Nexstar 8SE - First night

[Beardy30]

I set up my scope and used it for the first time tonight.  Started setting it up out of the box at 2.30pm and it was fairly easy, took a few goes  putting the folk arm with attached OTA on the mount as the under screws wouldn’t tighten but after juggling it about a few times we did it and the scope was set up within 20mins. The scope is heavy and would advise anyone to set up outside if like me you have a small conservatory door to get out of.  The Hardest part was the red dot finder which is very poor n terms of the screws just tightening and not fixing the finder to the OTA firmly enough and I recommend any using this scope to upgrade ASAP. I put the scope out to cool down with the cap on ! And went out at 9.30 till about 11.45 ..I aligned with sky align which I’m not sure I did right as it’s difficult with the red dot finder which doesn’t seem to be accurate enough and it was not very stable due to my screws as mentioned before ! However the one star/planet I know is venus and the scope did slew in the right area however Venus wasn’t in my EP although the RDF was  bang on it after a slight tweak with the directional keys on the handset I got a tremendous view of its colours bursting off it ! I was in awe tbh very impressed with the quality of the scopes view, but again the RDF was way off. As I dont know any names of stars ✨ other than Polaris so I simply moved around the sky looking after magnificent views of various stars and clusters one was shaped like the letter U and another had three in a line ! Not sure what they were but they were awesome, I also saw what I think was a meteor travelling at a tremendous pace and I followed it as long as I was able to before I lost it.  Also think I saw another planet to the east which had a blue tinge and was quite low in the sky ..but I may be wrong it was however giving off some amazing colour. All in all a great first night but I need to get a better finder scope and learn which stars are out there ! 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Beardy30

[Ruud]

That was a fine report,  a pleasure to read.

I'm glad that you got in some nice observations on your first night. That meteor you saw, I think that may have been a satellite. Meteors tend to last only very briefly.

Thanks for sharing!

[Beardy30]

Fantastic I believe the space x satellite was supposed to be within view tonight so may it was that !    

[ShrewView]

Exciting times for you.🙂

If you haven't already, download Stellarium off the web. Its free planetarium software that will show you what is in the sky. 

Think there's a few clear nights this week so hopefully plenty of time to get used to things.

[Beardy30]

Thanks all - I have to say I found the mount to be very steady as well as I’ve heard many say it’s a wobbler - certainly no issue for me ! 
mid anyone has any EP they would recommend to enhance my observing for the 8SE please let me know 👍🏼
I’m going to upgrade my RDF and get a ASI120MC I think as well 👍🏼

[Chefgage]

38 minutes ago, Beardy30 said:

Thanks all - I have to say I found the mount to be very steady as well as I’ve heard many say it’s a wobbler - certainly no issue for me ! 
mid anyone has any EP they would recommend to enhance my observing for the 8SE please let me know 👍🏼
I’m going to upgrade my RDF and get a ASI120MC I think as well 👍🏼

Did you align the red dot finder with the scope during daylight (it makes it easier). The object (something about a mile away) must be centered in the eyepiece. You then align the red dot finder so the dot is centred over the object you can see through the eye piece. So it's align the red dot finder to the scope and not the other way round. Then put in a higher magnification eye piece and then repeat the process. As a test move the scope around a bit then using the red dot finder, centre on the distant object. The object should now be in the eye piece.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Chefgage

[Beardy30]

The RDF was way off - it aligned to the ye but nothing g could be seen in the EP until I moved the scope then looking back at the RDF it was way off target 

[Shimrod]

36 minutes ago, Beardy30 said:

Thanks all - I have to say I found the mount to be very steady as well as I’ve heard many say it’s a wobbler - certainly no issue for me ! 
mid anyone has any EP they would recommend to enhance my observing for the 8SE please let me know 👍🏼
I’m going to upgrade my RDF and get a ASI120MC I think as well 👍🏼

 

Before you rush into buying extras, you might want to check that you aligned the RDF to the telescope - from your description it sounds like they are out. Focus the telescope on something in the distance (an aerial or lamp post), and then ensure it is also centered in the RDF - there will be adjustment screws/knobs on the RDF to allow you to do this. Once aligned, it should be fine unless you remove and reattach the RDF every session - in which case you might need to do a bit of fine tuning before you start.

I would suggest taking a couple of weeks to get to know the telescope and what you like looking at before you start to think about adding things - it will help you avoid buying the wrong thing in your enthusiasm, only to upgrade again shortly after (speaking from experience here!)

[Beardy30]

I did align as best I could Using the two knobs but it was away off target 

[Chefgage]

12 minutes ago, Beardy30 said:

I did align as best I could Using the two knobs but it was away off target 

When you say it was way off target are you referring to when you are aligning/setting it up? Another point to note is to make sure you do not move the scope when you have centred the object in the eye piece. I have managed to centre the object then adjust the red dot finder so it is centered on the same object. But when I looked again through the eye piece it was not there. This was because I slightly nudged the scope. 

