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zootius

By zootius
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zootius

zootius

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Hi, I'm a newbie to the forum and to this hobby. Always loved the stars, never thought of getting a telescope until last week when I saw a chance advert on ebay.

I now have a Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian 6" (F8) taking up a great deal of my living room :D Took a while to assemble and figure out some essentials like how to align the finderscope with the OTA.

Anyway, predictably the weather's been rubbish here in West Yorkshire, and to boot there are seemingly no planets or moon to be seen at the mo, but last night the clouds cleared for a few hours and with the help of Google Sky Map on my phone, I managed to snap my first find, M31 through the 25mm EP, which admittedly was tough to find and see! And even harder to capture with just a compact camera held to the EP (Canon S90).

5HEhj8V.jpg

Although it's marvellous to be looking at galaxies so soon, admittedly as a newbie I was kind of hoping to see something more spectacular. There is quite a lot of nasty light pollution around my back garden though, so I'm not disheartened yet at the lack of detail. I also had a nice look at the Pleiades, a swirly smudge that I *think* is M33, and an upside-down space invader that I believe to be M29. So not a bad first effort, and I'm thinking of taking the scope out to some country layby to see if the view improves much.

Also I'm sure a better quality EyePiece might be in order, if anyone can recommend one. The 10mm which came with it seems very dim and I don't think I'll use it much as is. Do you guys think a light-pollution filter would be worth getting?

Also, I'm having a bit of buyers remorse for not going for the 8" model, though I keep telling myself that I'm just testing the waters here. I have a feeling this can be an expensive hobby ;)

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HIP3802

HIP3802

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Hi, zootius, and welcome to SGL! First of all let me say that you have a very competent scope there. I have had the same scope but on an EQ mount rather than Dob for quite a while now, and although I have upgraded and diversified, I still use the 150P for travelling and astrophotography (I said it was competent!). You seem to only have one eyepiece with it - and unfortunately, the 10mm is not the best - but neither is it the worst! Before upgrading your eyepieces I recommend you read "Eyepieces - the very least you need" (here: http://stargazerslou...least-you-need/)

Astronomy does not need to be expensive - there is a thriving second hand market. uk astronomy buy and sell is one that is very popular on here. There is also quite a lot of free programmes written by and for amatuer astronomers - 'stellarium' is a free planetarium programmable for local skies and conditions. This will help show what is available and how to find it (available here: http://stellarium.org/). The book 'Turn Left at Orion' will; also help you find your way around the skies and introduce you to star hopping. Help is never far away - both on here and in the various astronomy groups around the country.

Hope this helps,

Martin.

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TwoPi

TwoPi

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Hi Zootius, welcome to SGL - in the short time I've been here I've found it to be incredibly friendly and knowledgeable forum.

You will see that generally people recommend you spend a bit of time with your 25mm and 10mm eyepieces before adding to your collection, though the link Martin provided above gives some very good advice on what to consider next.

Regarding the views you're getting, don't be disheartened with the galaxies - most of them are just smudges, even in larger telescopes. There are plenty of other interesting objects to see at the moment: globular clusters (take a look at M13), open clusters (the Double Cluster in Perseus), planetary nebulae (e.g. M57) and take a look at the contrasting colours in double stars (e.g. Alberio).

Hope you enjoy your views, it's a great scope you've got!

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jason.p

jason.p

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A warm welcome to SGL, and congrats on new scope, I'm sure you'll have some great views with it. I think some newcomers have been disappointed not to see "Hubble type" images. Even with bigger scopes many objects will still be faint fuzzies, but still amazing cosidering how far away they they are in space and time. It's true, astronomy doesn't need to be expensive, but it requires a great deal of restraint not to submit to aperture fever and scope envy!

Best of luck and clear skies

Jason

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk 2

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Scoobygazer

Scoobygazer

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Hi there, I joined today and I can't wait to get started, it is typical though that just as the few of use who start the hobby, the heavens open. Intrestingly in 'Turn Left at Orion' it says that light cloud normally means less turbulence. Just think Zootius in a few months time we'll be on the to figuring all this out. I agree with 2Pi that this is a fantastic forum. Here's to clearer skies!

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Spidy

Spidy

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Hi there I to have the skywatcher skyliner 150p and I love it and I too was contemplating getting the 200p but decided that the 8ich would be to large to store and get from a to b but I am not at all disappointed with my purchase. I have brought a 6mm to got with the 10mm and 25mm but I love my scope and I'm sure you will to

I have only viewed the moon for the most part and managed to get these pics by sticking my iPhone to the eye piece

8ugavuhe.jpgu8ata7y8.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

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zootius

zootius

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Thanks for the welcome guys. Wow Spidy, great pics! Were they through your 6mm EP? Which model was that btw, and are you happy with it?

Cheers, Z

Hi there I to have the skywatcher skyliner 150p and I love it and I too was contemplating getting the 200p but decided that the 8ich would be to large to store and get from a to b but I am not at all disappointed with my purchase. I have brought a 6mm to got with the 10mm and 25mm but I love my scope and I'm sure you will to

I have only viewed the moon for the most part and managed to get these pics by sticking my iPhone to the eye piece

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

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