250px first light-slightly dissapointed.

[Madhatter]

Managed to get first light on my newly aquired 250px last night-scope had adequate cool down time and was in perfect collimation.

Sweeping round the skys there was hundreds of stars everywhere you looked, awesome! coulors of stars were more noticeible with some stars showing slightly differnt coulors of pale yellow against white stars so that was nice.

Searching for objects did not go very well-the first thing i found was the ring nebula what showed up quite nicely as a circle of grey cloud amongst a background of stars.

I decided too look for some globular clusters and went to M29-i saw its 8 brightest stars but that was all, tbh stellarium confirmed it was M29 and if it wasnt for stellarium i wouldent be sure-i must admit i exspected to see some smaller fainter stars around the 8 main ones but didnt (a picture of someones scetch of M29 online through a 6" dob acctualy showed more)

The double cluster looked very nice with 2 bright clusters of stars and was the highlight of the night.

Lastly i went to M13 the andromeda galaxy and did find it , but even through the 10mm it was fairly small grey smudge in the EP (i thought it would fill more of the feild of view at this mag)

Honestly a bit of a dissapointing night, and considering it was clear its abit disheartning-i can only think it just wasnt a great night for DSOs , it was quite light even though there was no moon in the sky? it was a hot day and i can only think mabey it was abit hazy and some of the suns light was refecting of this?. stellarium light polution levels was around level 7.

Dont get me wrong, i am blown away by the amount of stars it shows anywhere in the sky:) just slightly dissapointed with first light-id love to be able to write a more encouraging first light report but im being completly honest here.

[Moonshane]

hold on for a while, the summer sky is very bright and often disappoints.

re M31, the galaxy is about 3 degrees across by 1 degree deep. that's 6x full moon by 2 times full moon. you cannot see the whole of the galaxy on a scope as it's too faint. wide field low mag is required to get the best of this object.

try M13 it's a real stunner and if you can M11, my favourite cluster.

M29 is a slightly disappointing target but M39 in Cygnus is much nicer.

a Telrad will make it much easier to find things.

hope you enjoy your next trip out a lot more.

[John]

Last night was poor for DSO's - I concentrated on a few double stars and then gave up. Even M13 and M92 (globulars in Hercules) were far from their best.

Your scope can deliver far more than you have seen, as can your eyes - it does take time to "train" your eyes to see some of the finer details of objects that you see discussed on the forum.

Keep at it

[swamp thing]

Hi

Sorry to hear you were underwhelmed.

Couple of points M29 is an open cluster so it will only appear as a collection of stars in any scope.

It's also in a star rich constellation so difficult to pick out of the background. TBH it's not the finest Messier object IMHO and certainly isn't a showpiece of the sky.

The Andomeda Galaxy Like all Galaxies require a dark sky to be seen well.

Shane and John have given you some better summer targets. Have a go at them.

Good hunting and clear skies

Regards steve

[Madhatter]

Thanks for the new targets guys, thats good to know that last night wasnt a good night for DSOs it did seem unusualy bright! Tonight we are going to head for the new forest if its looking clear and see what we can see there:)

Mabey try and grab a loot at jupiter at 3am:)

I think abit of planetary and lunar observing would be a good thing until the nights get a bit darker.

[bish]

Wait until you get a decent view of M13 and it will seem completely different. Try M11, again with the 10mm, as mentioned by Moonshane. Give it a few more outings to see what it is capable of.

[Stargazer Jack]

In a few months, The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) will look great with a telescope that size

[ronin]

I would guess that what you saw in M31 was the core only. The remainder would have been too faint these summer nights. The sky is just too light immaterial of the time and I would say the place. So the New Forest may be a bit better but a light summer sky is still light.

Often find it easier to consider astronomy as being most pertinent to the period from the Autumn Equinox to the Spring Equinox.

[hellothere123]

oh well

[Depraved]

Thats the great thing about honest reports as I've certainly learnt something reading this. Good to know as I'm currently looking for a 250/300 Dob.

Clear (and dark) skys

Mel

[bish]

I find the best views of M31 are with a good pair of bins from a very dark site. I've never been that impressed by it in a scope.

