Good evening. A new member - First day with telescope

[Pixies]

Hi Paul.

Mars is coming up to opposition in a few weeks - and it's a good one too. You won't see it again like this for 15 years or so! I'm relatively new, too - but with a history of interest and general stargazing too, again like you.

Normally I would suggest taking your time to get used to your scope and not rush out to buying anything. But perhaps now is not that time, considering the opportunity with Mars just now. I would imagine your eyepieces aren't great, especially with a fast scope like yours. They are 'Kelners' and are typical of the ranges you get with new scopes. I think you would really appreciate a modest upgrade in them, or at least the 10mm.

Lots of advice in the observing forums about how best to observe Mars. It's not just a case of finding it and having a look. But the rewards are great and I've discovered something that I was originally not that interested in. My original interest was with DSOs. Another benefit is that Mars will be visible from London. You don't need dark skies to observe it, in fact some say it's a hinderance, as it's so bright.

Anyway - sorry to witter on. 

[Gmx76]

welcome on board, quite new myself and still mesmerised by what you can see from your back garden with a 5 inch newt!

[AstroNebulee]

21 hours ago, PaulyV said:

Hello there.  A pleasure to meet you.  My name is Paul and I have just crept into bed after 2 hours spent with my new Zhumell Z130 telescope.  What a great evening it has been and I have kept the evening going by joining this wonderful-looking forum.

I grew up in Lincolnshire so am used to great night skies and spent many evenings out in the field behind our house with my sister and my late father who was a keen amateur stargazer himself.  We'd freeze in the cold as we looked at Vega, Jupiter, the Moon and of course oggled the Milky Way through his excellent, albeit heavy, East German binoculars.  I even clearly remember seeing Halley's Comet in the back garden back in 1986.

Fast forward many years and myself and my partner are currently on holiday with her parents in a cottage in darkest Wiltshire near Trowbridge.  The night skies have been fantastic for several evenings so I thought 'sod it' - I am going to Amazon Prime a telescope and view the stars tomorrow.  This of course resulted in 2 things - endless hours looking at which telescope to buy, the first requirement being not that it was the best available at my price point but that it had to be available for next-day delivery, and the arrival of cloudy skies on the day it was scheduled to arrive.  I read many forum posts and reviews and settled on the Zhumell Z130...even if it isn't the best for my price it'll be miles better than anything I am used to.  Order placed I awaited delivery today.  It arrived, as it did the misty cloud.  I spent an hour unpacking it and popping a paving stone atop a steel garden table so I could firmly position the Dobsonian stand.  The clouds remained in place until 10.30 when I peeked out to see a few welcome stars.  It's midnight now and I have just returned in after a wonderful 90 minutes reacquainting myself with Mars, Vega, Pleiades, and the Milky Way among many others.  What a great telescope this is.  The stand is terrific and gives me such control to skim around the sky.  I bought a barlow lens but in all honesty I am learning very quickly that it isn't all about magnification - the 25mm lens has been far more interesting than the supplied 10mm on this first evening, giving me a clear, well-focused and deep view of the heavens.

I could rattle on, but safe to say I am immediately hooked again and look forward to spending time with this telescope and getting to know some of you on this forum also.  I live in Central London, so precious little opportunities for gazing, although I did see the Space X trails of satellites some months ago and often see a few stars and the ISS.  We are in holiday again in 2 weeks however, up in the North of Scotland so the Zhumell will be accompanying us in the car and I look forward to even better skies there as long as it gets dark enough.  I am sure it will be fine.

If anyone here is reading the forum with an eye to purchasing a first telescope I would urge you to go ahead.  It has been a really good evening.

Paul

 

Hi Paul, great report, there are so many friendly helpful people on here and a fantastic community, I'm very new to stargazing since April but held a lifelong fascination with all thing's astro, plenty of good time to come with your set up, clear skies friend 

[PaulyV]

Hello again everyone.

Yes Pixies - I can imagine they do not provide the best eyepieces with a telescope such as this - the money only goes so far and a profit needs to be made.  I will read up on what 1.25 optics I can get and what people recommend.  

Another colder evening out tonight, windy so so just a little movement on the scope and it clouded up 15 minutes ago, however I spent a good amount of time looking at Jupiter and then Saturn as they are so close together.  Saturn looked excellent and it's so easy to pan across with this stand.  I can see some sort of filter will be required so Jupiter is not quite so bright and I can make out the stripes which could be seen but the orb of the planet was relatively bright.

Also had a satellite cross my field of view - how fortuitous and surprising.

Night everyone - stay warm.

Paul

[Pixies]

7 minutes ago, PaulyV said:

Also had a satellite cross my field of view - how fortuitous and surprising.

Oh, you will get used to that!

Yep - filters help. There are a few suggestions and recommendations on here for different types. I use a Baader Neodymium filter, but one of the best ways to cut down the glare is to make sure your eyes aren't dark-adapted.

[PaulyV]

Final night of the holiday, and yet another clear one - just a little mist.  A quick scan around the sky really.  Located Andromeda just below Cassiopeia - a promising smudge - who know's what is going on in there either right now or at the time the light left it to head towards Earth.  A few larger stars and a wonderful 15 minutes spent with the telescope straight up using that terrific stand design to scan around the Milky Way with the 25mm eyepiece.  Now it is ready for a trip back to London tomorrow, but will be coming with me to Scotland, lockdowns allowing, in 2 weeks.

Saw the sponsorship of this site by First Light Optics and dropped them an email for eyepiece recommendations.  What nice people.  Got some good ideas from them given my budget and the fact I wear glasses so can foresee another purchase of 3 better quality glass items in the coming weeks...in fact ideally before I set off to Scotland.

Hope some of you saw what you were looking for this evening.  Take care.

Paul

Edited September 18, 2020 by PaulyV

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Peter in Bedfordshire 🙂

[PaulyV]

Starguider 8mm and 25mm incoming.  Hoping they arrive before my trip to the Cairngorms on Thursday.  Will update if they do.

Thank you for the welcomes.

[popeye85]

Late to the party with this one!! 

Welcome to sgl @PaulyV

 

Being from the north of Scotland myself I can assure you of a bit of a difference with London skies -just don't expect to get many clear nights 🤣🤣🤣

[stringB]

Welcome. I am new to this addictive hobby and I'm already living with less sleep.