Greener than a very green thing which has gone off and become greener still!

[Mike Godfrey]

Hi Guys ,

heres my green question,I'm hoping to get a scope soon - I have never look at the sky with one-I checked out the moon with my mates Binoculars but thats it.

So I am worried about this potential scenario: that this large scope turns up on my doorstep (I'm being assimilated into the Skywatcher collective -SKYWATCHER EXPLORER-200 (EQ5)) OK I figure out how to set up -its a cloudless night (yes I know -but it could happen) I have set the scope up outside its cooled down -I step out onto the threshold of my Amateur astronomy life -where do I start ? Never used a EQ mount before -never used a finder scope before never aligned a scope with the pole star (good news is I know whee that is! ) so what do I look at first ?

Ahhhhh!

Is there a complete green guide to the first sky watching session ? How can you minimise the frustration factor ?

Appreciate any attempts to degreen me ,

Cheers,

Mike

[Greg]

Mike,

"Don't panic Mr. Mannering"

First of all.... get one.

Then the chaps on here will talk you through it... It's dead simple...honest.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

What happens is this (my version of getting the 200mm f/5 Skywatcher Newt, Feb. this year)

After you drag it outside as you describe (even before you polar align and stuff) you feel a need to look down the hole, you are just drawn towards it and it sucks you in. Everywhere you point it, in the very unweildy way that the EQ mounts allow even with the locks undone, you will see more stars than you can shake a stick at. The black bits that you can see between the stars are full of 'em, thousands of the things.

You will spend ages just muttering oaths and swearwords to yourself as there is just SO MUCH stuff up there.

Find Saturn, OK find Orion and look a bit left, theres a bright star, that could be saturn. Get a look at that for a real WOW moment.

BUT...

Before you go out in the dark, point the scope at something far away, a pylon, a tree or whatever is furthest that you can point at. Once the main scope is pointed at that, use the adjusting screws on the finder scope to center the chosen object on the cross hairs. This way you can use the finder scope to actually find stuff.

Also, before it gets dark, test drive all the knobs, levers and handles so that you have half a chance in the dark. Don't get so that you can't find the lever for this or that when you can't see as this adds to the frustration.

Above all, take it out and look down it, it is mind blowing.

When you get fed up of finding stuff that you don't know the name of, check the monthly observing section then you can progress to not finding things that you do know the name of.

Summing up, it is enough to just have a go first time out, don't expect to see hubble images, but do expect to be stunned at the sheer number of stars up there. It is truely awesome.

Captain Chaos

[FLO]

You can download the instruction book here:

http://tinyurl.com/s82nn

[Mike Godfrey]

Thanks guys for your advice -Im hopfully ordering one this week on sherwoods.Captain C I love your description I cant wait!

Thanks for the download link -all we need is clear skies

[The Warthog]

If you have some idea of what's in the sky, haul the scope around any which way you can to look at Saturn. One of the legs on the tripod will be labelled "North" Point that one roughly north, and put the protractor on the side of the mount to roughly 50 degrees. Worry about the details later. Use the cables to follow stuff, but look at Saturn first, then at the Orion nebula, down in the 'sword' of Orion, below his belt. You'll be hooked. If the Moon is up, look at it. How I envy you, having a real scope to play with!

[ZOG]

When you get fed up of finding stuff that you don't know the name of, check the monthly observing section then you can progress to not finding things that you do know the name of.

:lol: Brilliant, I'll bear that in mind.

[Kain]

Just a little tip, don't do what I did and go after things thats hard to spot.

Find things like M13 (Big Glob Cluster in Hercules) The Double Cluster in Perseus, M29 in Cygnus... Learn to find things using a sky map.

When I first started, I went straight for M57 (Ring Nebula) and I was very frustrated when I couldn't find it. Having learnt to find other things, and knew pretty much what I was looking for, I found the Ring in all its glory.

Start simple and work your way up. It worked for me

Kain