Kon

"Looks lovely"!!! 🤣 I am sure it is behind the cloud somewhere!

I carry mine from the handles fully assembled. So the advise from the supplier seems to be to carry it either as a full assembly or base and OTA? Am I right? Following with great interest.

That's impressive! Great amount of details and nice colours!

Excellent amount of details! The shadows are really coming through!

The auroras in Lapland is still one of my memories when I was a 10 year old (42 now). Magnificent display of colours. It is a shame back then digital cameras were not so accessible. Last time I saw impressive auroras was on a flight back from iceland as the plane was taking off in the night skies. I also miss Scotland for that exact reason seeing the glow of auroras as far south as St Andrews. Thanks @Nigella Bryant for bringing back memories!

It sounds like a very nice session and a great first light!

Very nice!

Any opportunity getting out is great.

Depends what telescope you plan to get and if you need to drive on a dark sky. Is it visual or AP? I got my 8" Dob in December 2020 and I think i have managed 6 viewing sessions or so. I am already in dark skies so it only takes 5min to setup and then the 30min-1hr cooling period (saying that i have viewed the moon with ok results after 10min cooling, but not optimal). I am new to the hobby and I see it as exciting when it is clear outside. I have managed some nebulas and clusters with the moon out, not the best but it get me going and got me excited. Moon looks great as well. The rest of the cloudy nights you can spend in this forum reading what you could have viewed if the skies were clear 🤣 Joking aside, how long is a piece of string? This year has been particularly awful but next few months could be amazing.

Very nice processing and amount of details! Well done.

Well done on getting out and managing a session in this freezing weather 🥶 The moon will have an impact but it also depends on your location; are you in dark skies or inner city? You managed to see some nebulosity which is great but it will also depend on the upper atmosphere and seeing conditions. It sounds like seeing was not great if the stars were not very sharp; did you also cool down the telescope? Dew might be an issue on the mirrors or EP that could give blurry views; I had similar issue earlier this year and i thought it was the collimation (I am a beginner as well).You might want to invest on a cheesier for your collimation if you have concerns. Worth investing on a tetrad or rigel. Mars is quite far so viewing is not that great; in my 8" Dob from dark sky it looks like an orange pea, again seeing conditions will be detrimental in viewing. Worth reading the ‘What to expect’ thread since it will give you a true feeling of what you will see. I have seen several of the nebulas and they are closer to the description in the 'Turn left at the Orion' than the astrophotography pics you see. Maybe the weather and the moon light were not your friend this time.

Very nice report and it seems you had a very successful night. Indeed!

Nice one! I like the detail (in my 8" Dob, visual only, i show a fuzzy disk next to the sharp star).

The moon will have some impact but the Orion nebula is bright enough t see. I was out in Saturday from a bortle 4 sky with an 8" Dob and i could see it. It had less features than without the moon. Light pollution will of course impact. Did you mange to see it at all?

Amazing photos! The amount of fine detail is awesome!

Spectacular amount of details! Great colours!

Excellent report and a very successful session you had! I found that using my 9x50 RACI it is easier to star hope. i tend to zoom in quite a bit in Stellarium and i sort of make my own hoping path using the nearby stars in the app and i try to match them on my finder. Once i get in the area i switch to my 15 or 25mm EP. As a beginner myself, i found that with the moon out it is harder to see some of the fainter stars that makes hoping a bit trickier but you start building some member for next time.

Excellent observing list! I seems like a successful night. I will have to 'steal' some of your targets for my next viewing when the moon is up!

The amount of details, wow! Great job!

It depends what you want to see and if you have clear access to any part of the horizon. Moon will look nice before it even gets dark. Orion will look nice around ~9pm as south facing. Pleiades should be ok from 7 onwards. Worth look at Stellarium or other ups to tell you what's visible at the time you want to observe (planeteshphere is also handy). Enjoy your session tonight.

Than you for the links @Zermelo.

I agree and following the topic has been more confusing, especially for darker skies. I will see how things develop and probably post a question if I am still unsure.

As a beginner, I found a combination of my RACI, rigel and definitely the help of stellarium or astro maps for star hoping. It has taken me just under 1hr the other day to locate some nebulas, and the next time it was quicker. The other night, i could hardly locate my targets as a result of poor viewing; that can have a huge impact on your star hoping. I could locate all of them last night with better viewing conditions. So, be patient, take your time and enjoy, there is always going to be another night if things do not go to plan. As other said, having an easy target at the end of the night makes up for a not so successful searching session..

To be honest if i did not have stellarium to tell me something is there, i would have missed it, so i spent quite bit of time using adverted vision to find it. It was just a tiny smudge but no more than that. It needs to be reviseted.

For a 42 year old man i felt like a child last night. Considering the snow that we have today i feel lucky to have managed a session even with the moon out.