First light of 8 years - 200P dob

[OK Apricot]

Hey ladies and gents! After a little advice earlier on about aperture, I settled on an 8" dob. There were many recommendations for the StellaLyra but patience isn't my best quality, and with these being out of stock everywhere I picked up a good old 200P at a great price from Tring Astronomy Centre before the weekend. 

I popped outside earlier to take some rubbish out and to my surprise, saw a lovely clear sky. I went straight outside with the scope, and was quite surprised at how... bulky this thing is - they never look that big in the pictures and you think "yeah I can handle that easy". As a 29yo field engineer in the gym 4 times a week, I definitely underestimated it, not too bad but not a cake walk either. The skies in my garden are not great at all, with bright street lights pointing in, trees and roof tops obstructing the line of sight, and being in a town, I'd estimate Bortle 6-7 at best. 

I pointed at the moon as I wanted something easy to crudely line up the finder. This took a while though as the sight of the moon through the supplied 25mm EP was absolutely breathtaking. I couldn't get away from the EP! With the moon around 50% illuminated, there was a minefield of highly contrasting craters among the Maria, with bright peaks, rough edges and streaking rays emanating from the centre. I was completely glued to the EP, sitting comfortably in a camping chair letting my eyes soak up the detail. I bumped up to the supplied 10mm EP, and noting a loss of brightness, enjoyed the close up, picking out similar details scanning up and down the Moon's terminator. Very rusty so I can't name craters, but off the top of my head, Tycho and Ptolmaeus(sp?). At this point I had butterflies at the thought of what M42 would look like. 

I turned to the Orion Nebula with the 25mm back in and was stunned. I saw a huge patch of glowing grey/green fuzz amongst the backdrop of white and blue stars, with obvious dark regions framing some structure of this hugely popular target. At 120x the trapezium was easily resolved and sat centre stage in the cloud, as if lighting the whole thing up from inside out. It was just surreal! With the wider field and lower magnification of the 25mm EP I could make out the Running Man nebula (catalogue IDs rusty but i remember some names!) sat quietly above, though no detail other than a definite fuzzy patch. 

Taurus was well positioned so I thought I'd have a go at finding M1, however my star hopping skills did not allow. M45 was a beautiful alternative, filling the EP with jewel like dots scattered across the FOV. 

Before getting back to reality and having to finish some house jobs, I tried to put M81 & M82 in view, and after a determined but uncomfortable 10 minutes through the 9x50 finder, landed two distinct fuzzy clouds, one more of a "chubby line" and another an imitation of Andromeda. Sky quality just wasn't there so no more than a bright core fading to the edges, but a lovely sight before an abrupt end to an impromptu first light. 

I'm amazed at the image quality from the standard kit with the 200P. I honestly was not expecting much, and was sweating at the thought of having to acquire some serious high end EPs but to my almost Virgin eyes, these will absolutely do for the foreseeable. I will even note that collimation is slightly out, confirmed by the out-of-focus star images, so things can, and will, get so much better yet!

Once again, absolutely taken aback by the heavens, and can't wait for the next break in the clouds, hopefully from a more suitable viewing location next time. 

Thanks for reading and letting me share my excitement. 

[Kon]

Great first report and a fantastic purchase. Your excitement is really coming through. You will have more of these moments. I have the same 200P. You will not be disappointed at all.

16 minutes ago, OK Apricot said:

and after a determined but uncomfortable 10 minutes through the 9x50 finder

I upgraded mine to a RACI and it is so much easier (plus you have the corrected sky view).

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/skywatcher-9x50-right-angled-erecting-finderscope.html

Edited February 8, 2022 by Kon

[RobertI]

Fantastic report, sounds like you had a great time. Those 8” dobs just can’t be beat. 🙂

[Daf]

Nice report. And good choice on the scope! I'm glad I listened to the advice and started with an 8" as my first big scope... same thoughts as you've had. Other people's don't seem too bad, until you have to move and transport it yourself. 🤣 Hope you have lots more good viewing with it!

[Stu]

Excellent report @OK Apricot, really good that you are pleased with the scope. An 8” dob can give you a lifetime’s enjoyment in this hobby, they are a great compromise as scopes get bigger and more importantly a lot heavier as you go to larger aperture.

Some good targets seen, the Moon never gets boring to look at, always different and always something interesting to view. M42 is a stunner isn’t it? The Trapezium is literally lighting up the nebula so your comments are correct! Good that you could see the green colour too.

