First Light.....

[Methos]

Hi all, I promised to write a report on my First Light experience with my SW 150p Dob,so here goes.

I looked outside and I saw loads of cloud and a big clear patch I probably should've waited for better conditions but The Moon was too tempting, being an absolute novice with telescopes I wasn't sure how this was going to pan out, but I can tell you that I felt very very anxious, or maybe it was adreneline, I don't know.

So I lined up the finder scope with the Moon in the crosshairs (after remembering everything was inverted) and looked through the 25mm EP, I saw blurry light, tried the focus, nothing, moved the scope everything went dark LOL (I moved it the wrong way again), after about 5mins I realised that the finder scope might be a bit out, so I navigated whilst looking through the eyepiece and gently nudging the DOB and then WOW there she was The Moon )))) I then tried the 10mm, my god, I've never seen the moon like that before.

I know you shouldn't jump straight in, and its a Dobsonian but I took a photo using my digital camera (AFocal) and here it is (No processing),I thought I'd share it with you. Oh and i'm very very very happy so far and i've only seen the moon and it was pretty dire conditions. And that concludes my first report.

Clear Skies

[tbird]

Congratulations, my first time tonight also.

[Methos]

Thank You hope you've had as much fun as I have, the clouds dominated soon after the pic experiment Try the scope out again tomorrow, hopefully

[yoda]

Congrat's on your first light Scott and tbird,

You wait until you see your first DSO thats anuther WOW moment wating for you, Lets hope you (and me) get some clear skys soon all the best.

[swamp thing]

Congratulations to the both of you.

Always good to hear people enjoying themselves at this great hobby:)

Regards Steve

[Astro Imp]

Hi,

Well done to both of you, glad you enjoyed yourselves, plenty more to look forward to :)

Great first pic BTW

Clear skies.

[lankywolf]

Well done folks.... I'm jealous!!!.... I want a scope

[NickK]

A very good photo too!

Try targeting the edge between the light and dark side of the moon. It makes the contrast of the craters very visible, switch to a high power EP.

I agree - next onto the Orion Nebula.. but give yourself 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust! That's a Holy Bovine moment too!

[ozwebuk]

You ever run a Messier marathon? Our Society is plannig one for early April. We are a little too far north to see everything but still a big challenge.

[Methos]

Hi guys thank you for your replies, had another run with the scope tonight and I saw Saturn WOW!!!!! Dreams rarely come true but this morning they did what a gorgeous sight, I could've stayed there for hours, but the clouds made sure I didn't .

Clear skies

[Daz Type-R]

Saturday was my fisrt light too, took me about 15 minutes to allign my finder scope to the main scope, then went off in search of the moon with my 25mm ep, wow - the moon looked great. Found it in the finder scope, moved round to look through the ep and there it was, dead center - yay.

I know it's the nearest thing to planet earth and not the hardest of things to find but it still gives you a sense of satisfaction once viewing, and even with my 8" dob the moon looked awsome!!

Congrats to all first lighters!

Regards,

Daz