Gripped by my new Dob!

[Bowdie]

Having had my 10 inch Dob for less than a week I am gripped. Last night I got to see four planets, the moon and M45 (the seven sisters) - WOW. love it!

Star hopping to find other M objects is proving a challenge - stellarium is a great help and I have downloaded a compass app that points true north which is good for azimuth settings.

Can any one suggest any easy to find DSO?

[swamp thing]

The skies the limit with a 10" scope. there are thousands of objects easily within its grasp.

I have owned a 10" scope for sixteen years and am still nowhere near exhausting the objects that you can see with one.

Most of the New General Catalogue (NGC) can be seen with a scope of this size from a good dark observing site.

I would suggest a dim red torch and a good star atlas like:

Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Guide: Amazon.co.uk: Mr Ian Ridpath: Books or:

Sky Atlas 2000.0 Deluxe Laminated [46905] - 84.00 : 365Astronomy: Discovery for every day!

These coupled with a 10" will keep you busy for many, many years.

Regards Steve

[David Smith]

I have a 10" dob myself and use Stellarium. Depending on what type of finder you have you can flip the display in Stellarium both horizontally and vertically to match the view through the finder / eyepiece. I find this makes star hopping much easier. I use an RDF to find a local landmark (bright star / planet or something), the finder to get close and then a widefield ep to nail the target area.

As for targets I started with Messiers, and then moved into NGC's and others. You can use Stellarium to identify targets in a particular constellation and pick each constellation off one at a time. The latter is my current modus operandi.

[richbyers]

look on my sig. for easy to find m's....i have a small 130 dob- so yours should get them all..though i do live in exceptionally dark area

[Double Kick Drum]

As well as the above suggestions, I would add a little patience.

The more you get used to star hopping from maps, the easier it will become.

Here are a few recommendations based on relative ease of finding, of which all are well within the 10" scope's capability;

M51 / NGC 5195, the Whirlpool galaxy and companion are quite close to the end star in the Plough.

M94 is quite bright (for a galaxy) and between Alpha and Beta stars in Canes Venatici.

NGC 2903 in Leo is a galaxy that somehow was missed off of Messier's list and is quite easy to locate.

Rising later is M13, a bright globular cluster in Hercules which shouldn't be a problem finding.

Check maps for details but these all have quite good stellar sign posts.

Happy hunting!

[Bowdie]

Thanks all for you help / advice / encouragement. Hopefully if the skies stay clear I will be out again tonight.

[Bart]

As everyone has said, a 10" should show you many, many objects. Some skill at the eyepiece will reveal more and more.

Good luck.

Bart