first light proper 21/3/2010

[jobe]

Hi all.

some of you may recall i was having trouble with my new kit.

well it's finally sorted thanks to FLO.

so what happened.

the handset appears to have been broken so Steve sent a new one as well as an extension bar for the weights. finally managed to get out tonight and all i can say is WOW.

worked like a charm first time, finding all but 1 of my nights targets bang on. the other was at the edge of my fov.

due to the moon being up that was my first target. i don't have any filters yet so it was hurting my eyes a little but the detail was amazing.

only went to 10mm (120*) but i felt i could reach out and make an imprint in the powder.

M42 and the trap was next. there was a noticable shimmer so i guess the seeing wasn't too good. at 240* i struggled to make out e and f.

saturn. this was next. i'd been waiting so see it for a few weeks and was planning on leaving it till last but couldn't wait. with the 10mm i could easily make out the rings. two moons were visible, titan and rhea (thanks stellarium) the 5mm didn't show anymore detail, it being a pale yellow planet. a beautiful pale yellow planet. i'd seen it years ago but this was with my equipment.

Mizar. split this before but it's an easy target so went for it again.

guess you always love your first and this is no exception.

i then went on a massive Messier hunt. 56, 57, 38 then a quick stop off at Castor to split it. i think i prefer splitting doubles and the like.

next up was M35, 41, 50, 46, 47, 93, 44, 67, 81 and 82.

out of them all, m44 (preasepe) had the wow factor. it just shone there like a beautiful angel.

i now know i need to spend more cash on some filters, especially a moon one.

thanks for reading and hopefully there will be a lot more to come.

jobe

[Doc]

Wow you did have a busy night..

Alot of targets there, well done and keep posting those reports.

[John]

Great stuff Jobe - really good 1st light report

E & F Trapezium are tough little cookies and a good test of both seeing conditions and collimation. So don't worry if you did not get a clear sight of them this time around - you well when conditions are good - I find my 9mm and 7mm eyepieces give the "right" magnification to spot them when the seeing allows - this is in my 10" F/4.8 newtonian.

[Sam]

Great to hear you got out there and had a good session and what a large number of objects you got through.

[lunator]

Jobe

nice report

If you enjoy splitting doubles there are hundreds are targets

Cheers

Ian

[Talitha]

Great first light Jobe, you sure covered a lot.

Kick up the power on M44, there are quite a few doubles in the "beautiful angel" (best description of the cluster i've ever heard ).