First Light Ever

[austen4]

I went to a friends and got a telescope today, its a meade 800mm refractor. I got home and it had been a sunny day with clear skies. So I decided to go out and see what I could find. I firstly looked at some random stars and got to grip with focusing and the usuals. Then I looked at the moon and finally went on to look at Jupiter. What I saw wasn't very detailed but I saw the Moons of Jupiter. All in all I was please with what I found on my first night. Cannot wait to do some more...depending on the weather

Thanks!

[Astro Imp]

Glad to see you enjoyed your first light.

The Moon and Jupiter were among the first things I saw when I got my scope earlier in the year and I was so excited I couldn't believe I was actually seeing these for myself.

You are in for many more nights like this.

Enjoy.

[robbie c]

Hi as Alan said I got my scope in June and the first thing I saw was the moon and also Saturn and that was a big wow factor even being low in the sky cant wait for it to come round again, when I got my first view of Jupiter that was another big wow factor

Clear sky's Robbie c

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

What size scope do you have? I trust 800 mm is the focal length, not the aperture :). Is it the 80mm F/10 refractor? With a bit of practice you should be able to see a lot with that.

[austen4]

sorry its a 80mm f5.5 I think

Thanks

[JimStan]

A little lesson in F readings. Focal length divided by Objective diameter equal F stop, so a 800mm focal length with a 80mm objective would be an F:10 scope.

If the focal length IS 800 mm and the F stop is 5.5, then the objective would have a diameter of 145mm !

Pretty simple math, actually !

Jim S