All set for my first night..

[lfc t]

New scope arrived a few days ago and got it set up outside ready. Just had a quick look at Alhena through it. Expected to see a round white ball but i see what looks like a small crescent moon, Is there something eclipsing it?

Also i had a very very quick 5 mins with it last night and while just seeing what i could actually see i noticed a few white dots flying through my field of view, are these satellites?

[dav1d]

Venus is pretty close to Alhena at the moment and displays phases, so could conceivably resemble a crescent moon. How are you finding your objects?

[Scott]

i think it might be venus you've seen if its a crescent.and yeah, they're probably satelites

[lfc t]

If it was venus then that is so cool

It was the first object that was visable as it started to get dark. Pointed the smartphone in that direction and the app told me what it was, i guess it wasn't to accurate. Real chuffed that i got a look at venus before it dipped below the horizon.

Thanks for the info, made my night already lol.

[Scott]

if you've got southern views mars and saturn are out now.

[lfc t]

Mainly a west view but moved a little and had a good south view.

Venus, mars and saturn, not bad for my first night

Would like to see saturn a bit bigger. Guessing i need to replace the standard 9mm ep and get a decent one and a good barlow?

[dav1d]

Mainly a west view but moved a little and had a good south view.

Venus, mars and saturn, not bad for my first night

Would like to see saturn a bit bigger. Guessing i need to replace the standard 9mm ep and get a decent one and a good barlow?

Depends on what the scope is really. With many, barlowing a 9mm will just leave you with a blurry smudge. What do you have?

[lfc t]

It's a Celestron NexStar 127 SLT. Do you call it a mak 127 for short?

[dav1d]

So... 1500mm focal length. With a 9mm that gives you a magnification of 166x. With a 2x barlow, that would be more than 330x, which isn't really useable.

A 6mm or 7.5mm eyepiece without barlow would be your realistic max and give 200x - 250x magnification, which in good seeing conditions would be great.

From my own experience, I haven't gone above 130x with acceptable results . I've tried 320x on a 130mm scope & it was a mess.

[lfc t]

Thanks David. Is a 7.5mm eyepiece better than a 15mm and a 2x barlow?

[dav1d]

I'd reckon so, as a barlow will dim the image & introduce all kinds of other factors which may or may not mess up your viewing pleasure

[Scott]

first time i saw saturn i thought it was small (fantasctic but small) now i look at it with 166X mag and don't even notice the size. too busy looking at/for detail.

[rwilkey]

Yes, defo Venus, you can see it before it gets totally dark, very bright! Saturn is quite easy, find Spica on your app, and then Saturn is just above it, about three full Moon widths. Best time to find, around 11-12pm.

[PorkyB]

I've been getting excellent views of Saturn with my 90mm Mak and a BST Explorer 8mm EP which gives me 156x magnification. I am pretty sure I saw three moons on Friday night. The image is tiny but crystal clear. The 8mm BST is very noticably better than the 10mm that came with the scope.