First time observing

[Dumbo]

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who helped me on my very first post here in answering my very newbie questions and on deciding which scope to go for, everyone was extremely helpful and welcoming.
I thought I would post and update on how things are going.

I ended up getting the skywatcher 200p dob and I must say, so far it's working like a charm, I also purchased a Celestron Omni 2x barlow and a tabletop skywatcher heritage 100p dob for viewing from inside my apartment (I have very large sash windows).

The conditions have been pretty appalling here in the UK, but in the last few weeks here in Dorset we finally had a few days of clear skies which I took full advantage of and spent a few hours on a few occasions looking at the moon, I was absolutely blown away to say the least. 
Being such an amateur I decided to keep it simple and spent most of my time with the moon until I learn my way around the skies., I did point at Venus at least I'm pretty sure it was, which was but a tiny speck of light, hoping to get some new eyepieces and invest in a decent stronger Barlow at some point. (any advise welcome)
And I was lucky enough to catch the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on the 10th Jan, although with my amateurish eyes I couldn't really notice anything haha
Overall I had a very positive first time experience and cant wait to get out again when this horrendous storm is out of the way.

I took some pictures with my I phone which I would like to share, I'm a generally a terrible photographer so don't expect too much from me hahaha


 

[Stu]

Nice shots, and glad the scope is working out well.

Looks like you caught the eclipse in one of your images. I tweaked it a little to show it a bit better and outlined it to show you where it is slightly darker.

[Dumbo]

4 minutes ago, Stu said:

Nice shots, and glad the scope is working out well.

Looks like you caught the eclipse in one of your images. I tweaked it a little to show it a bit better and outlined it to show you where it is slightly darker.

You know I thought that was it on the night, but I convinced myself otherwise 🤦‍♂️. 
thanks a lot

[Marvin Jenkins]

Dumbo, something feels wrong about that. What an impressive first step into the heavens. Good size dob, and the smaller grab and go, although to the coffee table. I am impressed by your pictures, most people see high end images, fully processed and shy away from posting there efforts, I always think there is not enough posts from new members. Well done you for giving it a go and getting some results. Keep a diary, record everything you see no matter how 'matter of fact'.

Quote "Your journey into this amazing night, will last a life time if you continue to wonder and it will be a most fulfilling pursuit" 

Marv

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Hi Dumbo,

Glad you managed some time at the eye piece. I to have a 200p and am very happy with it. It provides stunning views of the moon and I have enjoyed viewing Jupiter,Saturn and Venus with it so far. Not to mention a number of deep sky objects. It really is a lot of scope for the money.

In regard to the Eye pieces. I have purchased almost all of the BST Explorer range and find them an excellent upgrade from the standard eye pieces. targets are sharper and the eye pieces are much more comfortable to use. I believe these would also work well in your 100p also. At around £40 each you really cant go wrong with them.

I am sure more experienced members can give you better insight on these eye pieces as they are very popular around here.

 

Regards

 

Barry

[Anakin Skywalker]

Hi Dumbo!,

You remind me of myself a few years back. I started off with a Kson 80mm Newtonian Reflector and your images looked the same as my first shots. I tooke my first moon shots holding a galaxy s10 tablet with my shaking hands to the eyepiece of the telescope hoping that it would miss the glare of the moon and get a good pic of the surface. I now use a nikon d3500 dslr for astrophotography and a universal smartphone adaptor for casual imaging. You should consider getting one of these cuz they are easy to use and produce good results.

Here is one of my first moon shots that i took a few years back  with my Kson 80 mm Newtonian Reflector with a 25mm eyepiece attached

 at full moon, and i tweaked it a little to how more detail. Happy stargazing and May the Force be with you!

[des anderson]

Great pic`s and considering the mount was not driven that give you a big thumbs up from me, good advice from everyone and get a note book, play around with what information you want to record:- Date,Time, Seeing, Transprancy, Eyepiece, Magnification, F.OV. ETC. But most of all enjoy what you see. Des

[Anakin Skywalker]

Thank you!!!😃