yeah got my 1st scope

[naked"I"]

Ive got three three days off work and thought what shall I do with myself, I know I pop over to Optic Star in Sale Mcr just for a a look around.

I came away with a SW 200pds and EQ5 mount, very excited, and had to use the cruise controll coming home to keep my speed down.

Got it all set up, then the blumming clouds appeared.

Im sure i will be posting with lots of Q's on here from now on.

clear skies to you all and me

Dave

[Saata]

Nice starter scope!

Congrats mate - clear skies soon, I hope

Steve

[RikM]

Well done Dave, good choice, you will see loads with that.

Rik

[naked"I"]

thanks guys, not bad considering my budget was £300, just don't tell my wife it was a very small amount over, well whats an extra £436, If I buy her a pair of shoes and a hand bag will that make things even and fair.

[britchall]

Think of using some of my student loan to buy a scope. If it means I spend the night looking at the sky rather than in the SU then it will soon pay for itself. Just started a degree in Physics, which is fun, but all on paper. Nothing like seeing the very big for yourself.

[E621Keith]

Congratulation on the scope. Unfortunately all new telescope comes with bad weather, wait a couple of days and it should dissipate.

Britchall, does your university have an AstroSoc? Some are really well equipped, so go to one of their session and check out what they have got. It might save you a lot of money. Unfortunately, as student enter and graduate, different people will run these club, so on some year it may be really active, while in others it may be very quiet.

[britchall]

My university doesn't which is kind of understandable as the skys here are polluted. I'm from Cornwall though so there are plenty clear views to be had during my holidays.

[E621Keith]

That's a shame, although understandable. I have had some great view with my old Uni's Astrosoc in Central London and I was surprised on how much I could see through their telescope.

Check out whether there are any astronomical society in your area, it might worth going to one of their observation session to see what is visible.

[pvaz]

Think of using some of my student loan to buy a scope. If it means I spend the night looking at the sky rather than in the SU then it will soon pay for itself. Just started a degree in Physics, which is fun, but all on paper. Nothing like seeing the very big for yourself.

You certainly don't need to spend too much. A nice 130 dob is around 130£ and the 200p dob version costs less then 300 and will show the same. An EQ is needed for photography and nice to have for planetary observation, otherwise a dobson mount is actually much more practical.

[naked"I"]

Congratulation on the scope. Unfortunately all new telescope comes with bad weather, wait a couple of days and it should dissipate. .

love it.

And a few days off when I could have gone outside and shared the night with the owls at the back of my house. Still when I get back to work tomorrow im sure i could find a quiet corner to sleep in.

[perrin6]

thanks guys, not bad considering my budget was £300, just don't tell my wife it was a very small amount over, well whats an extra £436, If I buy her a pair of shoes and a hand bag will that make things even and fair.

Yes, as long as the shoes and handbag cost about the same !

[Stu]

Ok. Simple question, are you getting focussed star images? Fie instance if you look at M45 can you get nicely focussed stars filling the view? If not then there is something basically wrong with what you are doing.

I believe your scope is an achromat which means you will get some chromatic abberation on brighter objects like the moon and Jupiter. This means you will get colour fringes either side of the object which can make detail harder to see.

You should certainly be able to see detail on planets, but with that sized scope you have to be realistic about what's possible. At around x86, I am able to see the Great Red Spot on Jupiter with my 66mm, but it takes patience, training of your brain and eye to see the detail, and good seeing which is how steady the atmosphere is. There are times when the atmosphere is just not steady enough to see much detail.

Make sure that you are not observing over any houses as the heat rising off them can disturb the viewing. Similarly, observing on concrete or tarmac which has heated during the day can cause issues. Best bet is somewhere on grass, away from houses.

Google Sky is great, but don't forget that looking at smartphone or laptop screens destroys your night vision and makes things harder to see properly. Best bet is to get a small start atlas and a red torch so that you preserve your night vision.

Finally, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to get a nice, sharp view of saturn with your scope, although I suspect it won't cope with very high magnifications, perhaps up to x150. I don't know about the quality of the eye pieces with the scope but often they are not good quality and are just there to get you started. Maybe worth getting a couple of higher quality ep's and a barlow which cover this range.

Stu

[Astro Imp]

Well done Dave, nice scope you've got yourself.

Look forward to seeing your first light report.

Enjoy.