First night with the new scope!

[DevonSkies]

After a long break from astronomy (I had previously only used binoculars) I decided to treat myself to a new telescope last week last week, and my Skywatcher 250PX Dobsonian arrived on Tuesday. After anxiously following the weather forecast for the next couple of days, I spotted the possibility of clear skies last night (Thursday-Friday) and crossed my fingers. Sure enough, by 23.30 the clouds were starting to part, and by midnight it was clear enough to start observing for the first time. So out went the scope into the back garden!

My first target was the great nebula in Orion. What a sight! Despite a moderately light-polluted sky (moon just below the horizon?) it was far more impressive than I've ever seen it before. I spent some time enjoying it with different eyepieces to get a feel for the effect of varying fields of view (a friend has lent me a selection of optics to try out).

Next, I turned my attention to the Pleiades - one of my all-time favourite objects, and probably best viewed in binoculars. The finderscope gave a good view, but to be honest the magnification of the Dob was too great to take in the shape of the cluster, even with a 34mm wide field eyepiece.

Just getting the hang of the finderscope, I tried to locate M31 in Andromeda. My star-hopping failed me this time, so I decided to browse my star chart app for a different target that might be easier to locate. I decided to try the Crab Nebula, as it's an object I'd never observed before in bins and I thought it would be a good first real test for the Dob. A few minutes star-hopping later, there it was - a bright smudge in the centre of my view. It was very satisfying to find an object I hadn't seen before!

Back to Andromeda. This time I revisited the star chart and had another go at locating the galaxy. This time I did a better job, and M31 popped into view as I scanned the scope across the area where I expected to find it. The galaxy filled the whole field even with the 34mm eyepiece, although it was very dim towards the edges. Definitely one to revisit on a darker night. A sister galaxy (M110?) was also plain to see. With a bit of concentration I could make out a dust band one side of M31.

Later in the night (went to bed at 2am!) I caught sight of Jupiter and its moons rising alongside our own moon. Again, the first time I have seen a planet through a telescope, and it was a great feeling. The disc was paler than expected, almost washed out, but I could make out 2 bands across the middle of the planet. Several moons were also clearly visible. Slightly disappointingly I was unable to focus the image as sharply as I would have liked (using a borrowed Televue Nagler 6mm). I haven't collimated my scope yet, so possibly this was to blame. Also, the planet was low in the sky so atmospheric effects no doubt played a part.

All in all, a great first evening out with the new scope. After viewing the objects I already knew, I was left with a feeling of "what should I look at next?". I was keen to try a globular cluster, but couldn't spot any in my charts. When my copy of "Turn Left at Orion" arrives I hope I will be able to plan my observing sessions in a more organised way!

The Dobsonian mount turned out to be a good choice for me. The simple setup and ease of manoeuvering suits me well. It's only a shame I can't quite reach the eyepiece from a sitting on a chair!

Anyway, thanks for reading! And thanks to FLO for their excellent service and advice in supplying my scope!

Ed

[des anderson]

Hi Ed,nice report.Glad you had some clear sky`s to try your new scope.the book "turn left at Orion" will go hand in hand with your scope,and there are some very good astro downloads that are free,which I`m sure someone will post for you,which will help a lot.Jupiter takes a lot of getting used to and always looked washed out.....but when it`s a bit higher,after the new year,it will come into it`s own,just be a bit patiente with it and you will be rewarded,a yellow and red filter works well,also there`s a  very good filter from Televue called a bandmate, which will show the red spot,when visible,also good for Mars.Des

[Astro Imp]

Hi Ed, pleased you managed to get out with your new scope and treat us to a great report.

A couple of things spring to mind:-

i) As you got your scope new from FLO you doubtless had to install the mirror so collimation is likely to be off.

ii) A good guide to what's about is To-night's Sky:- http://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php

HTH and good luck.

[DevonSkies]

Hi Ed, pleased you managed to get out with your new scope and treat us to a great report.

A couple of things spring to mind:-

i) As you got your scope new from FLO you doubtless had to install the mirror so collimation is likely to be off.

ii) A good guide to what's about is To-night's Sky:- http://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php

HTH and good luck.

Hi Alan,

The mirrors were already fitted when I received my scope. But I have no doubt it could do with adjustment: I'll have a go at this once I'm confident of the procedure!

Regards,

Ed

[laudropb]

A very nice first light report. You will have to collimated your scope,but the disappointing views of Jupiter will also be due to the fact that it was low in the sky and the atmosphere will have been turbulent. Best of luck with your new scope.

[rockystar]

I think that feeling of "what next?" is great, and will keep you busy during the shocking English weather we are having at the moment.

Nice report and a productive first session - M1 is on my list the next time I manage to get out

[Size9Hex]

Good stuff. I took delivery of the same model scope recently, and I'm loving it. For me, the views through the scope on arrival (pre-collimation) didn't seem bad, and it was definitely usable immediately on delivery, but the view through the 10mm eye piece in particular just wasn't quite right. When I checked collimation with a cheshire, it looked nothing like the nicely aligned pictures. Interesting that it was still passable in terms of performance despite this. I collimated using the instructions in the manual, and the link below which explains it quite simply. "Try turning one of the adjusters, if it helps, do it some more, if not turn it back" sort of thing. Makes you realise it's not a procedure to be too daunted by. Hope you enjoy the new toy :-)

http://www.garyseronik.com/?q=node/169

[baggywrinkle]

Very nice report. Glad you are enjoying the scope.

