My first ever Observation

[Adamchiv]

Hi guys just wanted to give you an update on my first ever observation. The moon was about 20-25% lit and the sky was finally clear after a week of waiting. Luckily I had alligned the finder scope properly after work just for something to do. Grabbed my explorer 130 and headed outside, after some educated guessing for which lens etc I got an absolutely stunning image through the x10 lens that came with the scope. I was blown away, the craters were really sharp and apparent and the contrasts were lovely. I added the barlow lens and twiddled about, eventually got some lovely clean detail and made out some of the rugged peaks which contrasted really nicely with the flat clean surface. What struck me most was as the moon moved and I tracked it with the dec fine tuner is the sheer physicality and scale of the object which I something that came as a nice suprise. Wow. Im chuffed to bits to say the least and cant wait to start some planetary work. Need to get myself a lunar filter too and upgrade the barlow lens. 

So as a first timer, I can very happilly say that astronomy "is" for me, and if you aren't sure, please please give it a go.

Thanks to all the forum members that so kindly helped me with all my queires, I will give you an update of how my planetary obs go! 

Cant wait to see Jupiter and Saturn!!!!!

 

[triton1]

Congratulations that first view of the moon is somthing isn't it you will then get a bigger wow when you first get Jupiter in your sights and Saturn will blow your socks off.

[Astro Imp]

Cracking report Adam, that first view with your own scope in your own backyard will stay with you a long time.

May I suggest if you are keen to view the moon you download the free Virtual Moon Atlas:- https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon/

When you can start to identify features and know what you are looking at it makes the observing session much more interesting.

If you really get into Lunar observing the challenge of trying to observe the objects in the Lunar 100 makes you look for objects you might easily overlook and increases your knowledge and enjoyment.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Adamchiv]

Thanks guys, great advice astro imp, I cant wait to see what more the moon will offer, and no doubt I will be looking for the apollo 11 landing site! Just one of the billion things ive got to look forward to! 

[laudropb]

Very nice report on your first light. Glad everything went well and you enjoyed yourself. After all, that's what it's all about.

[Piero]

Wonderful first report! The Moon has plenty of features to discover with time using different magnifications. Interestingly, one of my favourite was a full moon at 15x just above the horizon, with a hint of soft clouds and trees. Jupiter is coming up so, you will be ready for another great target! Then Saturn! Mars will be a bit tricky as it is a small target requiring high magnification. And after this? 

Well.. the sky is the limit! Literally though!  Have fun with your telescope! 

Looking forward to reading your next report! 

Piero

[Astro Imp]

Hi Adam, you mention looking for the Apollo 11 site, here's a guide to view all the landing sites:- http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/how-to-see-all-six-apollo-moon-landing-sites/

HTH.

[Adamchiv]

47 minutes ago, Piero said:

Wonderful first report! The Moon has plenty of features to discover with time using different magnifications. Interestingly, one of my favourite was a full moon at 15x just above the horizon, with a hint of soft clouds and trees. Jupiter is coming up so, you will be ready for another great target! Then Saturn! Mars will be a bit tricky as it is a small target requiring high magnification. And after this? 

Well.. the sky is the limit! Literally though!  Have fun with your telescope! 

Looking forward to reading your next report! 

Piero

Thanks piero, im really looking forward to observing the full moon, I enjoy it through my binoculars but with the scope im sure im in for a real treat!! Gonna purchase a 4x planetary lens from skywatcher and hope to see the orange of mars, plus some jupiter detail if the gods are on my side! 

Adam

[Adamchiv]

32 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

Hi Adam, you mention looking for the Apollo 11 site, here's a guide to view all the landing sites:- http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/how-to-see-all-six-apollo-moon-landing-sites/

HTH.

 Hi astro imp, thats a superb link, much appreciated! Something thats really excited me is unbeknown to me I was actually looking at the archemedies area for a while... which seems to be where appollo 15 landed. It was amazing and such a clean contrast to the rockier surroundings. If only I knew....next time it will be even more special! Thanks again! 

[Size9Hex]

4 hours ago, Adamchiv said:

What struck me most was as the moon moved and I tracked it with the dec fine tuner is the sheer physicality and scale of the object...

...Cant wait to see Jupiter and Saturn!!!!!

That's a great report. Glad you enjoyed your first go with the new scope. The first view of the moon is awesome. Your point above struck a chord with me. First time I saw it up close in binoculars, it was transformed from a flat white circle in the sky into an incredible ball of rock in space.

You may already have a good grasp of this, but in case it's useful:

Saturn needs an early morning start to see right now, but will rise earlier each day, becoming more sociable for evening viewing later in the year.

Jupiter is becoming a nice target for late evening (and again rising a little earlier each night). It's unmissable as the brightest object in the eastern sky in late evening. Sirius is also a very bright star in vaguely the same region, which might catch you out, but Jupiter will be an obvious disc in the scope, whereas Sirius looks like a strobing disco ball! With Jupiter, a patient relaxed approach reveals more and more detail.

