First light 12" (Skywatcher 300P Goto) - Jupiter (01/02/24)

[Kon]

This week I acquired a new 12" Goto telescope (Skywatcher 300P Goto). The weather played ball and I managed to get a first light on Jupiter.  A nice bous of GRS and a transit shadow. I was kin to do a star test to check the collimation which is 95% there.  I am struggling a bit with the secondary but I think it is not far off. I did not try the goto as clouds were coming in and it is probably something to play with the moon or DSOs for visual. I also swapped the dual focuser and RACI from my 8".

Awful seeing but the two captures are giving me high hope for things to come once the planets are back in the summer. I am undersampled a bit as I used my x2.5 TV powermate rather than a x3 barlow to bring me to 5x pixel size. 12", 2.5x TV powermate, asi462mc or mm. I am very excited with the new setup; a photo before the changes on the focuser and finderscope.

 

[happy-kat]

Ooo that's going to suit you, great first light.

That's a EEA monster great fun with that.

[PeterStudz]

All looks great and what a wonderful new telescope. Although I’m kind of sad that there’s no more 200p - end on an era! I always enjoyed seeing what you were doing with that as I obviously have one too. 

[orion25]

Wow! That's a whole lotta scope! Great first light! You're going to have lots of fun with that one

Reggie

[Kon]

2 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Ooo that's going to suit you, great first light.

That's a EEA monster great fun with that.

I am really excited for galaxy season and nebulas, visually. I haven't done EEA before but it's something to look into. I might try some DSO imaging but my heart is on planets.

[Kon]

27 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

All looks great and what a wonderful new telescope. Although I’m kind of sad that there’s no more 200p - end on an era! I always enjoyed seeing what you were doing with that as I obviously have one too. 

I felt guilty gutting all the good bits off the 8" this afternoon but the 12" should hopefully give me that extra details. Saying that, I am keeping the 8" as the kids call it their scope now. I will still use it for quick sessions. 

[Kon]

15 minutes ago, orion25 said:

Wow! That's a whole lotta scope! Great first light! You're going to have lots of fun with that one

Reggie

Thanks Reggie. I am looking forward what it can deliver under good seeing. I will try write up an observing report once I have chance to try some DSO observing.

[bosun21]

That was quick Kostas. I also had a slightly difficult time aligning the secondary mirror correctly. I bought another 2" concenter (concentre for the English purists out there). This allowed me to accurately centre the secondary and set the tilt. Maybe it's due to the slightly oversized secondary mirror on the Flextube dobsonian or the fact that they are slightly under f5. I also found the shroud to be a good addition to cut out stray light ingressing into the tube. Looking forward to the next apparition.

Edited February 2 by bosun21

[Sunshine]

It’s a beast! it must be a heavy one, would love to hear about a session under good seeing.

[yelsac]

Lovely scope Kon. Aperture fever comes to us all 😁 Can't wait to see what you get with that beast.

I absolutely love my 12" newt, not sure how it works with a goto dob but on my eq mount I don't bother to star align just a basic polar align then turn on the tracking, it tends to keep the planet in view 👍

[Kon]

7 hours ago, bosun21 said:

That was quick Kostas. I also had a slightly difficult time aligning the secondary mirror correctly. I bought another 2" concenter (concentre for the English purists out there). This allowed me to accurately centre the secondary and set the tilt. Maybe it's due to the slightly oversized secondary mirror on the Flexitube dobsonian or the fact that they are slightly under f5. I also found the shroud to be a good addition to cut out stray light ingressing into the tube. Looking forward to the next apparition.

Yes it took a combination of Cheshire and laser to get it right. Somehow I cannot see the clips which made life more difficult. I am curious to see how it holds collimation between extending and retracting it as well as moving it on/off the base. I will message you with a few questions on shrouds, balancing etc.

[Kon]

5 hours ago, Sunshine said:

It’s a beast! it must be a heavy one, would love to hear about a session under good seeing.

It is big and there is no way I can lift the whole lot 🤣. I am trying to work out the best way to move it around but on my first session it had to ocme out in two pieces unliek my 8" that I can lift as a whole assembly.

[Kon]

1 hour ago, yelsac said:

Lovely scope Kon. Aperture fever comes to us all 😁 Can't wait to see what you get with that beast.

I absolutely love my 12" newt, not sure how it works with a goto dob but on my eq mount I don't bother to star align just a basic polar align then turn on the tracking, it tends to keep the planet in view 👍

Thanks. I am really excited to do some visual DSO as I have a fairly dark sky and even my 8" had shown me loads of faint nebulas so it will be interesting. 

My friend who has a 16" Goto Dob does not star align either just uses the sidereal tracking and it only needs a small push to correct at some point during the night. So it should be fine for planetary imaging.

[Andy ES]

On 01/02/2024 at 18:52, Kon said:

This week I acquired a new 12" Goto telescope (Skywatcher 300P Goto).

Lol, so a goto scope, you’re spoiling yourself !

I hope you are still going to track and photograph manuals.

GOTO is for wimps like me 😂

 

Edited February 2 by Andy ES

[Kon]

11 hours ago, Andy ES said:

Lol, so a goto scope, you’re spoiling yourself !

I hope you are still going to track and photograph manuals.

GOTO is for wimps like me 😂

 

Thanks Andy. I couldn't resist a good deal 😜. I am still keeping the 8" and  I will image with it as it's a lot easier for quick sessions.

I was only kin on the goto for tracking iss and planetary imaging. I like manually hunting the faint nebulas.

Edited February 3 by Kon

[Space Cowboy]

Woahhhh!!!! Lewis Hamilton just got a better car!! 💪

Great to see you with a big gun Kostas!

Edited February 3 by Space Cowboy

[Kon]

47 minutes ago, Space Cowboy said:

Woahhhh!!!! Lewis Hamilton just got a good car!! 💪

Great to see you with a big gun Kostas!

Thanks Stuart. It's good to join with the big boys. It will be a learning curve but I am very excited.

[Mr Spock]

Size matters 

[Space Cowboy]

23 minutes ago, Kon said:

Thanks Stuart. It's good to join with the big boys. It will be a learning curve but I am very excited.

When planetary imaging you'll be able to lay back and smoke a cigar 😎 Short exposure DSO is an option now. 

[geoflewis]

Wow Kostas, you don't hang about...!! Sorry that I've only just seen this thread and what a great first light 👏

[Kon]

2 hours ago, geoflewis said:

Wow Kostas, you don't hang about...!! Sorry that I've only just seen this thread and what a great first light 👏

I was too excited not to try 😉. Quite a few things to sort out but let's see what it can deliver.

[neiil phillips]

Congrats on the new scope Kostas. Can see seeing hasn't played ball. But it matters not. You got your first light. Better things to come. Jupiter 2025 and 57 degrees 

[Kon]

10 hours ago, neiil phillips said:

Congrats on the new scope Kostas. Can see seeing hasn't played ball. But it matters not. You got your first light. Better things to come. Jupiter 2025 and 57 degrees 

Thanks Neil. I finally took your advice to go on a driven mount with a bit extra aperture 😁.

It seems we will have a busy 2024/25. I am looking forward to more of your posts.