[DevonSkies]

Good stuff. I took delivery of the same model scope recently, and I'm loving it. For me, the views through the scope on arrival (pre-collimation) didn't seem bad, and it was definitely usable immediately on delivery, but the view through the 10mm eye piece in particular just wasn't quite right. When I checked collimation with a cheshire, it looked nothing like the nicely aligned pictures. Interesting that it was still passable in terms of performance despite this. I collimated using the instructions in the manual, and the link below which explains it quite simply. "Try turning one of the adjusters, if it helps, do it some more, if not turn it back" sort of thing. Makes you realise it's not a procedure to be too daunted by. Hope you enjoy the new toy :-)

http://www.garyseronik.com/?q=node/169

Thanks for the link! Good to hear that the you found the collimation straightforward. I've ordered a Cheshire and a collimation cap, so I'll give it a go next week. Even without collimation I was relieved to find the performance at low magnification very satisfactory, but I'm sure some adjustment will be essential to get the most out of the higher magnifications.

[DevonSkies]

So, I collimated the scope over the weekend. I mostly used a colli cap to align the secondary and used both a Cheshire and a borrowed laser to align and check the primary. I needed to adjust everything a little, although to be fair it wasn't set up too badly in the factory.

I went out again last night to enjoy the clear skies that many of us had. I spent quite a while trying to separate binaries in Orion (the "Dobsonian Doubles" in Turn Left at Orion). I was pleased to separate Rigel easily, despite the mag 6.5 brightness difference between the stars. I used a BST Starguider 8mm eyepiece. However, I struggled with some of the other close doubles, e.g. Eta Orionis and 32 Orionis. I simply could not resolve the individual stars clearly - at high magnification, Eta appeared as a small shimmering blob, and only with a bit of imagination and concentration could I convince myself there might actually be two stars.

As a beginner, I don't really have an idea of how challenging doubles like Eta Orionis are to a 10" Dob under typical UK seeing conditions. I think my collimation is OK - a basic defocussed star test revealed a symmetrical doughnut shape with concentric Airy rings visible at high magnification. Was my difficulty in separating the close doubles likely to be due to poor seeing conditions (turbulence) or is it more a matter of practice?

Ed

[DevonSkies]

Well, tonight I had an unexpected bonus observing session as the skies cleared for an hour or so before 10.30pm. I tried again with Eta Orionis, and after a while - bingo! I was able to split the double quite comfortably using the lowly Skywatcher MA 10mm that came with my scope, combined with a 2x Barlow. So my failure to split the system last night must simply have been down to seeing conditions. I'm really quite pleased with the capabilities of my new scope, and I'm learing an awful lot about observing in the process!

[spike95609]

I'm glad to hear you're getting on well with the 250px. I bought mine at about this time last year, and 12 months on it's still surprising me with what it's able to pluck out of the sky. Your earlier post about Jupiter sounds like atmospheric interference to me. When I first bought my 6mm I tried it out on a poor night and could only see a mess in Jupiter, but a few nights later it was very clear and steady, and I could make out quite a lot of detail fading in and out. Next to M31 you should also be able to make out M32 and M110 - 32 is very close to 31, if you imagine the plane of the galaxy to be a flat line then 32 is at a 45° angle away from the core. M110 is a bit further out on the opposite side of the galaxy, perpendicular to the plane.

[Feral Rabbit]

Thank you for sharing your experience. There is nothing quite like first light with a scope and to see objects that you've never seen before.

Regards

[Charic]

Sounds like your having fun and success with your new scope.

Go visit a proper, unpolluted observing site and be amazed? The difference is stunning!

Given that your scope appears to be collimated, the seeing conditions will affect the result, hence one night its good, the next its bad, but good-bad-good can happen in the space of ten minutes?

With the finderscope, try finding with both eyes open? And folk will see you purchased a cap and a Cheshire! You only eed one or the other, the Cheshire will be more accurate. Put a 1mm hole in the focuser dust cap, and you have a collimation cap!

Dark nights to you, but if you can get to a darker site, you wont belive its the same scope, even my 70° afov eyepiece is not big enough for Andromeda from my dark site!

[baggywrinkle]

' but good-bad-good can happen in the space of ten minutes?'

Can even happen in seconds in this country.....

[DevonSkies]

Sounds like your having fun and success with your new scope.

Go visit a proper, unpolluted observing site and be amazed? The difference is stunning!

Given that your scope appears to be collimated, the seeing conditions will affect the result, hence one night its good, the next its bad, but good-bad-good can happen in the space of ten minutes?

With the finderscope, try finding with both eyes open? And folk will see you purchased a cap and a Cheshire! You only eed one or the other, the Cheshire will be more accurate. Put a 1mm hole in the focuser dust cap, and you have a collimation cap!

Dark nights to you, but if you can get to a darker site, you wont belive its the same scope, even my 70° afov eyepiece is not big enough for Andromeda from my dark site!

You're right about 'good to bad' in a matter of minutes - I noticed my ability separate the binary stars varying dramatically throughout the evening. I think I'll be checking out some dark sky sites soon...!

Ed