Astro Journal!

[Kronos831]

Hello stargazers! I am a 14.5 year old boy currently exploring the hobby of astronomy!

My first Telescope is the Celestron Firstscope!

This post is going to contain mostly everything i do from now on!

i will  occasionally post some tips  and tricks as well as some  images(rarely)

I am soon getting a 8" dob , but that doesnt mean i wont be using the Celestron firstscope.

Hopefully, one day i can look back to this and remember the beggining of my journey as i am intrested in studying astrophysics/ astronomy in university . And if not, i will continue exploring this hobby.

So Lets start!

Astro Journal #0

So this is almost everything i ve done so far, i have had the telescope for almost 3 weeks now and have used it quite oftenly.

The first time i used it was  in relatively okay skies,i had no idea what focusing was and just looked at unfocused stars for that day.I cant believe i had such ignorance! After i tried finding why the stars were like that, i finally unsterstood the purpose of the focuser! The next day i used it on the cresent Moon, it took me 10 minutes to find with the 20MM eyepiece supplied with the telescope XD. ( even though it was righ infront of me)

It was quite nice! I was able to see some craters on it and focusing was pretty good. Then i turned to the 4mm eyepiece.(75x) mag

it almost covered the entire fov. For some reason the 4mm eyepiece isnt able to focus very well in general. And it was kind of blurry , but still enjoyable!

Here are some pictures i took with it:

 

i continued viewing the moon for a couple

of days, then i decided to do some nebula viewing.

I was despirately trying to find orion,as the orion nebula was and Is my FAVOURITE Nebula, it took me some time to realise that what i thought was pegasus was actually orion 's belt and sword  ?‍♂️. 

The night i first observed orion was a full moon night. It took me around 3 minutes to find the orion nebula in the scope. I just happened to notice it because of accidental adverted vision.

I ve heard of adverted vision , but hadnt had the chance to use it , until then. I had reasonably high expectations for a 3" reflector, and wasnt sure if i was looking at it or not. It looked like a faint colourless fuzzy blob.

After reporting what i saw to the forum they assured me that i had indeed saw the orion nebula.( this all from quite light polluted skies!)

Even though i had high expectations i was pretty satisfied with my views.

3 days after, the moon wasnt very visible so i  went out to observe. What i saw amazed me. It was considerably brigher than before ,using adverted vision.

The idea of looking at the nebula itself in combination with the even better view, astounded me.(in the same skies)

I loved it!!!!!!!!!!! After some though i was very suprised that such a cheap instrument(got it for 60euros , but you can usually get it for around 50) can show you that much!

Yesterday i woke up to see the moon venus and jupiter( I wasnt  able to view the jupiter-venus conjuction  because of clouds, same with the Super Blood Moon.  Guess i gotta wait another 19 years ?). I was able to find venus before i left for school. it was okay with the 20mm eyepiece. I just didnt have the time to view it in the 4mm( i know the timing was very unfortunate , didnt want to miss the buss)

 

Astro Journal #1

So here we are! Today!

I used the telescope in my backyard(they skies are okay! i can make out around 50 stars in my fov (around 180 degrees)

I took a view of the orion nebula! You know what they say! You ll never see less than you saw yesterday!(except if the seeing conditions are worse ?)

I was able to see quite more using adverted vision than the first time!

{ For those who dont know, adverted vision is when you dont look  directly at the object you are observing ,as the areas in your eyes that focus on something arent as light sensitive as the areas who do not.  So this way you achieve better brightness and clarity }

Then i took a look at Taurus! i noticed some stars and then headed right for The Pleiades!

The Pleiades , filled the entire Fov of my telescope . It had a pretty clear view. I did not however notice any colour or blue tint surrounding the stars.

I wasnt expecting much to begin with so that was okay!

I took some pictures of the Orion nebula! 

This pictures indicate what you will see with bad seeing full moon  some light pollution and no adverted vision.

 

However, the results with clear skies, adverted vision and no moon will be WAY better , i Promise. Dark skies will help you the  most when looking at Deep Sky Objects 

Also FOR BETTER VIEWS Dont forget to DARK ADDAPT: DARK ADDAPTATION ALLOWS THE EYE TO SEE MUCH FAINTER LIGHT . TO ACHIEVE DARK ADDAPTATION TRY AND SPENDING AROUND 30-40 MINUTES IN DARKNESS ( AND NO CLOSING YOUR EYES FOR 40 MINUTES WONT WORK) And be careful. Even a look at your cell phone will take the dark addaptation effect away. So if you want to see somehow, use red flash torches,as red is the lowest wavelenght in power. 

