Nexstar 8 SE first light

[jaquesnoir]

Well, I finally saved up enough and did it. I hit that 'Pay Now' button.

My Nexstar 8 SE arrived today courtesy of Steve at FLO - Big thanks Steve.

I only had this evening to unpack it...check it....put it together very carefully...and then gawp at it...because I'm out of town for a while.

What a lovely beast. Drool. Then it was outside and set it up for first light - so easy. The power tank makes life easy too - thanks again Steve. I used the approximate City setup and chose London.

Not much visible from where I am earlier on. Moon was still rising and behind some trees. I couldn't wait so I set up the skyalign on Arcturus, Vega and Capella and tried a Goto to my old favourite Mizar just to see the difference from my old 4" plastic tube and my bins. Almost bang on. And so crisp. I can't wait to set up properly and look at some decent stuff.

Just as I was setting up on Arcturus a brilliant meteor crossed the sky and passed right across the finder and I thought 'Thanks for that - its made my day.'

I'm just a bit excited now and frustrated too 'cos I'm away on and off for a while and I won't be able to use it for weeks! . Just when the weather changes - typical.

A happy day for me anyway.

Cheers,

JN

[geppetto]

Very exciting...

Congrats on the new scope JN 8)