First time out view and thoughts

[gbeecham]

Hello,

I am completely new to Astronomy and thought I would share my first experience of viewing the moon last night. I bought a Skywatcher Heritage 130p Dob two weeks ago and last night was the first clear night that I have seen. It was about 9pm so still reletively light, but I have been itching to get outside and try it out so I couldn't wait.

I alligned the red dot finder to the centre of the moon and I couldn't believe it! I was viewing through my 10mm lens, but as the moon is only a half moon I got some great definitiion shadows on the crators. This has really spurred me on to get out again and start looking for much much more. Unfortuantely the cloud moved in at around 10pm so I couldn't see much else.

My only niggle, which I am sure will get better the more I use it, is with the Dobsonian mount. I could get the moon in my sight, but a mount like this is hard to move every so slightly to get your target dead centre, and quite often the little of touches would just move back to where it was. I will work at tightening up the mount, but it's no real problem. Would be interested if anyone has similar experiences with these mounts? It is just my starter scope and reletively cheap so I was expecting a perfect EQ experience.

Cheers

[gbeecham]

I was meant to say that I WASN'T expecting a perfect EQ mount experience!

[nytecam]

Welcome and glad you're enjoying your new Dob - now the fun begins. With a static scope like a Dob I find it easier to decentre the object slightly and let it drift into and across the field of view [fov] for a longer viewing period before moving scope slight again - give it a try ;-)

[NGC 1502]

Hi there to another Essex member.

If you are in southeast Essex, you would be most welcome to pop along here - http://www.cpac.org.uk/

There is no obligation to join either, but hang around after the talk or whatever is on, and have a chat.

This Weds 19th is 'Telescope Zoo' where members bring their telescopes for others to look at rather than through them.

Regards, Ed.

[AlexB67]

You can adjust the tension control knob on the heritage, as well as the rotation if needed in azimuth, although personally have not found a need to do the latter, getting that balance right helps when nudging to keep things as smooth possible.

In any case I find at high mag the method I use is to adjust the scope so the object is near the edge, and let it drift across the view as nytecam already pointed out, rinse and repeat:).

For the Moon and/or planetary you may find in time a high mag wide angle eye piece will help, it is the first add-on I bought, that will increase the field of view and alleviate the issues somewhat.

Enjoy the scope

[farunj]

The moon is simply amazing, isn't it? Especially the half moon. We get some great shadows! Soon, with practice, you will get used to the drifting of the view, and learn to 'nudge' the scope along the right direction! That's the fun of a dob! We learn so many things, and become a better astronomer! Since we have to find all the objects ourselves, it's even more rewarding!