MY FIRST VIEW..... AT LONG LAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[petermartin5]

Altho I have owned the (in) famous Skylux since last December last night was the first chance that I had to use it. I have " restricted " viewing and managed to focus on the moon thru" the window...yes I know this is not recommended but viewing thru the side non-opening window was the only option.

I used the 20mm ep and perhaps surprisingly( given the conditions) the moon appeared sharp and clear and to be honest I thought that the amount of detail on show was wonderful.

I know that this anecdote is pretty mundane but they do say that you always remember the first time!

Seriously I admit to being surprised at, in my humble opinion, how well this Lidl special performed.

I look forward to some more clear nights.

All the best to all of you.

Pete

[daz]

Congratualtions Peter!!

And you're right - you'll always remember the first night!!

Clear nights indeed

[Naz]

Well done Peter, that is a long time to wait for a chance to use any thing :shock:

But worth the wait, the first time is always special

naz

[Albireo380]

Hi Peter,

You never forget that "oh wow" moment. The moon comes up a treat in most 'scopes. You see things you never imagined - craters, mountains, mare and rilles.

Glad you got a good "first light" on your 'scope. Hope you continue to enjoy astronomy.

Tom

[geppetto]

Pleased you got to use the scope and came away impressed.

Actually theres a lot of mention on the net about the Lidl scopes

and most folk seem happy with its performance 8)

[OXO]

Hi Peter,

Well done on your first outting with the scope you can only look up from now on

James

[FLO]

Good news Peter,

Now, if its clear tonight, swing the scope a little to the left of the Moon and point it at the brightest star in the sky.

Its actually not a star but the planet Jupiter and it is following the moon across the sky. You should be able to see the planet as a disc with four moons - one on the left and three on the right (they'll appear the other way round in the eyepiece).

The most interesting is the moon closest to Jupiter - thats Europa and is regarded by many as the most likely place for finding life.

Don't worry if you can't see weather bands on Jupiter, the glare from the Moon makes them difficult to see.

Good luck

[petermartin5]

Thanks for all your replies, its nice to get some encouragement. Thought I would try again tonight, but guess what? Yes its cloudy.!! Still theres always tomorrow.

On another topic, I saw an article in The Guardian a couple of days ago re. the chap who wrote "Turn left at Orion", Guy ??? and he is actualy a Papal Astronomer. He is a Jesuit and employed by the Pope.!!! No I am not joking. Like most people I guess I had no idea that the Vatican had its own astronomeers, 12 in total

Thought I would just share that with you,

Pete

[GordonCopestake]

Castel Gandolfo is quite well known. They've come a long way since they put Galileo under house arrest. http://www.vaticanobservatory.org/ for anyone interested.

[FLO]

Busting to comment on that one Peter but religion is off limits .... [removed word]!

Ooops, so is swearing :silent:

[The Warthog]

Your first sight through a scope is always a memory! Mine was Saturn - the moon wasn't up. I hope you get many nights of viewing through that scope. What kind of scope is it?

[petermartin5]

Hi WH, My scope is the ever so humble Bresser Skylux. Its a 70mm.refractor. These normally sell for about £100 but Lidl ( cheapo supermarket) were selling them for £50 last December.

They were also selling 10x50 bins for £9.99 and I bought a pair of these also.

You can see that no expense has been spared when purchasing my gear!!!

My thinking was will astronomy continue to interest me, how often will I be able to use it and if I spend a lot of money and then sell the scope will I end up losing hard earned cash.

I thought better to dip my toe in the water and if all goes well I can get myself some better quality kit later on.

Hope your keeping ok, you live in the colonies I understand!!

Pete

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Thats an interesting concept. Buy some some stuff that might not work to see if you get fed up that it doesn't do what you expect. Then you haven't lost a lot of cash. Fair enough, but if you buy quality kit you are more likely to be able to offload it later at a more modest loss.

I spent years buying cheap power tools for work, only to have to replace them at the most inconvenient times. I ended up having two of most things in the van as I had to have a back-up when the angle grinder or whatever bit the dust. Then I saw the light, buy the best kit that you can afford. It lasts longer, you get more use out of it and it doesn't pack in when you need it. I now spend less on kit than I used to AND have better toys.

My Daughter wanted a guitar to learn on and her Mum (we no longer see eye to anything) told me that I should buy her a cheap guitar. So I bought a Fender, she still has it, it still works AND she isn't fed up that it's rubbish. I strongly believe that if I had got the cheap one she would not be bothered with it now and the dosh would have been a total loss. As it is, she has a fender, loves it, and I don't now have to find more dosh to buy it.

My point is, if you like the astronomy thing, save your pennies and get a good 'scope next. The step by step upgrade route is very expensive as you lose a little with every step up. If you can, do the big step first and get a keeper.

Your next decision is to work out what you want to look at and get something appropriate, that you will keep.

That said, I have three 'scopes at the moment and still can't decide what I want to look at!

Enjoy what you have, I read god reviews on that 'scope.

Captain Chaos

[Naz]

Good filosofy( Spell check that one) Capt

naz

[The Warthog]

One way to cut the cost and still get quality is to buy used equipment. I have just bought a C6N (6" Newtonian) at a price pretty close to what I should be able to unload it for in a couple of years. I'd have spent twice as much if I had got it new. There are lots of deals about. I bought mine off Canada-Wide Astronomy Buy and Sell, and there is a UK version of that, that people here could help you with the URL, I'm sure.

[Naz]

Here is the link

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

lots of good deals on there, I have had two recently, just be patient set your spend limit and wait, it will turn up, the deal you can not afford to miss. Happy hunting

naz