Have you been able the centre an object in the eye piece and then adjust the red dot finder so it is centred on the same object?

[Beardy30]

No they don’t seem to be in sinc 

[Shimrod]

1 hour ago, Chefgage said:

When you say it was way off target are you referring to when you are aligning/setting it up? Another point to note is to make sure you do not move the scope when you have centred the object in the eye piece. I have managed to centre the object then adjust the red dot finder so it is centered on the same object. But when I looked again through the eye piece it was not there. This was because I slightly nudged the scope. 

Have you been able the centre an object in the eye piece and then adjust the red dot finder so it is centred on the same object?

To add to this - make sure you do this with the telescope turned off, so that you are not accidently tracking the sky while you are looking at something on the earth!

[Chefgage]

5 minutes ago, Shimrod said:

To add to this - make sure you do this with the telescope turned off, so that you are not accidently tracking the sky while you are looking at something on the earth!

Good point 😀

[Beardy30]

Yes it was off 

[Chefgage]

1 hour ago, Beardy30 said:

No they don’t seem to be in sinc 

There should be plenty of adjustment in all directions on the red dot finder so you can line it up with what you see in the eye piece. I do recall reading some people having problems with there not being enough adjustment though. This was fixed by 'shimming' the mounting bracket part of the red dot finder between the bracket and scope. This had the effect of tilting the red dot giving that bit extra adjustment. But this will depend on the mount design on your scope whether you can do this.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Chefgage

[Dr Strange]

Nice report!

A good tool for planning observing sessions is: https://www.tonightssky.com/MainPage.php I use it to plan things out for the evening. I download the report as a .csv file then pull it into Excel and sort it by Constellation then object type. I do that because it keeps my scope/mount from going all over hell and creation thus saving some battery drain as well as me moving my chair over and over. I delete the Cat. 2, RA, Dec, Size/Sep columns and shorten the common names then put the page layout in landscape so I can fit things on as few printed pages as possible. In your hand controller (HC) there are options for NGC, SAO, Messier objects so you would use one of those based on the Cat 1 column names. NGC is usually for pretty much everything we look at so you would work primarily from there. SAO is for double stars and single stars which is a more specialized area. Messier are the 110 brightest objects found by Charles Messier and are also a good place to start. 

A nice feature in the Celestron HC is the Tour option in the HC. It automatically picks the best objects in the sky based on your location and goes to them. Unfortunately it doesn't take into account your local light pollution or what filters you may or may not be using so things may show up that you can't actually see. Things like certain nebulae and the like. 

[Beardy30]

It’s a nice idea but I’ll be honest I don’t have the time or patience I’m happy just randomly observing by moving the directional arrows , suits me fine.  

[Dr Strange]

Try the Tour option then. It is in the HC and it will be a more meaningful experience. You just select it from the menu then goto the object listed. Well worth trying. 

[Beardy30]

.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Beardy30

[Beardy30]

Yea used it last night it was ok but not the best - I think star sense would be a better package from what I hear 

[Dr Strange]

Having worked with the StarSense... For alignment, absolutely! Turns the mount and scope into a robot. Does everything automatically for you. I used it most recently for outreach since I could be in a lit up parking lot and it would still align. If good alignment is a challenge I would recommend it.  For the Tour function, not as much. I don't know if they have updated this but when I used it the tour made you go sequentially through the list. You couldn't skip. And that was frustrating since there were objects I knew I couldn't see that it wouldn't let me skip. 

Having said that, for less than the price of the StarSense (£237 at FLO) another option would be to invest in a RACI (Right Angle Correct Image meaning the image is right side up and not reversed like you get with a mirror diagonal and telescope) finderscope, a Telrad, a copy of Sky and Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas, and a 12mm illuminated Reticle eyepiece. This will set you back £165. Note both prices do not include VAT. And over time you will find you can align the scope faster than the StarSense. 

One thing to remember with the alignment of your scope, always make the last movements for alignment in the eyepiece up and to the right. That means the star should go upwards and to the right for alignment. This will remove any backlash in the gears. And that 12mm Reticle EP really helps with accurate alignment. 

[Beardy30]

8 hours ago, Dr Strange said:

Having said that, for less than the price of the StarSense (£237 at FLO) another option would be to invest in a RACI (Right Angle Correct Image meaning the image is right

 

[Beardy30]

EP wise would you go for a 12mm or 18mm - the celestron x -Cel LX have been recommended to me 

[johninderby]

The Celestron X-cel LX will work very well in the 8SE but would recommend the Nirvana eyepieces. Not many focal legths to choose from but an absolute bargain for an 82 degree eyepiece that will be just as good as a Naglerin the 8SE

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/ovl-nirvana-es-uwa-82-ultrawide-eyepieces.html

Edited April 21, 2020 by johninderby

[Beardy30]

The 16mm I take it would be best choice