First time out

[Lanius]

Hi,

Just spent my first hour observing with my new Skywatcher 200P. Up early for work tomorrow so couldn't spend too long out there.

Using the two default EPs that came with the 200P plus a 2x Barlow, I did the newbie thing of checking out the moon which bloomin' dazzled me in both detail and brightness (note to self: might need to consider a filter for moon watching).

Then I decided to aim for a nebula that I'd heard mentioned on here. I pointed to Vega which surprised me with a gorgeous baby blue hue (to my eyes) before panning down to find the Ring Nebula. I impressed myself at how fast I got onto it but maybe it's a generally easy one to find? Fascinating object nonetheless although just plain greyish in colour. This leads me to a question. Is it possible to see much colour from objects like this using the 200P with a filter? If so, what kind of filter might I be best looking at?

The rest of my hour was spent on the Andromeda Galaxy and just having a general pan round. A couple of satellites gave me surprises when they shot through my field of view and I also picked up a small meteorite.

A fun first go, I'm looking forward to getting back out there again!

Gareth,

East Yorkshire

[Moonshane]

Nice one Gareth. Most nebulae/galaxies don't reveal much colour and are as described unless you have large apertures and dark skies. even then it's very subtle. Some planetary nebulae and of course stars/double stars and solar system objects show colour though. think about what you are seeing though and this gives a buzz I feel. enjoy the scope!

[Schorhr]

Congrations to your first observations!

If you want a hint of color, look at Albireo and other double stars, some have a rather noticable color / temperature difference :-)

Deepsky objects are rather color less to the eye. This is because the cone and rod cells in the eye have different sensitivity.

With the center of your eye you'll see sharp and color, but the faint deep sky objects only trigger rod cells, that are concentrated outside this area.

So a) you will see mostly monochrome, faint objects will be visible better if viewed indirectly and c) it takes up to half an hour or so until your eye's chemestry reaches maximum sensitivity, but one quick look on a computer/cellphone screen or a car passing by will ruin dark adaption more or less instantly...

Color is mostly limited to astro photography, but video astronomy such as with the pd cam for 99£ really seems tempting for "live" observation, as color will be visible.

[WaveSoarer]

That's an excellent first session Gareth. I hope that you'll get some clear skies to do some more DSO hunting.

[AndyWB]

Deepsky objects are rather color less to the eye. This is because the cone and rod cells in the eye have different sensitivity.

With the center of your eye you'll see sharp and color, but the faint deep sky objects only trigger rod cells, that are concentrated outside this area.

Yup, rods are about 100 times more sensitive than cones, and they're wired up differently to further amplify low-light vision (at the cost of resolution), so will see much dimmer things; this is also why things look gray in the dark. Also, as mentioned, cones are densest around the centre of your vision (the fovea) which does not have any rods - therefore, it can't see dim things. There is a nice article about this here: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/rodcone.html

Interesting, it also points out that rods don't respond to red light - I think this would be why we normally use red lights. I know there has been discussion of using green recently, but looking at the responsivity curves for the different types of cell in the eye suggests rods respond more to green light - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_cell

But if you want colour, Albireo is a lovely double, or Mu Cephei (Herschel's Garnet Star) has a lovely colour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_Cephei

[Astro Imp]

Hi Gareth,

Great first night out, pleased you enjoyed yourself.

[Charon]

Well done on your first session, it can only get better for you.

[Lorne]

Hopefully the first of many good nights for you

I agree with AndyWB, try to see Albireo and the Garnet star,  both cracking examples of different colours.

[Philk_80]

Hi

I too found the moon dazzling last night. It was the first time I had loked at it through my scope - filter required I think.

I have found a few Messiers but as you say, no colour. Vega through a 5mm eyepiece looks a spectaculat blue and finding different yellow and red stars is amazing when you consider how many trillions of miles away they are.

[bingevader]

You might find a filter more helpful for viewing nebulae, but they won't show more colour.

A UHC or even better, a OIII filter will isolate the narrow wavelengths of light particular to nebulae.

Cheers

[Lanius]

Thanks for all the encouragement! I'm excited to see another clear sky tonight (so far) and I'll be back out later to look for some of your suggestions. I'm really fascinated by nebulae and would like to get the best I can from them using my 200P dob. I'm going to research UHC and OIII filters and maybe stick one on my Christmas list. It'll give me plenty of time to learn the sky better for now.

[Schorhr]

UHC filter is a great idea, but don't forget about upgrading your eyepieces, wide angle eyepieces are amazing.

[Lanius]

Oh yes one little gotcha I encountered using Stellarium on my iPhone. I was using it in "red, night mode" which was great until I went to search for something then BLAM! Full bright iPhone screen glow to blow my night vision! Not ideal. I obviously need to refine my set up :-)

[Schorhr]

Ha, I know how that feels...

One more reason for paper maps or at least a red transparency sheet :-)

[Lanius]

Schorhr - I got a 10mm and 25mm wide angle with the telescope. To my novice eye, I found the 25 quite effective during the short time I was out yesterday. If you can get wide angled 10mm (or thereabouts), I might be interested! But I'm also thinking about a future purchase of an ep in between the two I have.

[Schorhr]

The skywatcher sp 25 is not bad, but lacks a bit of contrast, it too should be replaced by something showing more field.

On f/6, the 30€ uwa 66deg wide angle eyepieces are a great eyepieces,

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/140717801385

Only downside is that they are only available in 6, 9, 15 and 20mm.

I use that type at f/5 as well, 6mm is better then 20mm though on fast scopes.

On f/5 the best budget eyepiece is a hr/tmp planetary eyepiece though the afov is a bit smaller (58 degree), still more then with Plössl though;

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=160858485287

The outer field is sharper on fast telescopes compared to plössl, erfle and the cheap "uwa", but I heard the ones above 15mm are not as good as the others.

Better eyepieces would be Hyperion, or more recently, explore scientific, that seem to be a great deal.

It's allways a good idea to get the largest view of field, but keep in mind that the 'exit pupil' should not exeed 7mm, better 5-6mm depending on sky conditions/light polution and eyes. (eyepiece mm devided by focal-ratio)

[jimieee]

Using the two default EPs that came with the 200P plus a 2x Barlow, I did the newbie thing of checking out the moon which bloomin' dazzled me in both detail and brightness (note to self: might need to consider a filter for moon watching).

Before you splash out on the filter you could try putting the lid back on your scope and removing the dust cover from the round hole in it.

It sounds like you had a good little session. I wish I could get some clear skies for a change