First night out with my scope last night

[Mancunian Lee]

Finally got OK enough skies to go out with my scope, its been sat in my living room for near two weeks. Its my first scope so i might be a bit over enthusiastic and i have nothing to compare it too but what i saw was amazing :shock: :shock:

I didnt find anything in particular just pointed it at the shiniest objects in the sky lol but saw things i never thought i could see tbh. not sure about names or anything at the moment, but lots of colours, shiny bits, and lots of things that make your mind tick over thinking about how lonely little planet earth really is.

Id imagine my wife is now officially an "Astronomy Widow" and my saturday night out with her may change to a night out with telescope

Gunna stock up on books as soon as i have the cash and work out exactly what im looking at

[OXO]

Hi Lee,

Sounds like you were suitably impressed with your views through the scope, all the stars/Galaxies etc etc make me think and thats after over 25yrs observing hehe magical isnt it. You may want to get some software for yor computer which will show you what your looking at, a nice programme called starry night will allow for this aswell as many freeware programmes (Check the links on the forum).

Astronomy Widow oh dear i can hear the rolling pin over the head coming :shock:

James

[MartinB]

:)

Lovely report Lee and great to hear you're pleased with the new scope.

Not possible to be over enthusiastic Lee. Don't worry about your wife becoming an astronomy widow. One night a month is hardly likely to do that.

If you're looking for a good book - "Turn Left at Orion" is excellent. Really helps you find objects. If you have a computer some free planetarium software is very useful as well - Starry Night Backyard can sometimes be got hold of free. Featured on a recent Sky at Night magazine CD also Carte du Ciel can be downloaded for free.

[Naz]

Nice one Lee, it's always great to here somebody remind you of your own first time with a scope, i am sure you will settle down and start to identify the shiney things in the sky. you are on a voyage of discovery, that, should hopefully never end.

as the rest have said there is plenty of free software out there, I would recommend starry night backyard for a beginner, carte du ciel is excellent, but maybe a little too difficult to start with.

If you cannot get a copy of starrynight backyard, pm me i think I have a copy here.

naz

[Mick.G.]

Let the discoveries begin!

Got myself told off this morning for crashing about at 4.30am :nono:

One word of warning,warm up before you go to bed. :shock:Either that and get a spare bed.

Mick.

[lunator]

Lee

glad you got out with your scope and had fun.

keep us informed.

Cheers

Ian

[Mancunian Lee]

It seems the Starry Night backyard is no longer available unless its been renamed?

http://www.starrynight.com/products.html

What was folks first experience with a telescope?

[Darron]

Hello Lee

Like you I am fairly new to looking at things through a telescope, I find starry night excellent for learning about the night sky and planning what to look at. Try limewire, you should be able to get hold of a copy there. If you are struggling, pm me and I will see what I can do.

Darron

[FLO]

It seems the Starry Night backyard is no longer available...

It has been discontinued; here is its replacemant:

http://tinyurl.com/fu8vx

[Mike Godfrey]

Hey Lee,

great report - I have yet to get my first scope -but I'm looking forward to those shiny bits -also I am getting the same scope as you how did you get on with it ?

Cheers Mike

[Mancunian Lee]

Hey Lee,

great report - I have yet to get my first scope -but I'm looking forward to those shiny bits -also I am getting the same scope as you how did you get on with it ?

Cheers Mike

Really well if im honest, the mount is the best part no matter how hard the wind blew it kept the scope nice and firm towards the night sky.

With this being my one and only scope and my nice new rose tinted glasses im probably not the best person to review such a piece of kit. But if you look around the forum you will see a lot of experienced astronomers have the same scope and they all love it - i cant see anyone getting it and being dissapointed

Im already looking towards getting a new scope, thinking of not getting a new car and getting a meade LX90 8" GPS, i think a goto will make the experience a lot more fun. What i have now will give the same results i think but not having to set it up and to have a better idea of what im looking at will probably mean i wont tire of staring into space not having a clue

Thanks for the posts folks, i have amazon vouchers left over from christmasso im going to treat myself to starry night

[moondog]

Lee

Welcome aboard!

You can get an upgrade for the HEQ5 to make the mount Go To if you want.

Other members (Captain Chaos) have fitted the upgrade.

I would suggest you get to know the sky a bit better first as mentioned by other members.

I found the 'old fashioned' plastic and paper Philip's Planisphere useful when I started. Costs not a lot and it works without a computer. I still use the Philips sometimes as well as Starry Night .

Keep looking at the 'shiny bits'

MD

[daz]

Great report Lee and great scope too!!!!

For books, the Philips series are great for newcomers, or something like Turn Left at Orion.

And the planisphere - well worth the 7 quid!

Look forward to more!

[tom.yates]

Good report, Enjoy your time under the stars.

[Mancunian Lee]

Just an update to this, i installed Starry Night last night, didnt use it with my scope or to find anything but its an excellent learning too.

Its the opposite of Google Earth, instead of looking down on earth you look up to the sky from where you live!! lots of info and pics on everything you can see!! tbh with this i dont think ill need a go to scope, using it i know roughly know where everything is in the sky at a particular time and how it should look through my telescope.

I have the Starry Night Pro 5 and as most of you probably already know it allows you to control your telescope via a PC, i guess thats awesome if your into astrophotography.

Deffo an awesome bit of software no matter how well you know the night sky

[Rob]

That's good to hear, glady you have bit the bug!!. The Explorer 200 is a great scope and will show many fantastic things. Could I firstly point you to www.skymaps.com a free monthly skymap download, then as james said move on to some software.

All the best

Rob

[daz]

Well remembered Rob!

Just had mine come through. Damned usefull service, that!