Fantastic First Light!

[USAF_slip]

So got my Celestron EP Set & Nexstar 8SE in the mail today and boy was I beaming with happiness! In a matter of minutes I have everything carefully unboxed and laid out in a line...with grin ear to ear. I had heard about the horrible battery drain dilema (I bought 24 rechargeable batts) or getting a bunch so I can up with a great solution. My power tank will not be here to next week so I went to Radio Shack and got the power connector ($3.50) and the 9V Adapter ($15.00) which I then combined with 25' of old extension cord. Presto...I have a extension telescope power cord and it performed amazingly! So evening arrive and the clouds/storms dissappear for crystal clear conditions...I know right...I set up my scope to allow for thermal consistancy within (2 hrs) and waited. Night arrived as I eagerly flip on the power and slewed to random star X to align the reflex red dot which was a piece of cake! Next came the Sky Align which functioned so well it was like I was a master, lol! Turns out I picked Sirius, Betelguese, and Procyon which createda successful alignment! Okay first sight was of course the Moon (13mm, 17mm, 25mm all w/moon filter) and it was fantastic! Second stop was Jupiter (viewed with all available EP's) which allowed me to see 4 moons and very, very faint cloud lines...which was kind of a bummer but still overall a good sight! Last stop before I had to head back in (got college tomorrow morning with a test...rabble rabble rabble) was a trip to M42 aka the Orion Nebula. Nexstar picked it out perfectly and after going down to a 13mm EP I really enjoyed this one...its worth noting that it was sort of grey colored...hmm? Overall I am overly pleased with my new scope and it will get used quick frequently! Now lets check out the lessons learned and issues I had:

1. The moon is bright...use the moon filter and perhaps get a better one.

2. Saturn & Jupiter can be seen pretty close using the Celestron EP kit however even with the filters I was unable to view the cloud bands. Any fixes for this one?

3. Dew Shield, Dew Shield, Dew Shield! That will be my next purchase ASAP. I will order a Active Shield then later on get a Passive one. If I wouldnt have come in early then it would have become an issue as dew was gathering on the grass prepping for its assualt on my cosmic tour!

4. All the sights and reviews said I would be able to view galaxies however they all appeared as dots even at 6mm with a 2x barlow. Any ideas on this one astronomy forum gods?

5. Plan ahead...I found myself running in and out of the house for this and that.

6. Need a Light Pollution filter for use in my tiny town when I am away from my dark spot. Also need a filter that makes deep sky objects pop...Deep Sky filter?

7. Need to label all caps with where they go as well as the filter for easier color reading.

8. A chair!!!!!!

Well thats about it for now...overall it was amazing and really opened up my eyes, so to speak! I can't wait for the next clear night sky as well as for my upcomming cosmic exploration. Oh and one last thing...everyone keeps saying that the reflex sight sucks however I loved the thing b/c I used the whole sky (not a small FOV) and it was so terribly easy to calibrate it! Okay thats enough of that. Fantastic first light and amazing telescope! I firmly believe I did a job well do picking it...thanks Celestron and thanks to all the people on here who helped with my questions before I got the scope. I went out and it was like I had used it for years already...high five to all you and to website. Well its off to the bed where I sure my mind will still be wandering around the cosmos and waiting for the next ride through the stars!

[swamp thing]

Hi

Sounds like a fun night.

Galaxies are not point sources of light. They appear nothing like stars. Some have stellar looking cores but most appear as faint smudges on the lens.

When you locate one, you'll know.

Enjoy:icon_salut:

Regards Steve

[Stu]

Couple of things.

Did you let the scope cool properly before using it? Needs 30 to 60 mins really. This may help with detail on Jupiter although the main issue is that it's getting lower in the sky so less detail to be had.

Likewise in Saturn, wait for it to get really high, then you will see more detail.

For galaxies, give M81 and M82 a try in Ursa Major. They are reasonably bright as galaxies go. Use low power on galaxies, they are low brightness, large objects and high magnification generally just lets you see the central core which probably will just look like a fuzzy star.

Stu

[USAF_slip]

It appears that I may have been trying to turn stars in galaxies! I reviewed my notes from last night and perhaps after Nexstar slewed to the area I focused on the wrong object. From my beginners knowledge I was looking for "Hubble-like" galaxies with arms and all. Talk about funny though right? So far as cool down...I set my scope out in the yard around 1900 and began my first light tour at about 2100. For getting the planets to peak out that appears to have been my problem! I was trying to catch them about 2 hands above the tree line on the horizon. Well many thanks "swamp thing" and "BigMakStutov" for the response and have a great afternoon!

[Donkeiller]

You should be able to see more detail on Jupiter than you did.

I can with my 6SE, even though Jupiter is very low in the sky at 51 degrees North.

Have you checked the collimation?

Checkout this site. Thierry Legault - The collimation

[Duns]

Great first light report - I enjoyed reading it. I have found you need to spend a bit of time observing a target - the longer you look at it the more detail seems to emerge.

[Tinker1947]

Next will be the hidden extra's Telrad, More EP's , Dew Heaters, Autoguiding, Astrophotography, plus a load of other bits, a wallet with no bottom is really handy....glad you enjoyed your first light, hope you have many more...