First light

[Ju Piter]

hi everyone I have beenn lurking In the sgl forums for quite a while picking up great advice and tips.so I finally decided to get myself a telescope I opted for the heritage 130p,delux barlow,collimation cap and moon filter mainly just to get me going.well it all arrived today.setup well what setup it is all ready setup so a quick check on collimation only needed a slight adjustment to primary mirror and then checked clearoutside by flo(great app).it forecast no cloud from 4 pm till 10 pm and was spot on i put the scope outside to cool at about 9pm waited till 9.30 went outside but it was still not dark but i could see a couple of bright stars so i thought now is the time to align the red dot finder popped my 25mm ep in found a bright star to start aligning.WOW i only picked Jupiter a gorgeous round disc with 4 moons i was so pleased i did a little dance.so i thought i would try my 10mm ep and OMG i could see the 2 bands around it i was awestruck so quickly told the misses to come and have a look.another OMG from her and that's just amazing.i think ive found something that will keep me interested for years to come and i cant believe a telescope this cheap can give such fantastic views.i know im on the slippery slope now(got some bst starguiders on my radar)but this really is something i should of done years ago.wishing you all clear skies.

[Floater]

Great, isn't it? Have fun

[JemC]

Hi and welcome to SGL

Glad to see you are enjoying it, it gets better you know

[Qualia]

i think ive found something that will keep me interested for years to come and i cant believe a telescope this cheap can give such fantastic views.i know im on the slippery slope now(got some bst starguiders on my radar)but this really is something i should of done years ago.wishing you all clear skies.

That's great news, Ju and it's nice to hear you had good time with the evening sky Wait until you see Saturn! It's low this year but it's still putting on a spectacular display. Look forward to more reports and congratulations on your first light

[ghostdance]

And it does nothing but get better from first light on in... You are going to see treats galore over the summer, and when Orion swings into your skies next winter.....hoo boy!

Saturn in the South is becoming more and more doable too - 1 to 2am isn't *so* late (compared to the recent 3-4am) and as Qualia said...wowee! Sheer elegant dance-inducing beauty! So much to see and look forward to. Happy (star) trails

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Welcome to SGL. Great first-light report. Even after 37 years of observing, I still regularly do a little dance

[ngwillym]

And he hasn't seen Saturn yet.

[Ju Piter]

thanks for all the comments I am still buzzing today looks like I will be out for a few hours tonight as clearoutside says no cloud cover from 3 pm till 6 am .Saturn is mine tonight(hahaha)I knew my insomnia would come in handy one day.i still cant believe the detail I was able to see in the bands with this little telescope and the standard 10mm ep plus the sky was still quite light.after Saturn im going for a couple of clusters tonight so would be extremely gratefull if you could give me the names of which are the easiest to see with this scope.i can then look them up and plan a session later(like waiting for Christmas).thanks again for all your kind words you guys are awesome.next stop eyepiece forum

[JimStanley]

If you haven't done so already, check out Stellarium. It is free to download and is easy to use, and will give you some great options to look for.

Jim

[Ju Piter]

If you haven't done so already, check out Stellarium. It is free to download and is easy to use, and will give you some great options to look for.

Jim

hi jim I have so many astronomy apps and software but I like stellarium the best I have the pc and smartphone version .I have been lurking In the forums for about 6 months and have gathered so much information from the awesome people here before I decided to buy.

[laudropb]

Nothing quite like your first observations. They will stay with you for life, but there is so much more to come. Enjoy .........

[ghostdance]

Ju Piter, tonight just have a look a little bit right of your namesake planet (good King Jove) to see M44 the buzzy Beehive open cluster - it is a classic and rewards greatly. If you are intending to stay up for the jawdropping Saturn, you could try for M13, the legendary globular cluster in Hercules. Software such as Stellarium or Sky Safari will greatly assist in tracking it down, or any good starchart.

Have a great night! May stay up again for Saturn myself, clouds and oh-so-patient wife permitting

[stu640]

Welcome! I'm still buzzing from an almost identical experience to you a few nights ago, except Mrs Stu was not quite so excited...

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[Ju Piter]

thanks ghostdance I will defo have a look at m44 after ive been amazed again by Jupiter.i have been an insomniac for along time so staying up is just the norm for me but now I will have all these exciting things to look for while I cant sleep.and my partner is fantastic she said if I stayed up really late starthingying(her words bless)she will take the kids out tomorrow so I can try and get some sleep so win win for me

[andyb505]

Welcome. Like you I bought a Heritage 130p as I was not sure I would take to astronomy! But, like you, I was astounded at how good the scope is (although I have little to compare it too) and I have not stopped using it since I got it.

