robstopper Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Just had a very quick 10 minutes outside with my new (well, new to me!) scope.It was quite blurry, indistinct, and moved too quickly across the sky for me to get a really good view as I needed to keep realigning, but............I've just observed Jupiter and two of it's moons for the very first time!I am very, very excited.......and obviously easily pleased!! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToxoLight Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Congrats Robstopper well done, enjoy the hot drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duns Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Good stuff - plenty more good nights ahead - enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul schofield Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Congrats, Jupiter rocks. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingergeek Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Nice one, so pleased for you and hope to get a first light, once I get a scope that is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 I think I need a lot more guidance over how to get better results - better focus, clearer view through the eyepiece, closer view etc.I found it quite hard to get my eye to look through the eye piece properly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imarcs Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 The good news is, that Jupiter will never stop giving you that giddy feeling you are experiencing. No matter what i'm doing, if its up i always give it a few minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker1947 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Nice one, hope you have many more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I don't know what scope you have but generally they need some cooling time before use to give good results. On cold nights this can be from 20 mins to an hour or more if the scope has come from the house.An uncooled scope will deliver quite poor views, especially at higher magnifications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 it was one of the things I wanted to be able to observe for sure. Skies are quite cloudy here tonight, but luckily Jupiter was easily observable even with the naked eye, so it made an easy first light target.was quite surprised how much I had to move the scope to keep it in the field of view - I guess I should have known with such a narrow field of view and how much these celestial bodies do move.How best to keep it in the field of view for more than a few seconds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 I don't know what scope you have but generally they need some cooling time before use to give good results. On cold nights this can be from 20 mins to an hour or more if the scope has come from the house.An uncooled scope will deliver quite poor views, especially at higher magnifications.ah, ok, didn't realise thatIt's an Evostar 120 as far as I know - no actual name of that on the scope, but from the specs and the fact it's a Helios Skywatcher, I've deduced that model name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 ...How best to keep it in the field of view for more than a few seconds?You soon develop the "nudging" technique Using lower magnification will reduce the speed at which the object moves across the field of view. Another trick is to use eyepieces with a really large field of view but those cost quite a few £'s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian123 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 You'll soon get the hang of it and many more WoW moments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 I have just a 10mm Plossl fitted at the moment on a 2x Barlow, with a 20mm in the bag of bits I got with the scope.I'm shortsighted, not badly, but could that affect what bits of kit I should be using to get good results? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faulksy Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 glad you enjoyed your first light robstopper there will be many more to come. did you allow time for your scope to cool. also to keep jupiter in the field of view reduce your magnification i.e. try your 20mm or your 10mm with out the barlow.also maybe viewing conditions werent great as a bit of a indicator to sky quality look above and glance at a star is it twinkling if so seeing might be poor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 the conditions were definitely far from ideal, and Jupiter was only just above the glare from my local town, but I just wanted to get it out there quickly to prove to myself it worked.Next time, I'll probably be getting out somewhere slightly darker in better conditions. Thanks for the advice chaps, much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 I managed to grab a quick 10 minutes outside tonight before the clouds rolled in.Got a really great look at the crescent moon - truly stunning to see the craters in that much detail! Also got a clearer look at Jupiter, saw 4 of its moons this time, and also managed to faintly make out some banding around the planet..........so, so cool I was just starting to move towards Orion when the clouds came in, but it was stunning to see such a depth of field even just through the spotter scope.Why though, could I see more detail on Jupiter when using just the 20mm lens without the 2x barlow fitted? It was clearer and sharper with the further out view than the closer-in view was.Also, I think I need to get a wide-angle eye piece or something, as my eyes seem to have trouble looking clearly through the ones I've got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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