First night observing

[Oat]

Having borrow my brothers celestron 127SLT in a try before you buy approach last night was the first opportunity to successfully use it. Last time i had set up issues with the goto system, but last night after a bit of faffing around and few attempts i achieved successful alignment.

Not knowing my way around the night sky some of the items i chose to home in on i could not see as they were too close to the horizon. But using a google sky map app on my samsung galaxy i located jupiter and saturn and sent the scope to them. WOW, what a view, absolutely amazed at how clear everything was, i could even say that it was too bright and would need a filter to bring out some of the features. I think definite room for more zoom over the 9mm eyepiece i was using.

I learnt a few things too:

You can get cold pretty quickly!!! The purchase of a sleeping bag suit could be a worthy investment!!

Goto is ok but not wonderfully accurate. It does help, but you still need to know your way around the night sky as it may take you to objects out of view etc.

Tripod, i now appreciate how important the tripod is. The slightest touch of the tripod when viewing can drastically effect your satisfaction.

Power cable, damn glad i purchased one!! No faffing with batteries and having them die on you and then needing to reallign etc.

Hopefully more viewing during the week, maybe tonight too?? (what's the sky forecast?) I need to plan to locate some different objects with the 25 and 9mm eyepieces i have, any recommendations welcomed.

I am fortunate to live on a hill with very few neighbors and only light pollution on the horizon in 1 direction (north west from Banbury, Oxon i can see the glow). I have good and clear views to the west and north, reasonable views to the south, less so for the east. Light

Left thinking which scope i will invest in..... And, radiant having had a good first nights observing!!!!

[Superdavo]

Nice one!

[cyborg421]

You are now officially infected with the astronomy bug!

Typical symptoms include

1) Aperture fever.

2) Wondering why it's cloudy on a night you aren't working next day.

3) Increasingly less money in your bank account.

4) Increased interest in the efficiency of the postal service.

5) Discovery of the tolerance level of your partner when that "thing" is still in the lounge/dining room/house.

6) Increase in the number of sheds in the garden (linked to 5 above).

Talking to fellow sufferers can sometimes reduce the symptoms but can also increase them!

Good report and welcome from a fellow sufferer.

You will find it a rewarding hobby.

Simon

[axle01]

You can get cold pretty quickly!!! The purchase of a sleeping bag suit could be a worthy investment!!

That's where we're lucky here in Nth Queensland even on the coldest night it may get down to 8*

Alan

[Pyrodave]

Hi Oat glad you had a great night observing google sky map is good there's also an app called SkEye on android that I tend to use .

Download stellarium for the pc its a great piece of software it will give you an idea of what's about on a particular night and you can set it up to your home co ordinates and even input your scope and eyepieces to give you an idea of what things will look like through your scope

[Pyrodave]

You are now officially infected with the astronomy bug!

Typical symptoms include

1) Aperture fever.

2) Wondering why it's cloudy on a night you aren't working next day.

3) Increasingly less money in your bank account.

4) Increased interest in the efficiency of the postal service.

5) Discovery of the tolerance level of your partner when that "thing" is still in the lounge/dining room/house.

6) Increase in the number of sheds in the garden (linked to 5 above).

Talking to fellow sufferers can sometimes reduce the symptoms but can also increase them!

Good report and welcome from a fellow sufferer.

You will find it a rewarding hobby.

Simon

Nice one Simon

[Mattscar]

You can get cold pretty quickly!!! The purchase of a sleeping bag suit could be a worthy investment!!

I can thoroughly recommend buying yourself a onsie from New Look or somewhere similar. If you get one without the silly enclosed feet and an animal face on the hood, it fits snugly beneath normal clothes so your kept nice and warm yet don't look like you've only remembered to bring out your pajamas.

[starman1969]

That is very good. Having some idea about what is up there and certain constellations certainly helps when using a telescope. The goto scopes are a godsend for people who don't know their way around but they are not perfect & that is where a little more experience helps.

[coppernob]

Beware,

the number of cloudy nights of poor seeing may correlate positively with the number of visits you make and the subsequent spend on accessories at your astro dealer.

This is the most important thing I have learnt from SGL so far.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Jaykay495]

Inspiring stuff, especially as the 127 is on my list of possible starter scopes once i've got used to finding my way around with binos.