First Month with the 250px – Beyond First Light

[EntropyStar]

So I got the leviathan that is the Skyliner 250px a month ago and thought it might be interesting to write up an observing report for my first month getting to know it, after the honeymoon of first light etc! Well November has been a frustrating month weather wise, I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve set up only for it to cloud over again. I’ve probably accrued 12-15 hrs of observing time in total. I observe from within the confines of a typical suburban setting, lots of bright orange streetlamps everywhere. It does get relatively dark towards the zenith but pretty much my whole FOV is bathed in amber (Stellarium light pollution level 6), I thought I’d struggle to see anything more than the big easy targets (i.e M31, M45) but have been surprised how much I can pick out from home.

I did a first light report (found here http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/164033-unpacking-first-light-250px.html ) so rather than do a report for each night I’ll just do an overview of what I’ve seen in my first month with the 250px and a few thoughts what it’s like to handle.

What’s the scope like?

Well it’s big, in fact it’s pretty big! I made room for it in my house by finally get shot of an old piano that was broken. Upon delivery I wondered how I was going to carry it around as it felt really heavy (approx 20kg) and bulky, after lugging it around for a few nights I hardly notice the weight now and it’s relatively easy to move in and out the house. The finderscope does tend to need resetting most viewing sessions as it does tend to lose its alignment. It’s easy enough though to adjust into position, I’ve been using Vega as the object to align the finderscope up with the main focuser. The whole process takes 1-2mins and is painfully simple.

It’s taken a little time getting used to manoeuvring the scope around and the different orientations between the finderscope and the main focuser. But when looking through a low power EP (i.e 25mm) it’s got a lovely smooth action as you pan across the night sky. I’ve been really enjoying just simply sweeping the heavens and looking at objects at random, even finding a few globular clusters by chance and countless double stars.

I’ve been getting roughly 3 – 4 hours use before dewing starts to become an issue, that will be something I’ll tackle in the future, homemade dew shield my task for the weekend. It does get very cold holding the body during the small hours of the night so I’d really recommend gloves to handle it. The viewing position is relatively comfortable, those with bad backs may suffer a little from the leaning over, I’m thinking of investing in a tall adjustable chair (always seem to have a clearer view when sat down) or a tall stool.

How easy to find objects?

It’s been relatively easy to find most of the objects I’ve gone looking for, often when I did fail it was due to my own inexperience at star hopping, the view is so clear it’s sometimes hard to pick out an 8th magnitude star from a 9th etc! I’ve noticed quite a few comments across SGL that people have tried numerous times to find x object and never succeeded. A common one is M1 – The Crab Nebula or Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, I’ve found them without hardly any effort at all and wondering if I’m missing something really obvious (i.e the 10” aperture can’t make THAT much of a difference can it?). The more adept I’ve become at handling the scope the easier it’s been. Last night for instance I was using Stellarium to star hop down from α Trianguli down to M33 (Triangulum Galaxy), counting off the little asterisms of faint stars and walking my down to M33. Through that little trip alone I saw a few double stars I’m going back to another night for a closer look. The finderscope itself if nice and clear, it is prone to dewing but holds its own for some time very well. I’m seeing objects up to 13th magnitude albeit comfortably up to 10th magnitude, dark skies should improve this.

What can be seen?

In short most things that can be found! I have a limited window on the sky from my garden (tall trees + house = annoyance), realistically around 20-30%% of the total sky I can see at any time, so therefore I’m very reliant on the rotation of the earth to bring objects into view. I know there’s so many objects I’m missing out on and can’t wait for the seasons to pass and more constellations to become in view for me. When looking through the scope the stars are focused very well, they all display excellent colour hues and it’s very easy to get a feel for each star’s magnitude. I thought initially I’d be only interested in going after DSO’s but seeing the seemingly never ending amounts of double and triple stars has been a revelation. The colour differences between stars are fantastic, even looking at single stars is proving to be much more interesting than I thought, Betelgeuse for instance looks unlike any other star due to its colour, proximity, and size. The view of stars has been the biggest revelation for me, I wasn’t expecting anything from them. I’m only using the two kit lenses at present the 25mm (48x) and 10 mm (120x), they’re not that great and upgrades are on the way courtesy of a jolly fat man stopping by in December, also hopefully with an OIII filter :-)

