Short first light 10"dob 4 May

[Eastman]

Hello All,

Finally my new SW flextube 10" dob gets its first light.

My previous scope was a 8" dob so I was really curious if I could see some difference.

The sky where clear so I have to take a look.

First up Jupiter, it look like it had a 5th moon tonight. But it was still to low to have a good view 80X was max.

Next M51 I can see more detail round the core, a hint of spiral arms. Never seen that before. I am in my garden at the edge of a city and my light shroud is not yet delivered. So a really dark sky is going to give the final push to see the spiral arms I hope. best view with 80 and 120X.

M13, big wow....but it was great in the 8" too. Not that much difference on that globular. Try to seen the propellar ( for 20 min) but didn't see it. Or is that more a photographic then visually?  Best view 150X  but tonight I can push it to 240X 

M104, Sombrero galaxy (new) I like this new dob, it is as if objects especially galaxies jump into the eyepiece more easily. Nice stretched galaxy seen sideways. 120X

M64, Great light core a bit off center. Best view 80X.

I had a great short first test and I must say, on the galaxies the 10" really makes a difference!

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[newtyng5]

Very nice first light there Eastman. Enjoyed reading it.

Fingers crossed, looks like it may be clear this weekend at some point, can't wait.

[MarsG76]

Nice report, thank for it, I enjoyed it.

 

[Eastman]

8 hours ago, newtyng5 said:

Fingers crossed, looks like it may be clear this weekend at some point, can't wait.

Sure looks promising this weekend, enjoy!

[Stu]

Sounds promising! You will get larger image scale at the same brightness so objects are easier to detect. Globs should resolve a little better too. I think I’ve seen the propeller in a 4”, Just, and definitely in an 8” sonit will be possible, perhaps just a matter of seeing it once then being easier next time.

Jupiter only has four visible moons, so the fifth was a background star. In good conditions you should get a little more detail and colour on Jupiter.

[Eastman]

36 minutes ago, Stu said:

Jupiter only has four visible moons, so the fifth was a background star

I know, It just seems weird when a background star lines up with the moons like that.

 

[MarsG76]

20 hours ago, Eastman said:

Jupiter, it look like it had a 5th moon tonight

The general consensus will be that the 5th "moon" is just a back ground star, BUT I wonder what it would take to spot a 5th or 6th moon of Jupiter.... perhaps blocking out Jupiter and it glare itself, same trick that some used to spot Phobos and Deimos around Mars.

 

[Paul73]

Glad that you enjoyed a good first light.

To my mind the 10” dob is the ultimate ‘all rounder’. Mine is about to be converted into a truss travel scope. To be fair, in flextube format, it was pretty portable if you didn’t need to get luggage for a family in as well!

Enjoy.

Paul