I envy your young eyes which will be a lot more sensitive than us old codgers, so make the most of them! 👍

[MalcolmM]

Great report. I'm a refractor man but I'm always struck by the enthusiasm of Dob owners (and your enthusiasm is bursting off the page!) and must admit to a touch of envy every time I read their reports and try to imagine the views with so much light gathering power!

I'm sure you will have many wow moments with that scope!

Malcolm

[Epick Crom]

Hi @OK Apricot and welcome to the wonderful world of amateur astronomy! That 8" dob will give you a lifetime of astronomical pleasure. There is just so much to see and be inspired by up there, you will never run out of targets and awesome sights. Nice first report 👍

Joe

[200pman]

You will enjoy the 200p.fantastic value.

Remember 200p is for life not just for xmas.

[Pixies]

Don't forget to:

 

[Kimboman]

Nice report it is obvious that you are hooked like the rest of us

the moon is a great object to view and never fails to impress

you will have lots of nights like that one the planets are also mind blowers also

[OK Apricot]

Thanks guys, I just wanted to try to share that buzz that I'd felt, I'm glad it came through. 

I see a long future with the 200P. What better scope to learn to star hop with? It's a doddle, apart from the finder of course. As I said, I'd have loved the SL as it has the RACI finder already, but hey ho, make do for now and use the time to come up with a story to satisfy the better half? 

I won't let my eyes go to waste, definitely not. I'm very careful with my eyesight, helps with things like this indeed. 

I used to have a 150mm frac which, to be quite fair, was very close to the 200P, at least to my inexperienced eyes. It couldn't be beat on the moon, planets and double stars even with 2" less aperture. 

Next stop, "show us your dob" 😁

[wookie1965]

First light is always a thrill wait until you see the planets. 

Excellent report your enthusiasm shines through well done. 

[OK Apricot]

Yeah, it's not a great time of year for planets. I am 90% sure I found Uranus a few nights ago with my Celestron 12x70's, but I expect more of a challenge star hopping to that again at a higher magnification - it is definitely on my list though! 

If I get home from work at a good time, and it's not gym day, I could probably catch jupiter for a few minutes, but being low over the town I doubt I'd be blown away. On the other side of the night there's Venus shining brilliantly on my morning commutes down the M1 around 7am, but that's just it, I'm working! What I can't see now, I can see another day - keeps the mind happy and looking forward 🙂

[Spile]

The 200P is an excellent telescope. Here is hoping you get a few cloudless nights to enjoy it. Meantime there are some tips on my blow below that you may find useful.

[Roy Cropper]

Im fairly new to astronomy as a hobby and I'm running a used 4.5" reflector (I don't know the brand as it's not marked, but I've seen it badged as both Celestron and Tasco so I guess its from the late 90's when T owned C).  I've been idly eyeing the 200p as a cost effective upgrade and I think you've just sold me on it!

[Daf]

1 hour ago, Spile said:

The 200P is an excellent telescope. Here is hoping you get a few cloudless nights to enjoy it. Meantime there are some tips on my blow below that you may find useful.

Ah, I've come across your blog before, great collection of tips and resources! Thank you. The mobile page doesn't show signatures though. Would never have known if you hadn't have said. 🤣

[Nicola Fletcher]

Thanks for such a great report - your excitement came through and it was a great read! I’ve not had the pleasure of looking through a dob but your report certainly made me want to even more!

[OK Apricot]

All I would say to anyone considering it or umming and arring is just do it - get one. I've also had an ETX105 in the past (2005-6) not bad but not great in my opinion, also had a Meade DS2102? 4" refractor, 150mm evostar etc. For the price, ease of use, portability, performance, just do it! I promise you won't be disappointed 😁

[Spile]

23 hours ago, Daf said:

Ah, I've come across your blog before, great collection of tips and resources! Thank you. The mobile page doesn't show signatures though. Would never have known if you hadn't have said. 🤣

Thanks very much for the feedback and the note about the mobile page. Funny but shows up on my tablet obviously due to a larger screen.

[Swithin StCleeve]

On 09/02/2022 at 22:15, Roy Cropper said:

Im fairly new to astronomy as a hobby and I'm running a used 4.5" reflector (I don't know the brand as it's not marked, but I've seen it badged as both Celestron and Tasco so I guess its from the late 90's when T owned C).  I've been idly eyeing the 200p as a cost effective upgrade and I think you've just sold me on it!

I used a 4.5 inch Tasco back in the 90's and I've still got my observation book from back then. I read some of it recently and was quite impressed with what I got to see with that scope. I saw most of the Messier objects from my parent's back garden back then.