First night clear sky with new scope!

[Nathan Ray]

Hey everyone, 

as the title suggests this is my first night to be able to have a scan around with my new telescope - skywatcher skyliner 250p.

Instantly on setting up I could visibly see Jupiter setting on the horizon, 

naturally, I got a eye piece straight in and aimed my spotter scope towards it. 
 

First with 25mm EP which gave me a great, bright wide field view of Jupiter and 3 Galilean moons.

Like everyone would, I wanted a closer look….

I changed to 10mm then 3.6 to give more magnification and to help bring out detail. 
 

I must note, bringing out a lot of detail tonight wasn’t easy. I was in a light polluted garden, the neighbours pesky led light went on for some time and Jupiter was incredibly bright…. Think it’s time to invest in some good filters too! 
 

Still, I’d missed my old friend Mr J. Such a pleasure to cross paths again!. 
 

Being a new scope and me being new to a dob of this size, I decided to have a little random scan about. 
 

I soon realised I was close to the Pleiades open cluster….

I placed in my 25mm EP (lowest mag I have) and centred Pleiades in my FOV. 
 

Pleiades is a bins favourite of mine, easy to find with the naked eye, beautiful open cluster.

I always enjoy Pleiades, my viewing Pleiades tonight made me realise I need more EP’s as I could not fit the whole of Pleiades in my FOV. 

I am now going to invest in both 40mm and 32mm EP’s.

Not going to tell porkies, I’m not the best at star hopping so I whipped my phone out and turned on night sky x to help me locate the Andromeda galaxy. 

Again, EP investment would make such a difference so I’m able to see more and also a dark sky location (I’ll be getting to one soon) but I had a amazing time viewing my white fuzzy friend. 

I was also very pleased to see a meteor whiz past which was completely unexpected. 

I’ve just came in for a brew and some lunch, the nights still young with the O’neb coming in to view so I’ll be back out to observe some more. 

I’ll be back with further updates, I must say a 10” dob was my best investment of the year! 
 

Be back soon 👋

Nathan
 

 

 

 

 

[cloudsweeper]

Hi Nathan, welcome to SGL!

A 10" Dob is a great instrument, and Yes, you could do with a 40 or 42mm EP for a decent Field of View to get you in the region you want.

Good to read about your enthusiasm.  Keep it up, there's a lot to enjoy up there!

Doug.

Edited December 23, 2021 by cloudsweeper

[Nathan Ray]

Thanks Doug, 

I am already looking for new EP’s while I’m eating my lunch but in the 2” region rather than the 1.25” that come supplied as this scope has the adapter for both. 
 

I will be going to a dark sky location after Boxing Day when sky conditions permit to open up a lot more. 
 

Nathan

[Kon]

Great first light for your telescope. I hope the weather holds for you to see more targets with your 10". If you do not already have a Rigel or Telrad will help with star hoping, I have the former with my 8" Dob .

[Nathan Ray]

Thanks @Kon it looks like it’s staying clear tonight in liverpool….

which is dangerous as I’m up for work at 6am haha.

Be a struggle to come in to bed while viewing is good.

I will take a look at Rigel & Telrad,

thanks bud

[Sunshine]

Great first night out! always exciting to hear about first light especially with a large dob which just sucks in photons like a black hole 😂. Regarding detail on planets especially Jupiter, it is good to have a look 

at your collimation and see how close to perfect you can get it. Jupiter has so much low contrast detail it tests telescopes limits. 

Clear Skies and enjoy!

Edited December 23, 2021 by Sunshine

[Nathan Ray]

@Sunshine thanks mate and very good point. 

I’ll be honest, I haven’t collimated the dob yet….

I have purchased a Cheshire collimator but I haven’t got round to it yet (I guessed it would be sufficient for now).

Ive also never collimated before as I’ve only ever been on smaller scopes that don’t need collimation. 
 

I think a few minutes on a YouTube video is I’m order so I know what I’m doing 😂.

Thanks for the advice mate,

Nathan

[Spile]

14 minutes ago, Nathan Ray said:

@Sunshine thanks mate and very good point. 

I’ll be honest, I haven’t collimated the dob yet….

I have purchased a Cheshire collimator but I haven’t got round to it yet (I guessed it would be sufficient for now).

Ive also never collimated before as I’ve only ever been on smaller scopes that don’t need collimation. 
 

I think a few minutes on a YouTube video is I’m order so I know what I’m doing 😂.

Thanks for the advice mate,

Nathan

I have been working on this guide for a few months so I would be interested to know how get on with it. https://astro.catshill.com/collimation-guide/

[Nathan Ray]

@Spile I will be sure to use the guide you’ve provided and let you know how I found it mate.

