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what should i look for tonight, first time out

Conork87

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Conork87

Conork87

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so i finally bought an 8inch dob skywatcher last week, i have zero observing experience under my belt but i have some clear skies tonight and i am going to give it a shot. apart from the moon are there any other easy targets to find? i'll let anyone who's interested know how it went regardless.

cheers. 

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Piero

Piero

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If I were you, I would download Stellarium first, so that you can get an idea where these objects are. 

You will need to spend a bit of time to align your finder. Just point it to a bright source (e.g. a street light or anything that does not move and is easy to locate). To do this, you should put an eyepiece in the eyepiece holder and adjust the finder so that both point to the same object. 

It would be better if you do this when it is still clear. With time you will be efficient at doing this, so don't worry if at the beginning it takes a bit. 

After that, I would go for easy targets. There are plenty of targets that your telescope is able to show you or to spot, but for now, it is important that you get acquainted with your telescope and that you enjoy as much as you can. :)

I would also suggest (see where these objects are in Stellarium before going out directly. You might need to print some map possibly): 

- The Moon: you will see nice shadow throughout the moon slice. :)

- Double Cluster: two lovely close open clusters located between Perseus and Cassiopeia. There are some wonderful red stars too nearby these two clusters.

- Andromeda Galaxy: If you look at East, you will see a Square of stars. That is the Pegasus square. If you move to North gradually, you will see a two stars in succession connecting to one stars belonging to this square. These two stars are Mirach and Almaak (this points to Perseus). From Mirach, just move West for a couple of bright stars. You should see Andromeda which will appear as a nice fuzzy object spreading on your eyepiece field. Give a try if you can spot M32 and M110, the galaxy companions of Andromeda Galaxy. They are quite close. 

- Albireo, a double star gem, also called Beta Cygni. It is the head of the Cygnus constellation and will be almost at the Zenith. 

- (+, if you have time) IC4665 "The Summer Beehive Cluster", located next to the star Cebalrai in Ophiuchus. 

Personally I would go for M57, M27 and M13 another time after mastering a little bit of star hopping. They are not impossible at all, but they might require a bit of practice which means some time. :) 

Good luck and hope you enjoy! :)

Piero

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Conork87

Conork87

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Have everything set up and was able to see the moon fine, was scanning the sky and had a really bright objet fly by just below Orion's Belt, ISS or maybe just a shooting star? Can't seem to get the other 10 by eye piece to work, nothing but darkness when I put it in, even when playing around and trying to focus.

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tomato

tomato

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As a beginner I always struggled with the finder scope, and I had much more success when I moved to a Telrad finder. It's not to everyone's liking but I really like how you can move from a naked eye view to the finder without the restriction of looking through a narrow eyepiece. Yes, it's another piece of kit to purchase but astronomy seems to have that effect...

The illuminated degree circles help with hopping from star to star without losing your way and if you download Stellarium you can project the finder circles onto your screen view then do it for real on the night sky.

Hope the clouds stayed away

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Piero

Piero

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Orion is below the horizon, so you cannot have observed the Orion's belt. It might have been a satellite or a shooting star.

Apart from the moon, all the suggested targets do not require your 10mm eyepiece, but the 25mm will be okay. 

I leave Dobs members to comment about the 10mm. 

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Mrbloke

Mrbloke

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Beat me to it!  Orion won't rise till about 2am.  I get a good view of it on my way to work at 5am.  There are plenty of good things to look at with the 25mm.  The 10mm is not that well regarded.

Have you done stellerium yet?  It really helps to track down targets.

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Conork87

Conork87

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Oh ok, I noticed three bright stars close together in somewhat of a line and figured it was Orion's Belt, I have a lot to learn, I'm waiting on turn left at Orion to arrive and maybe then I can make some progress.

As for tonight I had to call it quits, I need to invest in a good chair and there was something large making weird noises in the wood beside me and I didn't feel like making friends.

One thing that took me by surprise though was how many more stars appeared once I looked through the eyepiece, they're everywhere.

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goose35

goose35

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You will see many thing fly through the eye piece. I had a low aircraft fly by, all i say is i needed a shovel :)

You likely saw a satelite but not iss its big and bright even to the eye.

As for the number of stars its amazing, you will find all the above targets stunning. I especially like the double cluster at the moment.

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Conork87

Conork87

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Can anyone with a dob tell me why it's not possible to see stars through the 10mm eye piece. With the 25 the sky is full of them, with the 10, nothing. I was able to view the moon through the 10 so I'm certain it's working fine.

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Mrbloke

Mrbloke

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If the moon is working, then it should be ok. Try finding one of the brightest stars overhead at the moment with the 25mm, Vega, Deneb or Arcturus will do. Get the star in the very centre of your view. Now, without knudging the scope, swap the eyepiece for the 10mm. You will likely have to refocus. Everything will be darker in the 10mm as there is less light available to magnify.

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Mrbloke

Mrbloke

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Mmm, better is not the right word. The 25mm and the 10mm will provide you with different magnifications. What you are looking at (or for) will determine what magnification will 'frame' it best.

Firstly please check that your finder scope is aligned to your main scope. It will be tricky finding anything otherwise!

Based on the great lists above provided by gnomus and BigSumorian, you would likely want to use the 25mm on andromeda, the dumbbell nebula and the double cluster (zooming is optional). Use the 25mm to find the others, then switch into the 10mm to magnify it.

Personally, I would start with Stellerium. Search for M57 (the ring nebula) and look where it sits in Lyra. It's bang in the middle of one sides of the parallelogram so is not too difficult to find. Lyra is pretty much directly over your head in the early evening, so if skies are clear, you should get a good view.

Secondly, I would look for Albireo, it's not too far from M57 and at the end of Cygnus, if your skies are not bad, you should be able to see it with the naked eye. In the telescope it is a beautiful double star with a blue companion.

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BritAngler

BritAngler

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As far as quality is concerned, the 25mm is good, the 10mm less than (though still useable, I took the early decision to replace that one ASAP).

Are there any astro clubs in your area? If so I'd strongly suggest joining one (or more, I'm a member of 3 of the 4 local clubs, the 4th is in a worse position than my home when it comes to light pollution, and they hardly go out observing anyway which is the main consideration for me).

+1 for Stellarium, free download for PC's, small fee for mobiles. Cartes du Ciel is another good (and free) download.

Books, Turn Left At Orion is highly recommended plus Norton's Star Atlas (the maps are IMO unsurpassed by any book).

A good Planesphere, easy to use and invaluable for finding the main constellations. Best used with a red torch, preferably one that straps to your forehead such as this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00AYXG3E0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

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