First Observing Night

[skir]

Well it was my first successful one at any rate. The first two attempts I was having problems with equipment setup and aligning on stuff. But I learnt stuff on those evenings and this meant that this time out nearly everything went really well.

I started off by using h a Reys book 'the stars' to just have a look at the night sky and work my way round identifying constellations and major stars. This was a lot of fun actually and tbh if I was starting again I think I'd just do it with this book, a compass and possibly some binoculars (but I don't think even those would be necessary). I was amazed at the level of lp round here as many stars were not at all visible, even some of the fainter constellations could not be seen in their entirety.

Once I'd got my bearings I got the scope polar aligned and then did a quick alignment for the goto. I then headed off for a look at Jupiter with its Galilean moons strung out in a line below it. That provided entertainment for quite a while.

I then went off too look for m42/43 which I'd imagine most people attempt early on. I got a hold of that fairly quickly with the help of the goto and LTAO, the finderscope view being particularly helpful in the book. This was probably the highlight of the evening and I stayed on that for quite a long time.

My routine for stars was use the goto, then the telrad to centre followed by the finderscope and LTAO when it had the object I wanted to get it in view. My experience now of the goto is that it will not just put stuff in the EP for you. It will get you in the right area but then you have to hunt around yourself - unless of course my alignment was out a bit!

So h a Reys book is brilliant for general orientation and having a reference of what the sky will look like at a given time, LTAO then comes into its own as you go looking for more detail and need something to clearly show where the waypoints to your target are. The two books complement each other brilliantly. As to goto, well I'd say to a beginner, don't bother. It will come into its own in time I'm sure for me, so I dont regret the purchase, but I think initially it adds to the learning curve, without giving much back once in use.

It was a great first night and has really fired my enthusiasm.

If anyone has any advice on easy objects to go looking for please fire away.

Also when I went looking for the Pleiades it just appeared as a lot of stars, is this what I should expect to see? I tried different mag eps but no difference. Of course I might have been slightly out on it, the lp here is bad.

[Double Kick Drum]

Also when I went looking for the Pleiades it just appeared as a lot of stars, is this what I should expect to see? I tried different mag eps but no difference. Of course I might have been slightly out on it, the lp here is bad.

Visually, yes. The Pleiades is an open cluster (associated stars formed at approximately the same time from the same gas cloud). In an extremely dark sky I believe it is possible to see some nebulosity but that is something I have never managed and is usually only picked up photographically.

The Orion nebula is a stellar nursery and area of the sky where stars are still being 'born'.

ps. Congrats on your first light proper.

Happy hunting!

[skir]

Ok, thanks. So I guess Pleiades is best viewed with low magnification then?

Also what are good, easy targets for a newb to look for?

I've no particular preference on what to look for, but some easy dso's would be good.

[twotter]

Close to the Pleiades you'll see a very bright object. That's Jupiter and well worth a good look

[skir]

Close to the Pleiades you'll see a very bright object. That's Jupiter and well worth a good look

Yes I spent quite a long time looking at it last night. I could clearly see the main moons and two bands on Jupiter itself, the seeing was causing it to shimmer a bit.