Orion Nebula

[Jay1989]

Well I've just been out looking at the Orion Nebula for the very first time, spent over an hour just staring at it

It's completely exceeded my expectations, absolutely stunning, I just wish I could figure out how to take a pic of it

Stunning, truly stunning

[laudropb]

It's certainly a stunning area of the sky.

[Jay1989]

Definitely is mate, it's definitely the best thing I've seen through my scope so far

Just waiting for Jupiter to pop up now, not much longer to wait now, should be in the sky on the south after midnight with the moon in hot pursuit

[knobby]

A snap off the back of my DSLR with my phone

[Jay1989]

That's a good shot, making me jealous lol

Well, the moon and Jupiter has come up so I'm off out with the scope again

[Craig20264]

That's a good shot, making me jealous lol

Well, the moon and Jupiter has come up so I'm off out with the scope again

Oh, joy. I need some more light!   

[Astro Imp]

Great reports here, love to see newcomers enjoying their new scopes.

When you have been looking at the Orion nebula have you been using your lowest power eyepiece? I f you have try taking a look at the central part with a bit of magnification, about x100/x150, you will then see the trapezium, four stars of which are easily observed and depending on the sky and your equipment there are two more not too difficult and several others that require large scopes to see. This is a wonderful area of the sky which can keep you looking for ages.

Good luck and enjoy the views.

[Jay1989]

Yeah I've been using the lowest power eyepiece, I only have a 25mm and a 10mm so far, use the 25 for most things

I'll have a look at that next time I go out currently chucking it down with rain and really windy which doesn't look like it's going to clear any time soon

[estwing]

orion is wonderful...in dark skies with no moon.... there's no better sight in the sky

[Jay1989]

Definitely mate, I live about 10 miles away from any street light and I was viewing about an hour and a half before moonrise so the sky was perfect

[estwing]

Definitely mate, I live about 10 miles away from any street light and I was viewing about an hour and a half before moonrise so the sky was perfect

mate on here used to go to crowdy res to view...but a few unwelcome visitors go at night...I have relatives in Delabole...

[RikM]

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/skywatcher-universal-camera-adapter.html

Or

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/baader-microstage-clickstop-digital-camera-adapter.html

Can be used for attaching a compact camera for eyepiece projection.

You would probably do better to connect your Nikon via a http://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/t-rings.html

One thing you should be aware of is that a Dobsonian is first and foremost a 'visual' instrument. If you are interested in astrophotography of deep sky objects, one of the best resources on the web is our own imaging forum http://stargazerslounge.com/forum/8-imaging/

If you take the time to browse through the boards here at SGL you will find the best help and advice available online anywhere. http://stargazerslounge.com/forum/43-primers-and-tutorials/
http://stargazerslounge.com/forum/184-getting-started-with-imaging/

[rockystar]

Great reports here, love to see newcomers enjoying their new scopes.

When you have been looking at the Orion nebula have you been using your lowest power eyepiece? I f you have try taking a look at the central part with a bit of magnification, about x100/x150, you will then see the trapezium, four stars of which are easily observed and depending on the sky and your equipment there are two more not too difficult and several others that require large scopes to see. This is a wonderful area of the sky which can keep you looking for ages.

Good luck and enjoy the views.

What kind of conditions do I need to see the other two?

I was viewing it last night from my garden (about 4.5 NELM) with a 7mm eyepiece (x143), I can easily make out the 4 main stars but have never seen the other 2 - I think the seeing was pretty good last night, it was before the moon or the fireworks arrived.

So was wondering what it was I needed: darker skies, more magnification, more aperture, steadier atmosphere? 

[Jay1989]

I have a telescope mount for my camera, ordered one to hold my Iphone too but that hasn't arrived yet

Rik, cheers mate, I only noticed the imaging forum today, have started reading through the tutorials and tips now

[Dave In Vermont]

The first one linked to FLO by Rik - above - is branded 'Skywatcher.' I have the identical article - branded 'Celestron.' These can be found on the web from Amazon.com, and many other places too. The lowest price I've seen was from Orion-USA. Seems they got a load of complaints from buyers who couldn't get the thing to work properly. There are two reasons why this was: 1. Their cameras wouldn't fit. 2. The actions were terribly stiff and any attempt made to fine-tune the action during use would knock the settings out of whack - so the user needed to start their set-up all over again. Here's my take:

1. If you buy it, make certain that where you get it from will accept returns if your camera won't fit. Orion & such will. Uncle Honest-Ernie's House-O-Stolen Goods may well not.

2. If your camera fits, do this: Get a good quality bicycle-grease that contains Teflon® (Super Lube) and carefuly grease the threads. Remove the excess grease - grease & optics don't mix - work it into the actions back & forth several times. Remove any excess that may appear from the threads. Ta Da!

Now it should work like a champ!

Have fun!

Dave

[NosyTrader]

Agreed, Orion's Nebula hasn't got boring for me in the year or so I've been using my scope. It's just so amazing. Took a snap of it recently which was a big achievement for me! I use a nexstar evo 8, and used a 6.3 reducer for the first time yesterday. Made my whole experience even better. Loved being able to fit more into view! I'd read about reducers being used for imaging but def worth using it for viewing too for my scope.

[DRT]

The first one linked to FLO by Rik - above - is branded 'Skywatcher.' I have the identical article - branded 'Celestron.' These can be found on the web from Amazon.com, and many other places too. The lowest price I've seen was from Orion-USA. Seems they got a load of complaints from buyers who couldn't get the thing to work properly.

I bought one of these from Orion via Amazon and it was awful (for the reasons you describe) so returned it. it took about a month but I did eventually get my money back.

[DRT]

Well I've just been out looking at the Orion Nebula for the very first time, spent over an hour just staring at it

It's completely exceeded my expectations, absolutely stunning, I just wish I could figure out how to take a pic of it

Stunning, truly stunning

Orion was one of the first things I looked at that got me hooked on this hobby - it is simply wonderful to look at!

You could try taking  a picture through your 25mm eyepiece using an iPhone or similar. It takes some practice to get the camera in the correct position an something like Orion will be difficult to get into focus as it is quite dim so probably best practicing on the Moon or Jupiter first to get an idea of how you need to position the phone.

[Jay1989]

Yeah, I did try taking some shots of the moon through the eyepiece, found it very difficult to keep my phone in the right place, I ordered a mount to hold my phone the other day, just waiting for it to arrive then I'll give it another shot

[Stu]

It's certainly doable with a smartphone, just take lots of pictures and keep the best of them, or crop out the good bits.