Celestron C8N - first light by a guided newbie.

[prasadka]

Hello all,

Last night Chris (Peonic) messaged me to say that my toys'd arrived. I was picked up by Chris on the way to my house. Chris warned me of the size of the mount and the boxes. Tried lifting them individually - no problems. I thought that I should be able to take this comfortably back home, whenever I need to. Thank God for that..!

Now, after a brief rest, we decided to set up for the evening. Oh..! I should say that one of us dont have the curse of the scope- I dont know if it was my luck that over rode Chris's (he had an Atik that'd arrived and was itching to have a go) or if it was his that over rode mine- anyway, to play it safe, Chris, let's order stuff together from now on

Chris instructed me vividly on what needs to be done. Thanks to him, I got the scope and mount set up in double quick time. I probably would have taken forever to get it right. We got stuck a bit when we had to install the slow motion knobs.

Stars started to appear one by one. First to be spotted was jupiter, and we decided that it was low enough to be ignored. Next, the summer triangle came up and it began to darken slowly, but steadily. We decided to go star hopping and find the M31. Chris showed me how to get there, but ever since, I've not been able to find Mirach.

Andromeda appeared as a smudge to begin with, but with averted vision, could stare into the core a little bit and could identify the galaxy pretty easily. Chris at this point of time decided that he had to try the Atik and excused himself to leave- I would have none of it, and decided to keep him at home until he showed me the ring Nebula. Out comes "Turn left at Orion" directs us to the ring nebula. I had seen pictures of the ring and wanted to see it through a scope. Again a look into the finder, Chris spotted it in under five minutes between Sheliak and Sulafat. Put in the 10mm, look into it, focus a bit, and an inevitable hysterical noise follwed. There was the ring, clearly visible, in the eye piece.

Now Chris definitely had to leave I came back and found the ring nebula out of view. I tried bringing back the ring into frame and realised that it had disappeared behind the tree.

So, now swung back to see Andromeda, looked for Mirach and gave up after some time . Now could see vega and shaliek and Sulafat back again, so swung back between the two, trying to locate the ring.. Eventually I realised that I may not have got the stars wrong. So back to turn left at Orion, half an hour more of frustration, and then I realised I will end up spending more time in the finder than actually through the scope. So I stopped looking for target objects and started to take in the Milky way, just by using the slow mo knobs.

Then again, the inevitable happens and the wife starts yelling at me to get back. Bed time folks.. So I decide to take a shot at the M57 before winding up, well again the same old story, no sight of the ring nebula.

Winding down was fairly easy, except for the darkness. I probably need a light in the garden to help me unwind.

All in all, to sum up

1. Seems like good light grasp, going by whatever little I managed to see.

2. Easy manageable parts. I am sure would fit in the boot of any car comfortably

3.The scope was fairly easy to move around and point at, even when Chris was not around.

4. I probably need to buy a ladder.

5. I need an astronomers torch- Chris has given me a great idea for this.

6. I need some more eye pieces.

7. I need more money

All in all, a very clear night and an extremely satisfying experience.

And more importantly, Thanks Chris..

Cheers,

Prasad

[Whippy]

Congrats on your new baby Prasad, here's to many more enjoyable nights to come .

Sorry, but I have to ask why do you need a ladder?

Tony..

[GazOC]

Great report Prasad, that seems like a fairly painless start. Don't worry about finding stuff, its part of the fun and becomes a lot easier with a little practice.

Try for M27 or M13 next time out, they pretty large and difficult to miss.

[peonic]

Congrats on your new baby Prasad, here's to many more enjoyable nights to come .

Sorry, but I have to ask why do you need a ladder?

Tony..

Because he's a midget

Great night - Prasad fails to mention that the whole time we were messing around in the garden, his good lady wife was keeping us supplied with awesome snacks and drinks - a great night - and just a shame I had to dash home to play with my new toy (more on that coming soon!).

Glad you had fun mate - the look on your face when you saw M57 was an absolute picture! Those C8N's are awesome bits of kit for not a lot of pennies!

Chris

[Whippy]

Because he's a midget

God you're harsh Chris!! Saying that, lucky he didn't get a 10" job eh? . Yeah those C8N's are nice bits of gear, even though I've got new toys it's still got it's place .

Tony..

[prasadka]

and just a shame I had to dash home to play with my new toy (more on that coming soon!).

Where's the first light on your Atik? Hope you had fun too..!

Cheers,

Prasad