First Light

[oohmygod831]

just had what i think was an amazing night at the scope. Finally got to use my new Explorer 150.

had been watching the sky all day and about 3pm thought i stood a good chance that it would be clear at night and low and behold it was.

Set up the scope in my back garden at 5pm and just left it there, didnt actually get out to observe till 8pm (had to put youngest to bed first)

Thought id start out safe and view objects i already knew so i started with Pleadies with the 25MM EP and i was surprised that it only just fit into the FOV (think it looks better through binos) then moved onto Orion, another of my favorites as ive recognized that constellation since i was a kid. Got M42 into view first with the 25mm then upto the 10mm EP, i could see a good deal of nebulosity (is that the correct term?)

i then had a quick look at Mars which was a brilliant disk although i couldnt see any real detail even with the 10mm and the Barlow.

I then stood back from the scope and just looked up at the sky wondering what to look at next when i saw a three bright stars to the east and i didnt recognize the constellation at all, so i fired up the laptop and ran Stellarium and i finally realized i was looking at, Algieba - Regulus and Saturn. I quickly lined up finder scope with Saturn and tried the 25mm EP and yes i could make out a small disk with a small bump on either side. Next the 10mm EP and the image was slightly bigger but no more detail so i put the barlow in with the 10mm EP and holy c**p i was blown away. i could plainly see Saturn in my scope. The image in the scope was Saturn which looked like it was in the middle of a cloudy area and i think i could make out three of its moons, one to the left and two to the right.

I couldnt believe it, the first time i use my scope and i see Saturn, i have wanted to see it as long as i can remember. i ran into the house to find the kids watching Harry Potter on DVD.

"Do you want to come and see something really cool" i said.

my 10 year old Jack said oh yes and jumped up to get dressed and come outside with me.

i lined up scope and got him to kneel on a chair to look through the EP.

"WOW, COOL , Thats amazing" he shouted.

"Yeah, i know" i said. We stayed there for a good 15 mins taking turns looking through the scope and trying to take a picture with my digital camera but my hands were shaking too much so i just got a blur.

When we went in i went upstairs to tell my wife. "ive just seen Saturn" i said.

"Santa, oh how is he" was the reply. Sarcastic sod

I had a great night viewing and look forward to many more. I think though i might change to a red dot finder as i found it quite hard at times trying to find things with the finder scope.

[thing]

Great report there. I had my first look at Saturn tonight too, I went indoors to get the missus, who to be fair isn't interested in astronomy and she said 'Oh I'm just bidding on E-Bay.'.......Here we are with one of the greatest sights in the sky and she's bidding on e-bay.......still, she makes a nice salad, and she did have a look at the Moon last week for all of ten seconds.

[Sam]

Looks like we're all in the same boat. I saw Saturn for the first time last night to while my wife was out at the movies. I took a picture of it and kids were amazed this morning when I showed them - the wife thought it was nice to.

[Azelfafage]

Time Helen or another female entered the fray here - what with these comments plus the lady on another thread who was invited outside but then had to dash off to bingo, woman are getting a bad press on the Lounge right now

A