First nights viewing

[BigBlueOne]

Hi Everyone,

Well my first nights viewing and things did'nt go to badly.

My first thoughts are after getting your bearings with your

eyes everything is out the window when you look through

that eyepiece.

I might as well be going round brands hatch backwards at

100 mph, but anyway I had my three stars Capella, Alkaid, Vega

I could pick them ok visually so I went for it 3 star align after

that it all went down hill it really was looking for a needle in a

haystack.

Having said that bring on the next clear sky, seriously is there

a knack to seeing your way round the eyepiece.

Much appreciate any help.

BigBlueOne

[Glen]

Ahh I remember those days like yesterday, ok it was:o:D, but what scope have you got there? It may help others if you can let us know.

If its a refractor or cassegrain it'll seem every thing is upside down, but when used with a diagonal itll be the right way up but back to front/left is right.

If it's a dobsonian or Newtonian it'll be upside down if the eyepiece is at the top.. think i've got that right:icon_scratch: but with these it doesn't really matter.

[BigBlueOne]

Hi Glen,

Im using a skywatcher 80 ed with the standard eyepiece, but

I also have the baader hyperion zoom mkIII, not tested.

The one thing that I took from last nights viewing was being

overwhelmed by what I was actually seeing, I suppose I need to

condense down and focus on what Im trying to achieve on that

viewing, but for the moment I'll go with what I saw.

Thanks BigBlueOne.

[Glen]

My advise is to get a good star map and use the lowest power ep you have or a pair of binos.

Ideally picking one constellation and really get it burned in there, then when your happy move on to another close by.

I know how you feel though, been stargazing for around 20 years on and off and still find myself getting lost in star-fields.

Worst is when you get to know an area well, then it clouds over for a month or two and everything gets a move on,

only to find myself lost for a good 20 mins the next time its clear until i get my bearings back

Ooh just to add, drawing star-fields is a great way to learn too, in fact probably the best!

Glen

[BigBlueOne]

Thankyou for the tips Glen, much appreciated.

BigBlueOne.

[Glen]

Welcome mate, have fun!

[rwilkey]

Star-aligning with a GOTO is a time consuming affair in my view, get to know the sky before you view so you know what to expect. At this time of year it is best to concentrate on the night sky's most obvious wonder, Jupiter rising in the East after 10pm, also look out for its moons Io (might be hidden by the planet itself) Callisto, Europa and Ganymede.

[BigBlueOne]

Thankyou rwilkey,

I did view jupiter jaw dropping comes to mind has was all

of my first nights viewing, just to much to take in , not in the

knowledge aspect but more the power of it how small I was

amongst this gorgeous sky.

Thankyou for the tips.

BigBlueOne.

[rwilkey]

That's what stargazing is all about, amazing views and great experiences.