first light with 8" dob

[redfox1972]

hi

firstly thanks to all on sgl for there advice on making my mind up on my first scope a skywatcher 200p.

tonight my daughter and i had a great first light firstly viewing jupiter and 3 dark bands of cloud with its 4 moons secondly the orion nebula was very good showing a blue/green hue which i believe only a few nebula show colour when viewing through a telescope thirdly on to the moon which we viewed for a good while trying both stock ep,s the detail was fantastic iv seen loads of pictures of the moon but nowt beats seeing it for yourself and lastly after looking through my feb adition of the sky at night

wanted to see a galaxy and eventually found the cigar galaxy this was the icing on the cake what a great first night but now the bug has bit and i am already looking for some better ep,s possably some celestro x-cel lx any advice ? thanks in advace

clarke

[bingevader]

Congratulations!

I'm glad your first night was such a success.

It's a great scope.

Have a look at the eyepiece section, there are plenty of 8" dob users and lots of threads about suitable EPs.

Cheers

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Very good first night. Go easy on getting news EPs just yet. I used the stock ones for 8months. I managed to get a look at Saturn tonight as well as finding a new Messier

Keep us updated on your second light

[jimbooz]

Well done

I had the same first light experience last night with my newly purchased 200p Dob. The moon was incredible and the exclamations of amazement at seeing the craters from my two kids was worth the cost alone.

We also got Jupiters bands and four moons which we couldn't stop coming back to. Even the wife was impressed.

The Orion nebula was gorgeous including the trapezium. I didn't see much coloration though.

The red colour of Betegeuse was great. I tried to see the double star of Sirius but couldn't make it out. The red/blue colours were visible though.

Another big thank you to the posters on SGL. It was the comments from members that swung me in favour of the dob over the equatorial mount. I'd never used a telescope before and was well chuffed with being able to pick out these objects with relative ease.

I spent the latter part of the night on the net looking for either a good barlow or an additional eyepiece. Saying that, the two supplied eyepieces were just fine. I would have just liked a bit more magnification of Jupiter.

We're going to try and see the asteroid tonight as the weather is forecast to be favourable but I'm not holding much hope. I'll try for the cigar galaxy as well! I'll also try and prepare better as pyjama bottoms and crocs got a bit chilly after two hours!

Cheers

Jim

[Double Kick Drum]

Congrats on giving your scope a proper run out. Glad the views impressed and there is a whole heap of other things to look at with 200mm of aperture.

I have a couple of X-Cels and do rate them (for their price) but don't hurry into any purchases. I would take a little time in deciding exactly what you need. Different eyepieces suit different scopes, though ultimately you get what you pay for.

Happy hunting!

[twotter]

Good to read your first light reports

I was out around midnight and had a mare of a session with my refractor, and the joys of an EQ mount! Viewing conditions must have been poor round here as Jupiter was blurry and washed out. Then I struggled to find any targets in Leo, as it came into view

On the positive side I had a first light with my new (to me) 21mm Hyperion on M42, which gave a nice view, including 4 stars in the Trapezium.

Note to self....must plan my observing sessions better!

[paul schofield]

Congrats on a great night, don't worry the galaxies will be coming thick and fast now you have one. Just wait until you point your scope towards the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Continued good luck to you and your daughter with your star gazing. Have a read through the EP discussion section for more on ep's. The Celestron X-Cel lx's do get great reviews on here, also the BST Explorer/ Starguiders are amazing ep's for their price. Have a good look around and don't rush into buying expensive eyepiece mistakes. The used eyepiece market can throw up some great bargains too, half of my ep's were bought used and were almost as good as new. Good luck.

Paul.

[MikeDay82]

I have the 250px dob. I used stock EPs for nearly a year. Then I purchased the Baader hyperion zoom eyepiece and not looked back! I know its not a good as an EP at its dedicated focal length, but it certainly saved me a few pounds. Also, I cant recommend enough going to a star party or your local club. See what EPs others are using as I will bet my last penny that someone there is using the same 200p as you - its such a great scope. Get their advice, what they like and dont like, also read on here for some great EP advice. I love my hyperion zoom, I cant say enough about it!

Also dont forget to look into a good quality barlow.

[yesteryeargames]

I have a 8dob skywatcher and highly reccomend the celestron XL Lx 7mm eyepiece , you can see some very crisp stars and great detail on Jupiter , I have seen the red spot moon shadows with ease using this eyepiece

[cotterless45]

Neat, we're coming into spring, when you'll be pleased to see the most in the sky,

Nick.

[Charon]

Some good advice about buying eyepieces on this thread, I agree that you should take your time when it comes to buying them.