Have started to find my way around the night sky and invested in a couple of extra eye pieces, that are much better than the ones supplied.

I took the scope to Cornwall on holiday with friends last year and we all did a little dance of delight when we managed to find and see Saturn!

So impressed with this scope that I am thinking about upgrading to a larger Skywatcher Dob

Andrew.

[Astro Imp]

Great to read your first light report, we're spoilt at the moment just as Jupiter starts to move way along comes Saturn, doesn't get much better 

Keep enjoying your observing, these first views will stay with you for a long time.

[Space Beagle]

Like the enthusiasm!

It rubs off on all of us!

thanks for all the comments I am still buzzing today looks like I will be out for a few hours tonight as clearoutside says no cloud cover from 3 pm till 6 am .Saturn is mine tonight(hahaha)I knew my insomnia would come in handy one day.i still cant believe the detail I was able to see in the bands with this little telescope and the standard 10mm ep plus the sky was still quite light.after Saturn im going for a couple of clusters tonight so would be extremely gratefull if you could give me the names of which are the easiest to see with this scope.i can then look them up and plan a session later(like waiting for Christmas).thanks again for all your kind words you guys are awesome.next stop eyepiece forum

I wouldn't worry about getting too keen about new eyepieces etc just yet! Just enjoy yourself for now! Extra kit will suggest itself when it is needed.

Doc

[LeeB]

I have to say as a hobby it does have an uncanny ability to make a tough day at work melt away, and put a big smile on my face. Next advice, Go to a meeting and get to know other astro people.

[Ju Piter]

just an update guys.so I got out for 4 hours last night and marvelled at Jupiter for about 2 hours until it was just about below the horizon this gave time for Saturn to rise above the house rooftops.i never knew saturn was that easy to see with the naked eye a shimmering light yellow wonder.so now for the serious stuff in went my 10mm ep aligned using the red dot finder which I must say is really accurate once calibrated.WOW you guys really have been holding back how good this planet looks. to say I was speechless would be a massive understatement.clearly visible rings nothing like what ive seen from a lot of a pictures but a lot lot better so clearly visible.i watched this marvel for what seemed like 15 minutes pulled myself away to go make a coffee doing a little dance as I went inside then realised I had been looking at her(yes SHE is the new love of my life hahaha)for an hour.made my coffee and went back outside.located her again but this time I thought I would try the 10mm ep in my barlow.as soon as my eye looked through that ep and got focus I must of entered the twilight zone it was so surreal to see this beautifull planet so clear and crisp with a definite division between the two rings I actually nearly cried.the 130x with this scope and planets is wonderfull.one thing I must say to people new to astronomy is make sure your telescope is properly collimated a this has made a HUGE difference in clarity mine was only slightly out but the difference when collimated properly is like night and day and its so easy to do.well that's enough rambling from me onwards and upwards and wishing you all clear skies

[Warped Drive]

I have pretty much the same set up. I bought a BST 5mm ED and although this gives 130X the same as the 10mm and the Barlow the view is chalk and cheese. Jupiter was my first target with it and I got double, no triple the OMG factor. I am really looking forward to Saturn if I can get to see it I believe it is quite low so the trees and the college building at the end of my garden might not allow me to. 

[Moon-Watcher]

.i think ive found something that will keep me interested for years to come and i cant believe a telescope this cheap can give such fantastic views.i know im on the slippery slope now(got some bst starguiders on my radar)but this really is something i should of done years ago.wishing you all clear skies.

Ditto...

[Moon-Watcher]

just an update guys.so I got out for 4 hours last night and marvelled at Jupiter for about 2 hours until it was just about below the horizon this gave time for Saturn to rise above the house rooftops.i never knew saturn was that easy to see with the naked eye a shimmering light yellow wonder.

Hi,

You are just over a month ahead of me.  Just as soon as I make enough room in house to assemble my 200p dobsonian (nearly done. lot of unwanted junk!), I will be searching for Saturn too...

Cheers,

Mark

[Ju Piter]

Nice scope mark you will have a lot of fun with it.saturn and jupiter are a sight to behold if the seeing is good.double stars and globular clusters are what im looking at now everytime i see a new cluster or double star its my new favourite object just cant wait for the long dark winter nights literally like waiting for christmas haha

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