Excitable Newbie's Night Of Firsts

[MarshallDavies]

No more 'sidewalk astronomy' for me, my friends. Tonight I finally managed to get myself to a nice, dark location with -believe it or not- not a cloud in sight. I'm not going to pretend it went without a hitch, in this case a badly alligned RDF on the ol' astromaster. One piece of equipment I find hard enough to use already. But undeterred, I decided to aim for something even I'd find hard to miss - the Moon. Considering this was my first view of it through a telescope, I'll happily admit I was blown away. Fantastic view through the 20mm and the 10mm! Now i need a barlow, if anyone can reccomend?

Next stop, I say to myself, Mars. No problemo? Our survey said; X. I did manage to catch the briefest glimpse, but unable to help myself I tried to get it centered and only suceeded in losing it completely. Right then, methinks, Pleiades. Not a sausage. By now I'm starting to feel the cold more than a little, one last crack -m31- then I'll pack up while I can still use my fingers. Guess what, no joy. I'm not all that bothered though - I know I was being greedy. And so, damn near frozen but feeling elated I packed up and went my merry way. Not a bad night by all accounts!

Ps. I took the 10x50's out about an hour later as the cloud started to roll in. Just to remind Pleiades and m31 who's boss. M31 -my first tiny smudgy glimpse of- reminded me; puny human, you really are that insignificant.

[nicnac]

they say the TAL brand is good, suppose it depends on how much you want to spend

[MarshallDavies]

i'll have a gander but i am pretty tight at the moment, maybe £50? but then maybe i should just save a bit and aim fo the eye-opener kit...