First Night out with Explorer 200

[Flinthead]

we received our explorer 200 a week ago and since then the skies have been terrible. last night looked promising so I started setting up as it was getting dark, took about 1/2 hour. had a couple of dummy runs previously to get to know things. Also did all the indoor checks that I could last week.

So, ready to run. Didnt really worry to much about polar alignment, tonight was just a point and look night. Checked collimation on the first star out (think it was Capella) seemed to look ok, nice and sharp.

First up was the moon - wow! was not expecting it to be so bright. So on with the ND filter. Started with the 25mm and graduallly moved in with the barlow and then the 10mm. Was very pleased and excited at the level of detail. Was not expecting it in the 10mm (although there was a slight loss of detail with the 10mm and barlow.

Next had a look at M7 The Pleiades, really nice and sharp but with a 25mm couldnt fit it all in, maybe a bigger FOV?

Then we had a try at M42 Orion Nebula- OMG. Again started with the 25mm and gradually zoomed in. The 10mm with the barlow struggled abit, but got great views with the 25mm and barlow, clearly seeing the cloud and the central trapezium.

Tried for the the Andromeda Galaxy but couldnt find it, with the moon so bright couldnt even find a smudge with bins (in fact even had trouble seeing the Pleiades with the naked eye).

By this time Mars was rising over our roof so we swung round to have a look - another cracker. Admittedly it was quite small but could make out some detail with the 25mm and barlow. The

10mm with barlow struggled a bit.

Last target of the night was Sirius, had a lovely sparkly view, again the 25mm with barlow proved to be the best bet, couldnt see the pup, but maybe beyond a scope like this?

Now I know that may not be a challenging nights viewing to many people. But we were really pleased with what we saw. Next time try and polar align better and hopefully not get hypothermia again!

[Bizibilder]

Hi Flinthead

You seem to have had a great first night! You have also spotted that the 10mm eyepiece supplied is only "adequate" and you may consider upgrading to a better quality. Also the barlow is only "adequate" and again you may need to upgrade.

For the Barlow the TAL x2 seems to be recommended. For eyepieces a 7mm Plossl is again recommended. I have the same scope as yourself and these eyepieces seem to be coming up in threads on the subject - I am also considering upgrades.

For widefield a SW 2" 32mm Panaview has been mentioned but these are £75 a pop!!

Hope this helps to start your reaserch!!

Just found the thread:-

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/95833-sky-watcher-200p-eps.html#post1364666

[dark knight]

That's a great start. The moon does play havoc when it is so bright, you certainly had a better night than me..

[Flinthead]

Thanks guys, I think we did ok, certainly was pleased with what we saw.

I was actually bit surprised having read a few threads on EP's that come with Skywatcher scopes, I was wasnt expecting too much but they are certainly good enough for now. Will defo upgrade at some point as the 10mm struggled with the barlow (interesting point about the barlow, might have to think about that). The 25mm, although it performed ok clearly lost a bit of quality away from the centre of the FOV. I guess also need to think about filling the gap as at the moment I can get 40x, 80x, 100x and 200x. Maybe a 7 or 8mm?

I think we were quite lucky with not having to meddle with adjustments or collimation as some people seem to have to do this straight out of the box, or maybe they were just unlucky.

Look forward to more clear skies, and hopefully not quite as cold - last night was a bit on the chilly side!

[dark knight]

The main thing with using a barlow is brightness diminishes so an already dim object becomes dimmer still. I too would go for an eye piece in the 30 to 40mm range, the Pleiades looks stunning, as do globular clusters and open clusters.

Congrats on a great first night, makes all that waiting around worthwhile..

[Flinthead]

I'll certainly be considering the Barlow issue, I know from other threads that it not the greatest. I'll have to bide my time at the moment as there is quite a lot of stuff in the way of accessories. I've just bought a 20A mains PSU so I dont have to rely on Duracell's at £12 a pop (for 8). I'm not sure yet wether to save up and gradually aquire a set of good quality EP's or buy mid-range and make the high end ones a long term aspiration. Unfortunately my bank balance isnt as full as I'd like it to be!

I guess that a set of colour filters would be useful to have early on. Are the more expensive ones much better than cheaper ones? I assume it like it is with other optics - you get what you pay for?

That first night has certainly encouraged us. I know they were easy targets but we just wanted to get out and get an idea of what we could see, and as I said b4, it was better than expected, so all round, happy bunnies.

Great forum to be on. Loads of really useful advice and threads, and friendly too!

[stev74]

Well done, it sounds like you had a great first night.

When you do decide to upgrade your EP's and barlow I'd suggest secondhand. I got all my EP's and barlow secondhand for roughly half the cost new. It's a great way of expanding your collection and experimenting with different mags without spending too much straight away. The 'for sale' section on SGL is great and you can pick up a bargain or two.

Didnt really worry to much about polar alignment, tonight was just a point and look night.

Basic polar aligning for visual observing is easy, I read on here quite a lot about people never aligning there EQ mounts because they think it's really difficult and or time consuming.

Once you set your latitude on the mounts latitude scale all you have to do is point the leg that has the 'N' on it towards Polaris or use a compass to find and point it North. Ok the alignment wont be perfect but you should be able to track objects for several mins without needing to adjust anything. I'm assuming your mount can track as you talk about a power supply. EDIT - Just noticed your signature, the HEQ5 tracks.

So really all you do is point (the leg North) and look.

[Flinthead]

Hi Steve,

thanks for that, I will keep an eye on the for sale section. Its reassuring to see that astro stuff holds its value quite well so that if foul up and buy a bit of kit that not suitable you can sell on and not just write off the money!

Will try the alignment next time (maybe tonight if the forecast is right). didnt bother the first night as just wanted to see what we could do and get used to handling the scope. Also polaris wasnt visible unitil it got quite dark and buy that time we was engrossed in looking at the moon. After that we just carried on! Not exactly best practice I know, but after a week of cloudy skies just wanted to see some stuff.