 

The views you will get on the orion nebula will be amazing! 

Guranteed!

 

 

 

 

[carastro]

Well you have achieved quite a bit so far, and your astro journey will just keep getting better.  

You've learnt about focus, averted vision and that you will see more of the deep sky stuff when the Moon isn't bright.  

Just to say that the more magnification you try with the same scope, the less sharp thing will be.

I hope you achieve your aim.

Carole 

[Astro Imp]

Well done my friend. 
You've come a long way in a short time. It's really interesting to read of your progress. We all started this amazing hobby knowing nothing and most of us struggled at first, we still do at times, there's always something to learn. It's not easy at the beginning but the effort you put in starts to be rewarded. 
Please keep us informed of your future progress, I want to know how you get on.
Good luck.

[Kronos831]

20 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

Well done my friend. 
You've come a long way in a short time. It's really interesting to read of your progress. We all started this amazing hobby knowing nothing and most of us struggled at first, we still do at times, there's always something to learn. It's not easy at the beginning but the effort you put in starts to be rewarded. 
Please keep us informed of your future progress, I want to know how you get on.
Good luck.

Thanks ! I ll be most likely observing at Saturday! Maybe even tommorow.

[westmarch]

What an excellent report and congratulations on working out what your scope can do.  We all experiment with what works and what doesn’t so don’t be so hard on yourself.

Good luck with your observations and studies.  

John

 

[Kronos831]

Astro Journal #3

Hello guys! Its me, Kronos amd have just gone back inside from an observation session!

I just had some very lovely views.

Of the orion nebula

and the pleiades!

And a random cluster?( i dont know what i was looking at , all i knew was that i saw a heck of a lot of stars.)

 

 

 

 

I m really hoping i can view andromeda as this is what my wide fov telescope is suited for!

I tried to find it but after 2 mins i realized i was looking at the wrong triangilum .

OOF

Andromeda was just out of my fov. I might go back outside for a fiew mins, as its very windy here.

Any tips?

 

[maw lod qan]

The possibilities of this hobby are truly endless. 

I can only dream of what you'll know when you have added the years some of us have from when we were 14+.

To your future!

Quapla!!

[Kronos831]

Astro Jounral #4 

Hello guys, yesterday my 8 inch Dob arrived.I was very excited!

I set it up and got it outside.

I live in a rather light polluted area, not to mention the supermoon , so i thought the views werent going to be good.

Boy was i wrong. After i lined up the finderscope with the main telescope, i turned at orion. I couldnt believe my eyes.

With direct vision I saw a very bright object, the core, the trampezium cluster and the 3 little stars next to it . i even saw some green!

All this from my light polluted backyard! With adverted vision it didnt get much better but it was still noticeable!

In comparison: the finderscope was actually better than my celestron firstscope,i could see M42 Better in the 9x50 finder than in my 76mm Telescope!

Thats quality right there!

 

I have also noticed that my seeing is getting better.

When my dad was little he wanted to get a telescope too, but never could afford it, so he came to take a peek through mine

When i first saw orion i recognized it right away. a very obvious bright core with the trampezium easily visible.

When my dad came to see tho, he  almost couldnt see it  at all!

I told him what he should be looing for , to use adverted vision, but he still couldnt see it!

i checked the eyepiece and it was right there!
After some time he saw it , but he told me it was very faint.

I m so excited , even though i cant take it out these days because i got sick!

I cant wait to take this telescope to the suburbs!

 

[Astro Imp]

So pleased for you, you are going to have some great nights with your new scope.
Sorry to read you are unwell, make a swift recovery.
Good luck.

[Paz]

Great write up, you are seeing amazing sights  already.  Good luck with your new scope when it arrives, it will show you enough things to keep you busy for a long time.

[heliumstar]

Kronos, glad you're enjoying it!

Now, did your dad try to adjust the focuser slightly? It might be that he needs to when looking after you adjusted it for yourself

[Kronos831]

Oh i ddnt know that, probably not. But it looked okay for me