First ever First Light report (from a total beginner so bear with me)!!!

[Momentous]

So, after having my Skywatcher 200P Dob for almost three weeks I finally got to take it outside and use it!

I was out last night (10/07) for two hours and it was awesome! I'll be honest, at the moment I don't have too much of a clue what I'm actually looking at but simply being able to view anything was a bonus.

Zeroed in the finder scope and I was off and away! I'm not sure if I managed to view a double star? Seemed bright in the finder scope and when I looked through the eyepiece there were two stars that were right next to each other.

I just spent two happy hours looking up and trying to take in how much stuff is up there. Yes, what I'm viewing doesn't seem to match my Planisphere (still trying to sort that one out) but It was a great first time experience and felt fantastic knowing that I can now view all this...stuff!

Thanks for listening.

[Spec-Chum]

Addictive isn't it, I still really enjoy putting my 25mm in and just pan around

But just wait till you see Saturn!

[JamesF]

Getting the hang of using any kind of map of the stars takes a bit of practice, be it a planisphere, stellarium or paper star charts. There always seem to be far too many stars or not enough. It gets easier with practice.

James

[mdstuart]

Sounds like you had fun..Point the scope at the Pole star and see if you can see the little faint blue star next to the bright Pole star..

The pole star is due north and about 50 degrees up in the sky..

Mark

[m_j_lyons]

Suggest you download a copy of Stellarium to guide your night adventures.

Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2

[Double Kick Drum]

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a great evening.

A 200mm scope will be able to see a lot. Enjoy!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. Good to hear new scopes are not all gathering dust!