My first attempt at observing

[daaveyboy]

After nearly 1 year of looking for a scope I finally took the plunge and I am now the proud owner of a Celestron 11" OTA on a AZ EQ6-GT GEQ & Alt-Az Mount (many thanks to Martin at first light optics very helpful ) finally tried to set up everything last night on the off chance the cloud would clear but around 10.30 all I could see was a part view of the moon although it was cloudy It was still worth a look at very clear detail on the bit I could see.I tried looking to the East at a bright star and noticed 3 small specs very near to it, I am thinking that I was looking at Jupiter and 3 of the many moons am I correct if so not bad for my first night out!

Here's hoping for a better night in the not to distant future.

[brantuk]

Last night was pretty moist in the air - do you have dew control installed? Whatever you do don't wipe dew off mirrors or lenses with a cloth or hanky - just let them dry off naturally. Point the scope slightly down so any condensation runs out of the end of the tube when you put it away for the night.

What you saw certainly does sound like Jupiter if the dots either side were in a row. But with an 11" on a clear night of good seeing you will get a lot of detail with the right eyepiece and magnification - you should see the bands quite sharp and clear. Hth

[swamp thing]

That's a cracking first scope

Glad you enjoyed the views of the moon.

It would seem that your 11" scope wasn't pointing at Jupiter, else you would have seen Jupiter.

In an 11" scope it's gonna be instantly recognisable.

[Andy_E]

Just thinking the same... certainly trumps my current set up! That thing is seriously going to open up the skies for you.

[Tinker1947]

Were you using the EP that came with the scope and do you know the size, my C11 came with a 40mm 1.25 EP which properly will show Jupiter as a star plus is moon's....

[brantuk]

Were you using the EP that came with the scope and do you know the size, my C11 came with a 40mm 1.25 EP which properly will show Jupiter as a star plus is moon's....

Yup - that's what I was thinking when I mentioned the "right eyepiece and magnification". Low power wide field ep's will just show it like 15x70 binoculars. At fl=2.8m a 40mm ep is only going to yield 70x mag

[Tinker1947]

Yup - that's what I was thinking when I mentioned the "right eyepiece and magnification". Low power wide field ep's will just show it like 15x70 binoculars. At fl=2.8m a 40mm ep is only going to yield 70x mag

Add to that the really bad supplied focuser (well i think it is) it will need more than one nights veiwing to get used to the very tight focus movement...

[daaveyboy]

I had a good sky Sunday and I have now definitely seen Jupiter very light/straw brown in colour with 2 darker bands running horizontally across with 1 moon to the right and 3 moons to the left,Well worth the wait.now for something else,when is Saturn in a good position for viewing?

[Naemeth]

I had a good sky Sunday and I have now definitely seen Jupiter very light/straw brown in colour with 2 darker bands running horizontally across with 1 moon to the right and 3 moons to the left,Well worth the wait.now for something else,when is Saturn in a good position for viewing?

Saturn is currently visible in the morning (about 5:00am, best around 6:00am) towards the SE horizon .