My first night out with telescope

[DannyHarvey]

Always had a pair of binoculars to hand ever since I was a kid so I know a few stars and constellations. Never had the money for a telescope when I was young but always wanted one.

After a couple of beers last week I finally took the plunge and got a Celestron C6 SCT on a CG5 mount.

Eventually, after many cloudy nights I saw an opportunity to finally fire her up and see what she could do. The Wife thought I was bonkers going out side in minus temperatures in the snow! Put the scope together in the conservatory (nice n warm) then man-handled it outside. It was a misty night with only a patch in the sky showing the moon and Jupiter.

Right then I thought, time to line her up. but oh.. no Polaris?

A quick scan though the alignment algorithms and I found Solar System Align. That'l do for tonight I thought. With in seconds she was duly locked on to Jupiter and I was off.

With the 25mm in I only had a small spec for Jupiter so hopped over to the moon.

So much fun! Couldn't believe the detail I was seeing, and the smooth action of the DEC/RA motors as I scanned. Decided to jump the EP to the 6mm. Wow! Took a tour of the craters and mountain ranges near the shadow side. flipped back to Jupiter. Was a tad out of focus (TBH I'm finding the SCT focuser a bit coarse) and I think the atmosphere was playing a merry dance too, but every now and then got a clear sight of a perfect round stripy disk and 4 moons. The seeing improved as time wore on.

So eventually I'm jumping from Jupiter to Moon and back to Jupiter and enjoying every minute of it until I couldn't stand the pain of the cold in my fingers any longer!

Went in for a bit to warm up and set up the Canon 500D to take some pics. (prime focus is all I have at the moment, I'm hoping to do some EP projection in the future). duly set up the camera and was back out for some more time in the freezer. Took some shots of the Moon until I was completely frozen again (to be honest I didn't properly warm up I was too exited to stay indoors) and came back in to edit the shots in the computer.

Here is one of the shots (sorry its low resolution, I had hoped to upload it to my Flickr account but the up-load crashed!)

regards

Dan

[stargazerslivingroom]

Lovely shot, Dan especially considering first time with the new scope.

Look forward to seeing more.

[StarRaver]

Stunning shot, with a mass of detail you should be very pleased, It makes standing out in the cold worth it when your able to get shots like these, keep up the good work and looking forward to seeing your next images and congratulations on your new purchases

[Subaru]

Nice account! I am impressed with your moon photo as well.

[Catweazel]

Thanks for sharing that Danny. The moon pic is very crisp and detailed, you should be well pleased

[Bart]

Well Done, great fun, isn't it? Best of luck with it all. Luckily, your wife just thinks you're crazy now going out into the cold, wait for a while and she'll think you've lost alll reason with the spending frenzy that sometimes develops later, when you 'must' get the kit to best take advantage of the fine scope you have. You know,.......in for a penny.........

Barry

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report and nice image on your first night out!

[stem1989]

wow great shot, even at low res the detail is for all to see! love the contrast also, great shot

[DannyHarvey]

Thanks for the encouragement guys! Yes, I was pleased with the shot. I have to be honest Im not a complete novice at shooting the Moon I have taken it many times through the camera using a normal lens so I knew where to go with the exposure and post processing.

I guess my photography hobby has brought me to getting a telescope too. I am looking forward to learning all these new stacking techniques, stuff that is completely alien to me!

Dan

[Astro Imp]

Congrats on your new scope.

That is one great pic, well done - worth freezing your bits off for

[DannyHarvey]

A final edit of my Moon. I think I may have over cooked it a little! :-)

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I agree, I prefer the first one, it is subtler.

[DannyHarvey]

Easy to get carried away! ;-)

[Sgt Pinback]

Sounds like a great experience Danny and that is an impressive early lunar photo with the new scope.

I cannot wait to get my scope outside... Tony