First night out with the scope and now the 2nd!

[Venster]

Thought I’d ask a few questions after my first night’s obs with my SW 150P. 
 

First thing I noticed was how bright the flipping moon was, and I guess it had an effect on what I could see before the high cloud rolled in? Would a filter make my experience any better? I put the dust cover over the open end of the OTA with just the little hole open and it was still too bright. 
 

Found the Orion Nebula and possibly the trapezium but I did expect more of the cloud to be visible- tried all combinations of eyepieces and Barlow. Would this be the bright moon, or am I expecting too much again?

Found Mars, but I was disappointed as it didn’t seem much bigger with any of the eye pieces.  Would a better eyepiece be any good other than the stock one that it came with?

I will have another read of the ‘What to expect’ thread but I did think I’d see ‘more’!

 

One thing I think I need is a telrad, they get good reviews, because the finder scope did my head in trying to work out where things were! 
 

Do you think it might need collimating - the stars did seem a bit blurry but my eyesight isn’t exactly 20/20 and this is what state the box arrived in!

 

Sorry for so many Q’s- just thought it would be best leaving it all in one thread. 

Edited February 1, 2021 by Venster
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[Kon]

Well done on getting out and managing a session in this freezing weather 🥶

The moon will have an impact but it also depends on your location; are you in dark skies or inner city? You managed to see some nebulosity which is great but it will also depend on the upper atmosphere and seeing conditions. It sounds like seeing was not great if the stars were not very sharp; did you also cool down the telescope? Dew might be an issue on the mirrors or EP that could give blurry views; I had similar issue earlier this year and i thought it was the collimation (I am a beginner as well).You might want to invest on a cheesier for your collimation if you have concerns. Worth investing on a tetrad or rigel.

Mars is quite far so viewing is not that great; in my 8" Dob from dark sky it looks like an orange pea, again seeing conditions will be detrimental in viewing. 

 

Worth reading the ‘What to expect’ thread since it will give you a true feeling of what you will see. I have seen several of the nebulas and they are closer to the description in the 'Turn left at the Orion' than the astrophotography pics you see.

 

Maybe the weather and the moon light were not your friend this time.

 

[Nik271]

The Moon will be indeed very bright in a 6 inch scope under low magnification. As a low cost solution you can use sunglasses

But a filter will definitely help: a ND (Neutral density) filter, get one that admits only 20% of the light or less.

At high magnifications (above 150x for your scope) you probably won't need the filter as the amount of light entering your eye decreases a lot.

The Moon really ruins all kind of faint nebulosity including the Orion nebula, it's basically the ultimate light polluter in the sky. 

Last night the seeing was not very good but up to x100 the stars were looking fine. If you have bloated stars check your collimation. Newtonians regularly arrive out of collimation. A simple collimation cap (you can make one from an eyepiece cover with a pin hole right in the centre) can help you check if the primary spot is centered.

And you stock low power eyepiece is very likely not very good, you should definitely upgrade it in due course. There are lots of possibilities, but you don't need to spend too much for  a significant improvement, there is a separate section on this forum with a lot of advice.

 

Enjoy your new scope! 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Nik271
typos corrected

[wookie1965]

Mars is receding away from us now so is only small.

M42 will show some nebulosity but the moon will wash out some. 

A moon filter will help. 

The 150p is a very capable scope it was my first one I saw many many objects with it. 

As previously said seeing and transparency will have a great deal of influence on what you see. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by wookie1965

[Sunshine]

Give it some time, there are many variables that affect how objects look through any scope. Seeing conditions on a particular day, the moon, collimation, whether the scope is at ambient temperature, correct magnification etc. In time you'll notice that with some experience and, patience, you'll begin to know what to expect. Some nights objects just don't look as good as they do the next night, if you set the bar high too early you'll begin questioning yourself too much which will suck the fun out of it, be patient.

[John]

The moon will have been having quite an impact on the visibility of the Orion Nebula and other similar deep sky objects. For the best views of such targets, wait for a moonless night.

As said above, Mars is now receding rapidly. I was observing it at 300x last night and it still was only a small pink disk in the eyepiece with vague hints of the darker surface features.

The scope you have chosen is a good one though so no worries there. Deep sky objects will look much better with no moon around. Mars will be back at a better size again but not for a while I'm afraid - Autumn / Winter 2022.

Lots to keep you occupied until then though - have fun !

[jock1958]

46 minutes ago, Venster said:

One thing I think I need is a telrad, they get good reviews, because the finder scope did my head in trying to work out where things were! 

I’ve had a number of different finders on my scopes but one thing has been a constant and that is my trusty Telrad, I know it looks like something out of a car boot sale but I can’t recommend it highly enough and in astro equipment terms its as cheap as chips! 

[wulfrun]

A Telrad will make finding things pretty straightforward, just be aware the screen dews up rather easily. I have almost the same scope as you - the "PL" version - and a Telrad has been a big improvement.

As for the Moon, yes it's very bright! Use a neutral-density filter or a variable-polariser. I have the latter and it's nice because you can dial in the brightness you're comfortable with, even compensating for dimming due to using a higher magnificaton.