Appreciate it!

[Nathan Ray]

Just my luck, in typical fashion the sky wins again!

I thought the whole night was going to be clear and I’ve just came back out to view the O’neb and clouds…. Clouds everywhere blocking my view! 
 

At least I got some time with my new scope and some beautiful views!

next time I’ll be more prepared after using @Spiles collimation guide and I’ll be back with another report. 

Thanks for all the tips and encouragement guys! 
 

Nathan
 

[Nathan Ray]

My fear was short lived the clouds have gone 😂

[Epick Crom]

Welcome to SGL Nathan Ray! I also have a 10 inch dob, they are awesome instruments. Look forward to hearing more of your adventures with your new scope. Clear skies!

[Nathan Ray]

Thanks @Epick Crom appreciate the warm welcome

[RobertI]

Sounds like you had a great session, nice report. That's a fine scope, you'll have most bases covered with that. Ah yes, cloud and work - the astronomer's two curses!! It's worth the tiredness though.

[Nathan Ray]

Managed to view what I believe was the Orion Nebula? clouds seem to be coming and going.

from my heavily light polluted area,

the O’neb looked like a bright star, a smaller star below and a bright fuzz around it illuminating the surrounding area. 
 

this was with a 25mm EP, also zoomed closer in with 2x Barlow. 
 

tried to replicate this further with 10mm and Barlow but found the bright fuzz was no more.

Clouds are back now waiting for them to move then my next target is Alcyone then moving on to hip 17448 Omicron Persei in Perseus if the weather plays ball 🙃🤞🏻
 

 

[Nathan Ray]

5 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Sounds like you had a great session, nice report. That's a fine scope, you'll have most bases covered with that. Ah yes, cloud and work - the astronomer's two curses!! It's worth the tiredness though.

thanks mate, haha yes I’m giving myself another 30 mins at most. It’s the last day tomorrow and I’m doing 12 hour shift in the lab, can’t handle the tiredness tomorrow.

[Nathan Ray]

The clouds didn’t leave,

I’m all packed away and ready for bed.

Its been fun sharing with you all…

until next time 👋

[cloudsweeper]

11 hours ago, Nathan Ray said:

Thanks Doug, 

I am already looking for new EP’s while I’m eating my lunch but in the 2” region rather than the 1.25” that come supplied as this scope has the adapter for both. 
 

I will be going to a dark sky location after Boxing Day when sky conditions permit to open up a lot more. 
 

Nathan

Nathan - Yes, go for 2" EPs, especially at the low power end.  You'll get a better field of view, which is useful for finding your way about the sky.  I have the 30mm and 42mm Revelation Superviews - perfectly good, lightweight, lowish cost EPs.  

Doug.

[Nathan Ray]

27 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Nathan - Yes, go for 2" EPs, especially at the low power end.  You'll get a better field of view, which is useful for finding your way about the sky.  I have the 30mm and 42mm Revelation Superviews - perfectly good, lightweight, lowish cost EPs.  

Doug.

Will do mate thanks for the advice 

[Nathan Ray]

On 23/12/2021 at 21:45, Spile said:

I have been working on this guide for a few months so I would be interested to know how get on with it. https://astro.catshill.com/collimation-guide/

Hi Spile, 

Sorry I’m late getting back to you on this,

so yeah, my primary mirror was a out of collimation, I believe this is now sorted…

just need to double check on a bright star but I believe that should do the job! 

Good detailed, easy to read guide mate…

appreciate you sharing it and taking the time to put it together!

thanks again,

Nathan

 

 

[Spile]

3 hours ago, Nathan Ray said:

Hi Spile, 

Sorry I’m late getting back to you on this,

so yeah, my primary mirror was a out of collimation, I believe this is now sorted…

just need to double check on a bright star but I believe that should do the job! 

Good detailed, easy to read guide mate…

appreciate you sharing it and taking the time to put it together!

thanks again,

Nathan

 

 

Thanks Nathan. The feedback is really appreciated. That page has taken the most amount of time to put together compared to the others on the site.

[Nathan Ray]

@Spile no problem at all mate,

I’ve had the scope out…

all collimated well! Im not going to do a observation report as I haven’t had a long enough go!

But I’ve been playing around and attached my Digital night vision from my pest control rifle to my dob and seen a few meteors with the kids from the quadrantids shower.

I am really surprised how well my digital night vision preformed on the dob. 
 

Thought I’d share a little picture of it on the scope.

hope you’ve all had a good time observing,

clouds have appeared here now… 

catch ya next time 👍🏻
 

Nathan