Brand New Stargazer at 67 y.o.!

[CruzanGazer]

UPDATE:  I unboxed my Orion XT8 Christmas day, and have had it out 2 nights in a row.  I observed Saturn, Jupiter, and Orion Nebula the first night.  Shared it with my wife who loved it also.  Last night I revisited those plus what little I could see of Venus, which was in crescent and moved out of sight pretty quickly here.  Then I tried star hopping to the Andromeda Galaxy, and realized I probably don't know exactly what I'm looking for to find it.

I had a hard time collimating it, but fortunately I purchased a laser collimator with it, or I would still be trying to get it right.  When I first looked, the laser missed the secondary and hit the wall.  When I got it back into the center of the primary, I checked it,  and it was way off.  When I got the primary centered, the secondary was out again.  I went back and forth for a while, and without the laser it would have been even more challenging.  BTW....I used the collimating cap for a reference, and it doesn't agree with the laser.  Also, yesterday I checked it after having it outside for a few hours, and back in again, and it was out of collimation again.  Is this something I should do each time I take it out?  I'm assuming temperature changes, and moving it around cause the mirrors to move slightly.

Any tips on finding Andromeda Galaxy?  So far, I'm loving it!  I could see several of the moons of Jupiter, and the orange bands across the planet...couldn't make out the red spot though with what I have.

[Orange Smartie]

This is how I find the Andromeda galaxy. Find the big square of Pegasus (almost square, with 4 bright stars). Count 1, 2 bright stars to the left. There should be a brightish star above the one you've reached - step to this and then the same distance again and there you are. It's very large and so you'll need your lowest magnification, but it should be easily visible assuming the sky is reasonably dark.

The teal circles are the 4 stars making the square, the lilac circles are the two stars you count to the left. Arrow marks the star you step to first and the red ellipse is your target. Sorry it's a rubbish diagram made in haste, but you get the idea!

If noone has already suggested it, I would get yourself a copy of Turn Left at Orion - an excellent beginner's guide.

Edited December 28, 2021 by Orange Smartie

[Orange Smartie]

P.S. feel the need to add that I'm a beginner so I'm sure others may have different experience, but I haven't  found the need to change my secondary collimation in normal use, but the primary of my 10 inch dob does seem to move a bit. The primary is very easy to align though.

[CruzanGazer]

So, last night I was able to locate Andromeda Galaxy!  I think where I set up had too much local light contamination from neighbors and street lights, so will move to a darker spot.  It was very cool to locate it and experiment with different eye pieces to see what worked and what didn't work to focus on it.

I am still having problems collimating though.  The collimating cap and laser collimator don't agree.  In fact they differ significantly.  I collimated with the cap before viewing, and then after an hour or so, re-collimated with the laser.  I couldn't really see much difference in the view of Andromeda, so not sure if I'm getting the best focus possible or not.

Any suggestions or advice?

[Pixies]

Collimation won't have much affect on large fuzzy objects like galaxies. It will affect resolution of fine details on moon/planets as well as details of stars at high magnification.

If the secondary is misaligned under the focuser or twisted, the laser won't be particularly effective. Also, depending on the quality and type of the laser, it might be out of collimation itself. If the laser bean does not leave the device perfectly centered and parallel, it will be of no use as a collimation tool. Put the laser into the focuser and rotate it - does the spot remain centered in the doughtnut marker on the primary? Also, as you tighten it in the focuser, does it always return to the same spot?

Have a look at these for a useful guide on collimation with a cap:

https://garyseronik.com/a-beginners-guide-to-collimation/

https://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/

 

[CruzanGazer]

On 27/12/2021 at 15:00, Orange Smartie said:

This is how I find the Andromeda galaxy. Find the big square of Pegasus (almost square, with 4 bright stars). Count 1, 2 bright stars to the left. There should be a brightish star above the one you've reached - step to this and then the same distance again and there you are. It's very large and so you'll need your lowest magnification, but it should be easily visible assuming the sky is reasonably dark.

The teal circles are the 4 stars making the square, the lilac circles are the two stars you count to the left. Arrow marks the star you step to first and the red ellipse is your target. Sorry it's a rubbish diagram made in haste, but you get the idea!

If noone has already suggested it, I would get yourself a copy of Turn Left at Orion - an excellent beginner's guide.

 

[CruzanGazer]

That helped a great deal...it’s all starting to click!

[Sunshine]

Have a go at collimation using only the collimation cap, if the secondary looks round and entered within the focuser tube, primary mirror clips are equally visible around edges of secondary, and the hole in the cap lands dead on with the dot in the middle of the primary then you should be good to go. Collimation can be a rabbit hole, it can quickly get out of hand as we strive for perfection and constantly check it. Don't let it get to that point, also don't forget to gently tighten the mirror locking nuts after collimation, don't tighten one all the way before snugging the others. Tighten one just so it makes contact with mirror then move to the next and the next, then again snug them little by little one after the other or you could throw off collimation by tightening one too much straight away. Once you get the optics collimated then it won't need much adjusting each time unless it takes a serious knock, it should only take a few min if it does need it after.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Sunshine

[CruzanGazer]

Thank you.  I pretty much have the process figured out, my only issue now is that my collimation cap and laser collimator don't agree, significantly.