A filter may or may not help with nebulae, depending. I recently bought a UHC and a few days back (when the moon was just over half) I managed to see quite a bit on the Orion nebula with it. It made a worthwhile difference anyway.

Mars, basically forget seeing any detail for some time. Yes, it's not a star is probably the best you'll get for now. I looked at it back when it was much closer and even at 170x there was not much detail to be seen. You'll need to wait for the right opportunities to come.

[Tiny Clanger]

5 minutes ago, wulfrun said:

A Telrad will make finding things pretty straightforward, just be aware the screen dews up rather easily. I have almost the same scope as you - the "PL" version - and a Telrad has been a big improvement.

I expected my Rigel quickfinder to dew up when I was outside in the snow for 2 hours with my 127 mak, and was thinking about how best to make it a dew shield , but it didn't mist up even slightly.

Which was nice ...  

[wulfrun]

4 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

I expected my Rigel quickfinder to dew up when I was outside in the snow for 2 hours with my 127 mak, and was thinking about how best to make it a dew shield , but it didn't mist up even slightly.

Which was nice ...  

Pack it in! I toyed with getting a Rigel and instead bought the Telrad, the form-factor is better on a long OTA. I need a "fingers in ears" icon now 🙂

[johninderby]

Bit expensive but..........

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/astrozap-telrad-heater.html

Have tried to like the Rigel but just couldn’t get on with it and replaced with a Telrad.

[Tiny Clanger]

2 minutes ago, wulfrun said:

Pack it in! I toyed with getting a Rigel and instead bought the Telrad, the form-factor is better on a long OTA. I need a "fingers in ears" icon now 🙂

Sorry ! 😏

I wondered if it was to do with the Rigel's important part being  somewhat elevated from the 'scope tube ?

I chose it over the telrad because of the shape ( better for the short solid part of the heritage dob, ideal for the little 127 mak ) and because it was cheaper ! Don't think I ever saw anyone compare the dew - magnet properties of the two rivals though .

Heather

[Tiny Clanger]

2 hours ago, Venster said:

Thought I’d ask a few questions after my first night’s obs with my SW 150P. 
First thing I noticed was how bright the flipping moon was, and I guess it had an effect on what I could see before the high cloud rolled in? Would a filter make my experience any better? I put the dust cover over the open end of the OTA with just the little hole open and it was still too bright. 

Found the Orion Nebula and possibly the trapezium but I did expect more of the cloud to be visible- tried all combinations of eyepieces and Barlow. Would this be the bright moon, or am I expecting too much again?

Found Mars, but I was disappointed as it didn’t seem much bigger with any of the eye pieces.  Would a better eyepiece be any good other than the stock one that it came with?

I will have another read of the ‘What to expect’ thread but I did think I’d see ‘more’!

One thing I think I need is a telrad, they get good reviews, because the finder scope did my head in trying to work out where things were! 

Do you think it might need collimating - the stars did seem a bit blurry but my eyesight isn’t exactly 20/20 and this is what state the box arrived in!

Sorry for so many Q’s- just thought it would be best leaving it all in one thread. 

 

The nearly full Moon light (and the moonlight reflecting back off the snow) was a major factor for me the last few nights, to the point where I didn't bother looking at much yesterday apart from the Moon itself. If you browse around the posts on here when there's a clear night coinciding with a full - ish Moon in the sky you will read much complaining about it ! My response is go with the flow, study the Moon !

Irritating for your first session with the 'scope though.  Be assured, there will be clear moonless nights, you will see more.

A Moon filter ( for as little as £10 ) screws to the bottom of an eyepiece and will do the job intended,  the sort with two polarizing filters which you rotate to get variable darkening is more flexible but about twice the price. As a temporary stopgap measure , sunglasses work ... or a single lens pulled form an old pair and laid on top of the eyepiece eyecup.

Beware of spending money on many extras too soon though, the best accessories are research, patience, perseverance and time spent observing.

Heather

[wulfrun]

39 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Bit expensive but..........

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/astrozap-telrad-heater.html

Have tried to like the Rigel but just couldn’t get on with it and replaced with a Telrad.

Costs the same as the Telrad itself, I can make something for peanuts. Already made a screen-cover for zilch but it could end up annoying me, we'll see.

[Venster]

Just had the scope out for my 2nd time and couldn’t work out what was wrong. 
 

Then it dawned on me that I was viewing from the same side as the weights and couldn’t get close enough 🤪. What hope do I have trying to find stars!

 

Must say the Telrad was a revelation- made finding things much easier. 
 

Then the cloud rolled in ☹️

[Jonny_H]

2 hours ago, Venster said:

Then the cloud rolled in ☹️

The story of our lives! 🙄

The cloudy/rainy weather typically coincides with receiving new kit aswell...pretty weird! 🙃

[wibblefish]

13 hours ago, Jonny_H said:

The story of our lives! 🙄

The cloudy/rainy weather typically coincides with receiving new kit aswell...pretty weird! 🙃

I have a Rigel and a 8mm EP arriving today ... the weather in my app has gone from yellow / green maybe to full red for the next week and added in snow 😛

[Neil H]

Weather is a real pain I jumped on to solar because days were nicer than night but now kit is in my hands days have gone poor too , had a few days out so don't give in