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First observing session

david_taurus83

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david_taurus83

david_taurus83

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So the clouds have finally parted here in the Midlands so was looking forward all day to getting the scope outside. I had a small play last week when I got it but not had a go since I got a Baader Zoom lens to accompany it. Myself and my oldest lad had some nice views of the moon tonight. First time I've viewed through a scope and it's quite bright but I had already bought a cheap filter for less than a tenner that does help. Some lovely crisp views before it disappeared below the neighbours roof. I will enjoy exploring it's surface further on future sessions. My son wanted to look at what he called the little dipper. To be fair, I used to call it that when I was younger. We were looking at the pleiades cluster. Its amazing how much extra detail the telescope can pick out compared to the naked eye. I wanted to have a go at finding Andromeda so using Stellarium on my phone I picked out the square of Pegasus and star hopped along to Mirach and then up a little more. I wasn't expecting to see much considering it was only 7pm and we were under a streetlight in the outer suburbs of Birmingham. I couldn't believe my luck! Found on my first try! Never has a man been so happy to stare at a faint grey blob in the sky! We only stayed out for an hour but quite glad that light pollution isn't as big an issue here as I first feared. Looking forward to many more viewing sessions from the back garden and maybe a planned visit to somewhere darker when I get used to the sky and the scope more. Managed to get a few pics of the moon and Andromeda on my phone. Very pleased with myself?

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Luna-tic

Luna-tic

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Hey! There's one of those bright round things up in my sky, too!.

I just came in from an early observing (it's about 8PM EST here), I'll go back out after the Moon is lower, and look at stars and DSO's. I've been looking at high power along the terminator, especially around the large triple craters you can clearly see in your picture, just near the terminator and between Sinus Asperitatis and Mare Nectaris. Theophilus and Cyrilus overlap each other a bit, with Catherina close by, and the tiny Madler out in the edge of the Mare. I've got my 13mm Ultima EP, along with a 2.5X barlow between the cell and diagonal, which gives me about 460X. Man, that's some rough territory down (up) there.

Great you found M31, too. I got a picture of it last night, just a single image so I could convince my daughter the "smudge" she saw was worth a further look. I told her that looking at Andromeda was taking a huge step back in time.

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Zauriel

Zauriel

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Sounds like a great evening we went also went out last night for the second time but first time as a family ( wife can be stubborn ) was a great evening and also plan to put up a mini report of how it went overall was a major success I feel. 

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Alan White

Alan White

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Sounds wonderful.

A first observing session with your son, well how could it get better, whatever you see a lifetime memory has been created.

I observed with my dad late 60s and early 70s and they set me up for a lifetime of skywatching and bring back fond memories.

You got a great first selection of observing objects.

Enjoy the joint journey.

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david_taurus83

david_taurus83

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Thanks everyone. I've read some fantastic observing reports on here so mine is just a snippet really. Was just glad to get the first clear sky for 2 weeks last night. Had to come in early and help get the rest of the kids to bed otherwise I'd have stayed out. I'm new to astronomy and telescopes but a couple of things I noticed last night. When adjusting focus there's quite a bit of instrument wobble so it was difficult to focus at times. Is this normal? Also, when slewing the right ascension it was quite jumpy if done quickly. It's a 200p on an EQ5 mount. Could the above be due to the fact the scope and mount aren't balanced properly? There is one weight on the end of the counterbalance arm and I just stuck the scope on centrally. Is there a certain method for quickly checking it's fairly balanced prior to observing?

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rockystar

rockystar

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14 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Never has a man been so happy to stare at a faint grey blob in the sky!

You'd be surprised :D

Well done, sounds like a nice and productive session.

 

@david_taurus83 plenty of videos on you tube about balancing a scope, and it's really easy once you've seen it done.

Try this one: https://youtu.be/uK2bXfVNoQU

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Astro Imp

Astro Imp

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Great report David, the first view through your own scope is something you will remember for a long time.

If you get hooked on lunar observing the Virtual Moon Atlas is great for navigating around our neighbour:- https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon/ This is a really helpful program and the best thing is it's free.

Good luck and clear skies.

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