Good luck :-)

[Piero]

17 minutes ago, Adamchiv said:

Thanks piero, im really looking forward to observing the full moon, I enjoy it through my binoculars but with the scope im sure im in for a real treat!! Gonna purchase a 4x planetary lens from skywatcher and hope to see the orange of mars, plus some jupiter detail if the gods are on my side! 

Adam

Just a comment. The moon is generally more pleasant to see before the first quarter or after the last quarter. Those are the times where you have many shadows and you can get the most of its features. I observe a full moon with a short wide field refractor which shows 4.3 degrees at 15x. This view of the full moon was a bit more poetic than 'detail-hunting', and due to the fact that a low power eyepiece shows a brighter image (technically it has a long exit pupil), the observation is fine when the moon is low above the horizon, but not necessarily pleasant when the moon is high in the sky (just too bright for your eye).

Magnification is not all. If I were you I would not buy a 4x barlow lens. Actually, I would wait a bit before buying and read a lot first. Generally, barlow lens above 2-2.5x are more indicated for imaging than visual. 

Although a telescope might support high magnification, the seeing will always limit your maximum power. It is generally considered that here in the UK, 200x is nearly the higher useful magnification for planets. In your 130x this limit could be a bit less, likely 150x-170x when the seeing is very good. Therefore buying high power eyepieces or barlow lens requires some care to take into account. There are plenty of discussions about how to choose eyepieces, barlow lens etc. Feel free to start a new thread with your question.

What you really need is 

1. a cheshire collimator (e.g. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/other-collimation-tools/cheshire-collimating-eyepiece.html ) 

2. learning how to collimate your telescope - Moonshane wrote a super review about this. Worth reading: 

3a. After observing planets for a while, you might start being interested in observing other targets. Therefore you would need to learn your way in the sky, constellations etc. I suggest you to download the free open source software Stellarium http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/  (if you have a slow computer or a computer with a cheap graphic card, go for the version 12.x . 

3b. At least the first of the following books, although the second is a certainly worth reading:

Sky and Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Telescopes-Pocket-Atlas/dp/1931559317 

Turn left at Orion. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html 

These sources will keep you busy for a long while. 

3c. Steal  a nail red painter from your girlfriend / wife / whoever you know has one and get a small cheap torch. Then paint the glass so that it shows a dark red light. This will be your companion when you want to maintain your dark adaptation and use the pocket sky atlas.

4. Not now, but when you will start looking at DSO, you might want to replace your finder if this has a small fov. On this I am a bit awkward, so it is better if, at that time, you will start a new thread. There are plenty of ways to improve your way to search for targets. 

Finally:

Have a lot of fun with sensible expectations!

Don't worry about equipment right now, in particular eyepieces. 

All the best, Piero

 

[Linda]

Hi Adam.

Nice to see that you enjoyed your observation so much.

Have you installed Stellarium on your computer? In that program you can show the planet's path and change the time, so that you can see where the planets are in the sky when you are observing. Or when you should observe to see them.

[Adamchiv]

14 hours ago, Piero said:

Thanks for all the superb advice piero, I will be sure to follow these steps, wondering how to collimate this particular scope as I dont see a circle on the primary mirror to line the laser up with. Thanks, adam

 

 

[Adamchiv]

14 hours ago, Size9Hex said:

Hi, thanks for the tip, as I look out of my window I look north, to the right (east) I see a very bright star over the houses. My first thoughts were it may be jupiter, I looked through my binoculars (10x50) and it didnt show much, the light pollution aint great tho. Im hoping this is actually jupiter as its in a nice spot for me to observe besides the bad light. Around 2200 to 2300 its been there.

 

[Adamchiv]

6 hours ago, Linda said:

 

Hi linda, I no longer have a pc but do have stellarium on my phone, although when I start moving it around the sky orion for instance will move all over the place. It seems like the gps isnt really good enough for this to work, in saying that I havnt tried it outside yet as weather has been poor. I'll probably get a philips planisphere and see how that goes. I do enjoy finding objects with little technology if im honest. Thanks, adam

[Linda]

1 hour ago, Adamchiv said:

Hi linda, I no longer have a pc but do have stellarium on my phone, although when I start moving it around the sky orion for instance will move all over the place. It seems like the gps isnt really good enough for this to work, in saying that I havnt tried it outside yet as weather has been poor. I'll probably get a philips planisphere and see how that goes. I do enjoy finding objects with little technology if im honest. Thanks, adam

Hi.

A planisphere will not show the planets, but it shows constellations and deep sky objects. For planets you need some kind of live star map, like your app.

Your telephone might benefit from calibration, which you do by making flat 8 numbers with your phone. I presume you need an app to support calibration. Maybe your sky app has that option. I use SkEye and that app could calibrate. After I did that, my phone's compass improved a lot.

Even without a calibrated phone, the app will show you the planet's position in relation to a constellation, that you can then look up in the sky. And then your planisphere comes in handy.

