.

3 hours ago, HollyHound said:

It is possible you may have a touch of astigmatism… I had the same “seagulls” initially when using my 10” f5 dob with low power eyepieces (XW30 in particular).

I bought a 0.75 diopter Dioptrx which solved most of that, but then I saw coma. Adding a Paracorr II removed all aberrations.

Bizarrely I don’t think I ever tried this Panoptic 24 in the dob, but I think astigmatism kicks in for me around 4mm exit pupil so would likely have had the same issue. I do remember seeing some astigmatism using my XW20 too 🤔

I believe the Dioptrx is compatible with Panoptic 24 too 👍

Now that you mention, it could very well be astigmatism, in fact I know it was and I never put two and two together. About a year after I sold the eyepiece I realized I had astigmatism in my observing eye at low powers, left eye is much better but, I notice my astigmatism affects stars in the whole FOV and not just the edge mainly as with the 24 Panoptic hmm, I want one again for my refractor. I’m curious to see what the difference of any would be as lately I have been training myself to observe more with my left eye.

1 hour ago, John said:

Why didn't it work with your dob ?

I find mine works very well with my F/5.3 12 inch dob

In my 10” f6 dob it produced stars with seagull effect at the edges of the Fov which I could not ignore as they were prominent, not sure why.

I am upset because I had this eyepiece but it wasn't suited for my dob at the time so I sold it, I would love to have it now for my refractor. 

Great capture! so much detail.

Nice work!

WOW! that is a wonderful image, has a haunting sort of vibe to it, beautiful.

Welcome to SGL! as mentioned above, looking through an open window is usually more trouble than it is worth especially if it happens to be warmer inside than out as heat will leave the window and cause a severe shimmering effect. Having said that, I would second what was mentioned about a 6 or 8" dobsonian, they are just about all one could ask for with respect to versatility and, ease of use. One more suggestion would be the book "Turn left at Orion" which can be had from Amazon, this is the beginners bible and will surely set you on the right foot. Enjoy your new found hobby and friends (us) 😃 and be sure to fill us in on your journey. Now I find myself all excited about you ordering your first scope, as I remember mine so fondly.

Alberio, one night in particular under excellent seeing a few weeks back, Alberio was simply beautiful against a black as black sky.  Sometimes this double serves to remind me why I love observing so much.

It would be awesome to see a telescope like that in person, Leviathan is a fitting name for that monstrosity.

This is absolutely stunning! 

Great report! such a nice range of targets, dob's are such versatile scopes in that regard.

2 hours ago, UKDiver said:

I knew it was bad decision, but it was a function of desperation. Sorry about the cringe. Maybe proper views this w/e, although I'm not hopeful for the weather.

We’ve all done it, my friend, I am guilty of the same on one occasion.