Jupiter for the first time!

[Chris77]

WOW!

I've had my C8-N for what seems an age and have only looked at the moon so far, cool as hell tho (i like the moon) so tonight I had a proper go at looking at stuff, tried to find Bodes nebulae as it seemed to be bright according to stellarium but no joy so I knew the jupiter was easy to find so a had a crack at that. Not long after there it was i was gob smacked!!! i am really going to get into this astronomy thing now. And i saw moons which was even more wow!!

got afew questions

1) jupiter still looked small and a little fuzzy, i was using a 6mm lens, is this right? i read it is very low at present so i guess as it gets higher it will clear up?

2) after a while there was condensation everywhere and it just kept getting worse, is tihs normal, i just had the lenses and filters in the case beside me, is this ok or should i be covering them up?

3) filters, tried afew (i have the revolution kit) which filter is the best to use?

4) how do you find other thing like M1 do you use RA and Dec or do you use the stars like a map gong from one to another?

5) Uranus, tried to find it but no joy, so is it a case of using stars to find it? (in the end i think next doors house was in the way)

Any who cann't wait to go out again

cheers

chris.

[ngc2403]

ok i will try to answer your questions as best i can,

1) all of the planets are small and need long focal lengths and high power ep to make them large in the ep FOV. the seeing at low levels is bad because you have to look through more atmosphere and yes as i rises up it should begin to clear and more details will become clear.

2) The dewing up of equipment is a constant pest, and really is hard to avoid, the filters would be better covered up more to protect against dirt than water but water mark are not good for them.

3) Don't know this kit or what filter woiuld be best to be honest, i wuld just keep trying til i find the one that turns some of the bands black and leaves the rest light to improve contrast.

4) if you have a finder chart then it is a matter of find the bright stars and follow a trail to the object. for M1 i tend to find the bright one to the south west and then aim a little up and right just checking back and forth between ep and finder, M1 is small and hard to find if you are not experienced at using charts or finders. try M13, M57, M31, M45 and go from there

5) i have not seen Uranus through a telescope, it is very small and faint so it looks like a star at low power making it very hard to find

hope this helps

ally

[Talitha]

Hi Chris, your enthusiasm is fantastic.. it's always great to meet another moonlover. Btw, Bode's Nebula (M81) is much better when it's higher up than it is now.. wait till March or April.

Regarding your questions..

1) I'm not familiar with your scope, but if a target seems a bit soft, the seeing might be bad or you might have been using too much magnification. Did Jupiter look like it was boiling a bit around the edges? If so, then then the seeing was bad. It's low this year, but getting higher bit by bit. If the image looked soft but there wasn't too much of the boiling movement, try backing down on magnification. The image will get smaller but it'll be sharper.

2) Condensation is the moisture in the air condensing on surfaces whose temperatures are below that of the surrounding air... things 'sweat' like the sides of a glass of ice water. It's best to keep things covered, some use a towel or other type of draping cloth. But I've found a patio umbrella to be very helpful. Yes it looks a bit odd, but everything under it (including me) stays drier, much the same as items under an awning tend to stay drier than items under the open sky.

3) Choice of filters depends on what you intend on viewing.. planets? moon? nebulae? If it's nebulae, I highly recommend bookmarking this page.. loads of info on specific targets and which filter enhances them best.

If the Moon is too bright, a variable polarizing filter will cut down the glare.. some prefer a blue filter instead. Regarding planets, I prefer the plain to the filtered view with the exception of Mars because some of its features need the filter in order to be detected (speaking from my experience only).

4) Navigating the sky is a personal choice. Some use go-to, some starhop and some use setting circles. When in a hurry I prefer to use the setting circles on my 8" SCT, but enjoy starhopping a lot more. Its like taking a walk instead of driving somewhere.

5) In decent skies, Uranus (and Neptune) are both bright enough to be seen through binoculars, even as small as 7x35s if you know where to look. A good finder chart helps especially when using a scope, because so many more stars are visible. For the most part, the planets look like stars, but with moderate magnification they take on a 'satiny' appearance and aren't as intense looking as a star.

Looking forward to reading your future observations.

[Chris77]

Thanks for the help guys, cann't wait for it to get dark again! just brought a web too so going to try and get some pictures of the moon when its back!

i am going to have to learn the sky i think ,looking through the finder confused me, then i remembered that in the find objects were upside down and in the scope they were mirrored with it being a newtonian. Its all fun tho!!

again cheers for the help.

Chris

[hawklord_66]

Good post Chris and you've asked a few of the questions i was thinking of asking!

Only just started observing myself and only my 2nd proper session on Saturday but spent a good time looking at Jupiter. Tried all the eyepieces in the Celestron kit with an ultima barlow. Highest mag i could get to was x167 with the 9mm. Anything higher was too blurred. Could make out NEB and SEB plus the SPR. Tried all the kit filters but don't think i know enough yet to get the best use of them - yellow #12 seemed to show the SPR clearer.

Finding my way around the stars is going to take lots of practice - even with the finder there seem to be about 100 times more stars than with naked eye so just happy to enjoy what i could see.

[barkis]

Well done Chris. As with Carol, I like to see infectious enthusiasm, and you have plenty of it. Astronomy and you will be good mates. Just try not to get frustrated when objects you want to see act a bit coy, you will soon get the hang of finding stuff. With your 8" scope, and low power, you will find it easier to locate the fainter objects. You can put a higher power Eyepiece in once you have found your faint target, but high magnification only works well on certain objects. Double stars, planets, and the moon of course. Anyway, good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

Ron.

[Chris77]

Cheers for the encouragement chaps, will try to keep focused (excuse the pun) and you right hawklord there does seams to be a million more stars than i've ever seen before, i used a yellow filter too and that seemed to work well.

Will let you know how i get on if this cloud ever goes!!

cheers

Chris.

[Chris77]

Right, the cloud is sort of gone and I've brought some new toy!

1) x2 barlow

2) Celestron NexImage CCD web cam.

went out and earlier on and tried to find Jupiter again, all lined up in the finder but not in the scope????

after about 20 mins i found the problem! i was looking at next doors fence!! doh!

So had to lift the scope up on its mount, after perching on a chair for awhile and not getting a very sharp view of Jupiter, i decided to have a play with the web cam. Very cool, any way this is my first ever pic, didn't do any video capturing just a simple snap.

Can't wait for the moon to come round the right side of the house so i can get a good look.