[Linda]

If you know where the closest planets are, you can see and follow them every day when it is bright. They are easily visible and very bright. So you won't need technology every time. I also like to observe low-tech with only a paper sky atlas, but it happens that I use stellarium to look up the position of a planet or a comet, often before observing.

[cloudsweeper]

16 hours ago, Adamchiv said:

Thanks piero, im really looking forward to observing the full moon, I enjoy it through my binoculars but with the scope im sure im in for a real treat!! Gonna purchase a 4x planetary lens from skywatcher and hope to see the orange of mars, plus some jupiter detail if the gods are on my side! 

Adam

HI Adam - 

You're at the start of a great adventure.  I'm only months in myself!  The Moon never ceases to amaze, and as others have said, it is best when not too bright.  Venus (crescent), Mars (orange dot mostly), Jupiter (plus bands, and four moons), and Saturn (rings well displayed at present) are all easy targets.  If you can't access Stellarium, a simple app like Google Sky Map will show when and where these planets are for your viewing delight.

Have fun!

Doug.

[Adamchiv]

7 hours ago, Linda said:

Hi linda, thanks for the heads up on that, I would have been disappointed to find no planets  I will try callibrating my phone doing the figures of 8 tonight and see how it goes. Great advice

[Adamchiv]

11 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Hi doug, thats encouraging thanks, will be looking for jupiter later, hope its another clear(ish) night! The moon is truely wonderful and makes it worth while on its own, the rest is just dream like!

 

[Linda]

At present, Jupiter comes up every evening in the east and climbs higher through the night. Just look forvthe brightest "star" in the east. In a telescope or binocular it is clearly a disk with some pinpoint moons in a row beside it, while stars stay pinpoints in a scope/binocular.

[Adamchiv]

55 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

29 minutes ago, Linda said:

At present, Jupiter comes up every evening in the east and climbs higher through the night. Just look forvthe brightest "star" in the east. In a telescope or binocular it is clearly a disk with some pinpoint moons in a row beside it, while stars stay pinpoints in a scope/binocular.

 

Would I still be able to see these features with bad light pollution? I fealt sure I had it the other night through the binoculars but all that I could see was a bright star when I focused in. Saw a small star just near it too but wasnt sure if it was my eyes going wierd (double vision sort of thing). Thanks

[cloudsweeper]

39 minutes ago, Adamchiv said:

Would I still be able to see these features with bad light pollution? I fealt sure I had it the other night through the binoculars but all that I could see was a bright star when I focused in. Saw a small star just near it too but wasnt sure if it was my eyes going wierd (double vision sort of thing). Thanks

Those planets can be seen OK with light pollution - streetlights, a blazing Moon, scattered light etc. - they are generally bright enough to shine through.  The "seeing" might affect the quality of what you see, however.  

Binoculars don't generally give much magnification - esp. when looking for details with Jupiter and Saturn.  Also, keeping them steady is an issue.

Doug.

[Mak the Night]

23 hours ago, Adamchiv said:

Hi guys just wanted to give you an update on my first ever observation. The moon was about 20-25% lit and the sky was finally clear after a week of waiting. Luckily I had alligned the finder scope properly after work just for something to do. Grabbed my explorer 130 and headed outside, after some educated guessing for which lens etc I got an absolutely stunning image through the x10 lens that came with the scope. I was blown away, the craters were really sharp and apparent and the contrasts were lovely. I added the barlow lens and twiddled about, eventually got some lovely clean detail and made out some of the rugged peaks which contrasted really nicely with the flat clean surface. What struck me most was as the moon moved and I tracked it with the dec fine tuner is the sheer physicality and scale of the object which I something that came as a nice suprise. Wow. Im chuffed to bits to say the least and cant wait to start some planetary work. Need to get myself a lunar filter too and upgrade the barlow lens. 

So as a first timer, I can very happilly say that astronomy "is" for me, and if you aren't sure, please please give it a go.

Thanks to all the forum members that so kindly helped me with all my queires, I will give you an update of how my planetary obs go! 

Cant wait to see Jupiter and Saturn!!!!!

 

You may be in luck with a Barlow: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/clearance/clearance_celestron-2x-universal-125-barlow_50815.html

I have one myself and it is a huge improvement on the SW supplied Barlow.

You may find this link useful: http://target.lroc.asu.edu/q3/

Marble Earth has a really good interactive lunar globe: https://marble.kde.org/install.php

Personally, I love lunar observing.

 

Marble Earth (Win 7)

[Adamchiv]

19 hours ago, Linda said:

If you know where the closest planets are, you can see and follow them every day when it is bright. They are easily visible and very bright. So you won't need technology every time. I also like to observe low-tech with only a paper sky atlas, but it happens that I use stellarium to look up the position of a planet or a comet, often before observing.

Linda I totally backtrack on what I said regarding technology, after giving stellarium another go I soon realised the advantage of using it. I didnt know you could lock the compass and watch jupiter rise in the east whilst the time moves forward! Absolutely amazing.