First Light

[webboid]

Having purchased my first scope (Explorer 200P) several weeks ago, I've not been able to try it out. But tonight the sky was clearish on the outskirts of Norwich on & off.

Got outside about 9.30 to see venus. Straight away I was impresses with my new toy as I could see a beautiful crescent in the eye piece. Then cloud covered everything. Thought that was going to be my lot. So I had a cup of tea. But wait its clearing up a bit.

Now about 10.30 & I persevered a while longer. Saturn was my next objective, but would the roof of my house be in the way. Lined up what I thought was the right bright object in the finder, then to my 25mm eye piece & sure enough I was spot on(well almost, finder needs a bit of adjustment). Popped in the 10mm & just stared in awe, magnificent. This telescope is already surpassing my expectations.

Next I wanted to see if I could find the beehive cluster (M44 I think). Struggling a bit with the finder because I'm seeing more stars than I expected through it. Eventually I think I found it so lingered for a while. Maybe I need a lower powered eye piece, but it looked nice.

Difficult next objective for me. I wanted to see Mizar & Alcor. A bit difficult as almost directly overhead & this finder is seeing too many stars for my experience to navigate. But persistence paid of there they were.

I can't believe how the time has flown so one last look at Saturn this time I think i can see a couple of moons & some banding on the planet.

Conclusion: Brilliant just brilliant

Paul

[John]

Congratulations Paul - sounds like a successful 1st light

The Beehive is a large object and looks best with very low magnification. There are a number of deep sky objects like this (ie: large !) so thats why having a low power, wide angle eyepiece is useful.

When you get a chance, check out the great globular cluster Messier 13 in Hercules. It's pretty bright and easy to find but looks great with 8" and upwards scopes. Once you have found it, you can use the 10mm eyepiece to boost the magnification on that object.

You may want to think about adding a red dot type finder to your scope as they make finding deep sky objects easier than just using the optical finder.

[stevetynant]

M81 and M82 are fantastic at the moment and pretty much vertically up from your scope and both should get in the same FOV in your 25mm E/P.

Sounds like the bug has bitten - one piece of advice that was useful when someone gave it to me is when the initial wonder of seeing Saturn, Jupiter and the Orion Nebulae die down - sometimes its worth doing a bit of research before you go out - even if its just one or two additional targets - that way you don't get frustrated by seeing the same object all the time.

Anyhows sounds like you've had a great first night and hopefully can get another one in tonight before the weather closes in again

Clear Skies

Steve

[Mike73]

Brilliant Paul glad you had a good night.

Agree with Steve in doing research before you go out and Johns comment on using some kind of red dot finder is also very good advice.

[Double Kick Drum]

Congrats on your first outing with your scope. I agree with John on the Beehive and the same applies for many of the larger clusters.

M13 is a great globular cluster and for contrast, try to find the more condensed M92 which is almost as bright.

M81 and M82 are the obvious choice for a first galactic target but the Leo triplet are also worth a go before the constellation disappears for the summer. M65 and M66 are perhaps slightly easier to find than the Ursa Major pair. You should also be able to see NGC 3628, a very elongated galaxy on an East-West plane in the same field of view. Three for the price of one.

Happy hunting!

[webboid]

Thanks for the advice chaps

Plan on getting a red dot finder next

Also I did have a bit of a plan to look around Leo(printed off some star charts & lists), but I got carried away with that first look at the obvious things. I will try to check out what you all have suggested.