Messier Objects

M1 (Crab Nebula) – Very easy to find, easily discernable edge to the nebula , occasional hints at filaments and inner structure, grey wispy appearance

M15 (Pegasus Cluster) – Very close to the bright orange star Enif, at high mag individual stars resolved, great in averted vision

M27 (Dumbbell Nebula) – Very easy to find, shape and overall structure present, occasional hints at filaments and inner structure, pale grey appearance

M31/M32/M110 (Andromeda Galaxy and companions) – Massive in the EP, occasional hints in the dust lanes of M31, the two companions found either side in either high or low mags, M110 being the most easy to discern. At first I didn’t think much of M31 but time on it through the EP is revealing more details and averted vision helps. M33 looks like a giant fuzzy star, where as M110 is noticeably different to the surrounding stars. The 25mm will fit both the core of M31 and M110 in the same FOV.

M33 (Triangulum Galaxy) - hard to find upon first viewing, I tried to locate by star hopping from Andromeda but found it only via star hopping from α Trianguli, pale grey appearance, no hints of spiral arms seen (I suspect more to do with my bad light pollution), lovely set of stars when hopping down from α Trianguli

M42/M43 (Orion Nebula and companion) – a showstopper, excellent detail within the nebula cloud, no averted vision needed, the trapezium easily resolved with additional stars showing in the nebula, slightest green hue (barely detectable) across whole nebula, the companion M43 is easily swamped by M42 but is clearly there, oval shaped with a fine grey appearance.

M45 Pleiades – Very nice even in the finderscope, excellent under the 25mm lens with hints of nebulosity, you’ll soon be learning which is Merope, Atlas, Maia, Taygeta, Alcyone etc

M57 (Ring Nebula) – Handles magnification really well , very noticeable even under low powers, found easily from star hopping from Vega. Green ghostly appearance with tendrils and a smoky outline to the inner ring structure, centre mag 12 star not seen at present, largest magnification I’ve used so far on it is 120x

I have seen other Messier globular clusters but forgotten which ones, I know there’s far more Messier objects but the list above are the ones I’ve attempted and viewable from my location

Other Objects

Jupiter – A real showcase object, I have resolved with the 10mm lens: NEB & SEB including slight detail within, Northern & Southern Temperate Belts, Northern & Southern Temperate Zones, North North Temperate Belt, Northern & Southern Polar Regions, the Great Red Spot (which is a more pale red in colour), countless transits of the moons, all 4 Galilean moons

Moon – I haven’t paid much attention to the moon this month, a few looks when it’s been up, Alpine Valley, Cassini, Archimedes, Plato, countless craters and ridges etc.

Albiero – Cliché I know but looks fantastic with excellent separation and colour difference

Double Stars – far too many to list, the separation and colour differences are the biggest revelation for me

Epsilon Lyrae – A good challenge to resolve both splits, very clear to see and find, it lacks a certain something for me (i.e. colour) but lovely white stars and is fun to find

Uranus – found via star hopping, defined green hue

Final Thoughts

To say I’m pleased is an understatement, it’s very much of a grower telescope I’d say, the more you put in the more you get out of it. I’m very happy I held out and researched what I wanted, learning the constellations with a naked eye has helped me immeasurably when it comes to locating objects, it’s all about scope time and everything gets much easier the longer you spend using it. I’d thoroughly recommend it to anyone with a £400 budget. It does need a few upgrades I feel but straight out the box it’s a excellent viewing experience. Recommend upgrades – high magnification lens (i.e 5mm) or a Barlow, OIII filter, Telrad, dew shield.

[John]

Thats a great report and a fine summary of the great views that 10" of aperture can deliver. It also shows what can be done with the supplied accessories with a bit of dedication

You have done very well in just one month - your 1st anniversary report is going to be something really special

[Damo636]

Excellent report EntropyStar, it sounds like you are thoroughly enjoying surfing the heavens. It's odd that you have to keep realigning your finder, i set mine when i first got the scope and haven't had to touch it since. I wonder is the finder shoe fully tightened down to the ota?

