First Light, first DSOs, first DOB experience!

[Meissa]

Hey guys!

It has been couple months since my first experience with 12'' Skywatcher collapsible DOB, but I will definitely remember that night for the rest of my life! I just want to share my precious moments with you, so here it goes...

My kind ''finance manager'' has spoiled me rotten and bought me a Skywatcher 300p FlexTube GoTo in May. As my main interest is the visual observation, the decision to get bigger aperture with compliments of GoTo was pretty much easy and I don't regret it at all. It arrived in 2 large boxes and it felt like all my Christmases have come at once! Had to chase my handyman hubby away as I wanted to assemble the scope myself, it took me around 1 hour and was really easy even for a lady. Aligned the finderscope, done the collimation and was ready to take over the skies However... as the golden rule goes, when you buy something in a big box - 'Mr. Cloudy man' appears, I had to wait for over 3 weeks for clear skies... But the perfect night finally came on 6th of June, once the first few stars started coming out, I raced outside to get set up. Seeing wasn't particularly good, but I just could not wait any longer to try my new beast out. The GoTo alignment went smooth on Arcturus and Antares, both clear and bright. While I was there, I had a good look at both stars - wow, they looked incredible through this scope. I could not wait to see more! Saturn was fairly low and obstructed by neighbours roof and no other planets were visible, so I took a deep breath and set up the GoTo to point at my first ever Messier - M13. The most beautiful view of this magnificent cluster popped straight in the centre of the EP. At 187x I was peering directly into the centre of the core - unforgettable view. Spent at least 20 mins admiring it. At 375x I almost fell of my chair, it was a breath taking sight, I observed countless individual stars and was able to look through the tightly packed central core stars. Since that moment I knew exactly that my passion for life will be observing DSOs. Realising that I only have less than couple hours of darkness left, I tried to find M27 - for some reason got no luck and decided to manually scan the skies when IT popped into EPs view - a beautiful, bluish/greenish disk with a bright star in the centre of it! I checked the coordinates and my guess was confirmed - it was NGC 6543 - the Cat's Eye Nebula. Have been reading about this nebula, have seen so many sketches of it and it was even more beautiful than I expected! I was hooked! Sadly the clouds began rolling in, but I had enough time for one more target - M57. I found it! It was brighter and larger than I thought it would be, the ring was sharp and the hollow centre was obvious, hardly any colour though, but I was not disappointed, opposite - more excited than ever. After that it was time to pack up as the sky was conquered by the clouds.

So there, my first light report and most memorable night since I got into this hobby. Since then I have observed quite a few Messier objects and the scope have not yet let me down

[fondofchips]

Nice first report, reminds me of my 3 week wait for clear skies after purchasing my first scope.

Lasted about 20 minutes before the cloud rolled in, at -2°C with a stiff breeze I was cold anyway.

You still have Saturn to come.... just brilliant, and just as good 2nd, 3rd, 4th, time etc.

Clear skies to you & thanks for sharing your experience.

[VigdisVZ]

These awesome first light stories make it hard for me to stand against the aperture fever tugging at my wallet. Thanks for sharing

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Great first light report - I could really feel your excitement!

M13 is amazing with my 200P, I can only imagine how it must look through a 12" scope

[cotterless45]

Nice, big Dobs certainly open up the Universe ! You'll be swept away with views !

Clear skies,

Nick?

[swamp thing]

Nice report. Everyone should see M13 through a 12" scope once in their lives......spectacular

[jetstream]

Nice, big Dobs certainly open up the Universe ! You'll be swept away with views !

Clear skies,

Nick?

Nice report. Everyone should see M13 through a 12" scope once in their lives......spectacular

Oh man, I thought I just figured out the size of my new telescope!I wonder how far I can carry a 12"or 16".....!I gotta go,aperature fever has taken hold..

[TractionMan]

I really, really enjoyed reading this! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm currently thinking about getting a 12" dob, manual version though. And by reading this I'm even MORE tempted!

[Meissa]

Thanks guys, I would never hesitate to recommend the 12'' Dob, it's just amazing. Like Nick said, it does open the universe!