[Moonshane]

from a dark site in good aperture (maybe 12"+) it's pretty good with dark dust lanes etc. the satellite galaxies (M32 and M110) really stand out there too although I can see the former from my light polluted site in a 6". only when you see the main galaxy and the two satellites together do you realise how big it is.

[dweller25]

The 250PX is a superb planetary scope and Mars and Jupiter are just around the corner .....

[swamp thing]

I find the best views of M31 are with a good pair of bins from a very dark site. I've never been that impressed by it in a scope.

Fair comment I don't think it gives up as much in the eyepiece as most people expect.

On the other hand with larger aperture scopes there are it's globular clusters to find.

Not forgetting the appearance of Andromeda means that M33 is on the way. Now that is impressive from dark skies.

Regards Steve

[spaceboy]

I find the best views of M31 are with a good pair of bins from a very dark site. I've never been that impressed by it in a scope.

You obviously haven't seen it in your 250PX from a dark site with a wide FOV EP then

Sorry to hear the heavens didn't please the other night Madhatter. If there is one thing I have learned is the skies can play tricks on you and patience is the key to astronomy. I was having a grumble earlier this year when a st light was fixed and seemed to wash away what little bit of sky I did. Although the skies looked clear they weren't and it turned out not to be the extra LP but a high level haze. Last week I could clearly make out a hint of milkyway despite the light skies and LP but that's not always the case. Mother nature is the deciding factor in how well a nights observing goes and no matter what piece of kit you have she will always win.

I'm sure the weather and LP was to blame for your 1st light report so don't loose faith. Again as others have mentioned good seeing and dark skies make all the difference

SPACEBOY

[Pete Presland]

agree with everything said so far, summer and winter skies no comparison it barely gets dark this time of year

[inksmithy]

I was out last night with my 250px as well and it was quite a light night. Still though, I count seeing M27 and M29 as being positive steps, even though I wasn't 1100% on their ID till I double checked in Stellarium.

To be honest, my real frustration is finding the objects I'm looking for. The mobile phone star apps are fine, but I think what I really need to do I think is print off the asterisms with a telrad circle superimposed.

Finding these things is hard.

Alan

[spaceboy]

This can be done in stellarium. Overlay the telrad (Ctrl+ where you want it and print screen (Prt Scrn)

[bish]

Steve - seeing globulars from another galaxy would be amazing. I expect plenty of aperture would be needed for that - your 16"?

Spaceboy - you are right that I have yet to see M31 with the 250px and good widefield ep from a dark site. Think I may be missing out in that respect - but am hoping to get hold of a 24mm or 27mm pan for kielder.

[swamp thing]

Steve - seeing globulars from another galaxy would be amazing. I expect plenty of aperture would be needed for that - your 16"?

You'd think that wouldn't you.

In fact a 10" will show some, so have a go.

Regards Steve

[tea drinker]

Bear in mind that you need to let your eyes adjust too. Looking at phones and laptop screens potentially blows your dark adapted eyes. Wear shades ALL day when it is bright out, this will affect your later night vision.

Expect your eyes to be fully adapted 30-60 minutes into your uninterrupted session.

use red lights n stuff don't look at any cars headlights etc. And yeah, summer skies in high northern hemisphere aren't so black.

Be patient, get used to your scope etc. And use averted vision

[Depraved]

"The gear is there, need to reduce my ignorance"

made me chuckle Inks

[John]

Bear in mind that you need to let your eyes adjust too. Looking at phones and laptop screens potentially blows your dark adapted eyes....

Good point this - even popping inside to check my laptop screen (no house lights on) spoiled my night vision the other night for a good 15-20 minutes afterwards. Only when they had fully adjusted again could I make out M51 and the supernova that's currently in it.

I don't know how folks can use their I.Phones and similar devices while using their scopes - even the backlight from a digital watch can be too bright.

[inksmithy]

"The gear is there, need to reduce my ignorance"

made me chuckle Inks

Hah, its true though. The gear I have would make Messier, Newton and just about any astronomer up to the mid-20th century weep, but I have a hard time locating a cluster of stars. My ignorance gets more massive the more I read. It's like an auto IQ reduction system.

Alan

[glowjet]

Treat yourself to a copy of Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders, as the seeing improves and the nights darken you will never be lost for subjects to look for