[John]

On the finder scope, there should be a rubber "O" ring around the finder tube holding it tight into the finder mount. At the other end of the mount are the 2 plastic adjustment screws and the metal sprung one. A lot of folks don't realise what this rubber "O" ring is for and leave it out - then find their finder won't hold it's alignment. It might be worth checking this - the instructions with the scope are not that clear on this subject !.

[EntropyStar]

Hi guys, thanks for the comments.

Yes I'm aware of the rubber band on the finder scope, found it why it was useful when it fell off one day when I overly undid one of the screws. It's probably a case of me not having the finderscope correctly secured in it's mount, general knocks when moving it around cause it gradually to loose alignment. I'll make sure i'm securing it properly.

thanks

[PreludeToADream]

Great report. Very helpful as I'm thinking of getting the 250PX Flextube. Nice to know what sort of views I can expect with it (my viewing conditions are probably similar to yours).

[EntropyStar]

Any questions don't hesitate to ask me....

Could anyone recommend a good solar filter? Is it possible to view the sun through it?

[damnut]

Hi EntropyStar,

Great review especially for those looking to move to that size of scope.

Congrats

[oldfruit]

That was a very enjoyable and informative read. Especially useful to anyone thinking of purchasing the same or similar scope, and a good idea of what to expect visually even when dealing with light pollution.Sounds like you have had a busy time in between clouds.

[Crunchard]

Hats off to you there - I struggle to find most things and have found planets to be a bit of a disappointment as well.

What is you LP like? Mine is utter rubbish, and I feel this may be one of the causes of my frustrations.

Cheers, Jeff

[EntropyStar]

Hi...

My light pollution isn't great i'm afraid. I have a line of trees at the bottom of my garden but as it's winter they're bare and the streep lamps are shining directly into the garden casting shadows off everything. Looking back towards the house away from them it gets darker (around 25%) but then the house obstructs the view! The lamps are around 10 m away and above my viewing spot. The town as a whole is terrible for LP, from 3 or so miles away you can see the orange hue to it before it's in sight. The sky never truly looks black in the EP, I'm quite keen to get away to a darker sight.

I'd say it's around light pollution level 6 in Stellarium, and a visual check would reveal only 1 possibly 2 stars within the square of Pegasus

[Rapallokid]

Great report, many thanks for posting it.

[Crunchard]

You mean you can actually see stars in the square of pegasus?

Visually I never can ... oh for a dark site with a 240v power supply and kitchen with hot chocolate on the go!

[EntropyStar]

You mean you can actually see stars in the square of pegasus?

Visually I never can ... oh for a dark site with a 240v power supply and kitchen with hot chocolate on the go!

They're quite a strain but you can just about pick out a couple, albeit with my glasses on and staring at if for 5 mins!

[GeorgeH]

Thanks for that write up...

As someone teetering on the edge of a first purchase I enjoyed reading what you can find with your scope...

[Tinker1947]

Excellent report, i have the same size scope (but a reflector) and can allmost mirror your comments on finding DSO's your easy one's were my easy one's and the harder were my harder, i have done some Astrophotography and use a NEQ6 Pro made it all very stable, I used a piece of Cell Foam 5mm thick for a dew shield got the stuff from these people EasyFoam: Foam cut to size, suppliers of foam upholstery & packaging less than £11.30 and it gives 2 pieces when cut in half.

[smolloy]

I just stumbled across this from another thread you commented on today, and I wanted to thank you for posting this. I have a 250PX in the post, and it is very reassuring to see how much fun you are having with yours.

Thanks!

[sam mayo]

very helpfull thanks

[cyborg421]

M1 can be tricky to find if the skies aren't dark enough. I can't see it from my home in the city but can pick it out very easily under darker skies. LP can make a big difference as to what you can see.

Simon

[sam mayo]

is it as bad with planetary observing as well (lp) thannks

[m1ck]

really good report on your 250 wish there were more on this type of scope from around the country [ gbr] give u a gold for that report . hope to hear more when the darkskies re appear. niceone,