The first night out with my 10" dob.

Actually, it was my first night out with a telescope, period. Location:
north Scottsdale. Suburban skies, and clear. The seeing conditions seemed
better
in the east for some reason, so I kept my observing in the back patio. This
dob, a Hardin, came with two eyepieces. The 2" is pretty nice, and I have
no complaints yet. The 1.25 9mm is pretty shoddy. There is some black
stuff
encroaching over the lens. I wonder if I can flick it off with a needle.
This
e.p. probably isn't worth shipping back for replacement. This dob has the
new
crayford focuser, which is supposed to be a good thing:-)

I have dreamed of seeing M31. From what I have read, I knew enough to find
it. After searching and searching with the 2" in the area to the left of
the "Great Square", I finally noticed a smudge of light that was in stark
contrast to surrounding collection of stars in my field of view. I put the
9mm in to get a closer look, and the smudge got a bit bigger, but by no
means did it give me a detailed view of a galaxy.
I strongly assume this is M31 anyways. How can I make the most of this? 7mm
Televue Plossl with a good 3x Barlow? The 9mm gave me a 140x mag. and this
doesn't seem optimal for M31. People say that M31 is visible with the naked
eye, which could suggest that light pollution in north Scottsdale is worse
than I think. I never did find it again later that night.

Later that night (morning), I noticed an interesting cluster with my naked
eyes, and set my bino's on it. Pleiades! I had never seen that formation
magnified before. I stayed up the whole night to see Saturn and Venus, but
by 5 a.m. clouds had set in:-( I did get a brief break in the clouds to see
a bright object with the binos, dead east. It was disky, like a planet, and
very bright, but no rings. Venus I assume.

-Tom

There is no eyepiece for your scope that will let you see all of M31. It
is WAY too large. Don't blame your eyepiece, or the scope. M31 is HUGE!
It will fill the field of a pair of BINOCULARS!

Right now, you need just to use the eyepieces you have on the objects you
want to see, and determine where the shortcomings are. THEN you can
decide what eyepieces you need next. But one eyepiece you aren't going to
find, is one that will show you all of M31 in your scope... But a 32mm
Plossl will still be pretty awesome...
--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272
"Tom" wrote in message
...
Actually, it was my first night out with a telescope, period. Location:
north Scottsdale. Suburban skies, and clear. The seeing conditions
seemed
better
in the east for some reason, so I kept my observing in the back patio.
This
dob, a Hardin, came with two eyepieces. The 2" is pretty nice, and I
have
no complaints yet. The 1.25 9mm is pretty shoddy. There is some black
stuff
encroaching over the lens. I wonder if I can flick it off with a
needle.
This
e.p. probably isn't worth shipping back for replacement. This dob has
the
new
crayford focuser, which is supposed to be a good thing:-)

I have dreamed of seeing M31. From what I have read, I knew enough to
find
it. After searching and searching with the 2" in the area to the left
of
the "Great Square", I finally noticed a smudge of light that was in
stark
contrast to surrounding collection of stars in my field of view. I put
the
9mm in to get a closer look, and the smudge got a bit bigger, but by no
means did it give me a detailed view of a galaxy.
I strongly assume this is M31 anyways. How can I make the most of this?
7mm
Televue Plossl with a good 3x Barlow? The 9mm gave me a 140x mag. and
this
doesn't seem optimal for M31. People say that M31 is visible with the
naked
eye, which could suggest that light pollution in north Scottsdale is
worse
than I think. I never did find it again later that night.

Later that night (morning), I noticed an interesting cluster with my
naked
eyes, and set my bino's on it. Pleiades! I had never seen that
formation
magnified before. I stayed up the whole night to see Saturn and Venus,
but
by 5 a.m. clouds had set in:-( I did get a brief break in the clouds to
see
a bright object with the binos, dead east. It was disky, like a planet,
and
very bright, but no rings. Venus I assume.

-Tom

"Jan Owen" wrote in message
newsdu_c.204128$sh.188243@fed1read06...
There is no eyepiece for your scope that will let you see all of M31. It
is WAY too large. Don't blame your eyepiece, or the scope. M31 is HUGE!
It will fill the field of a pair of BINOCULARS!

Right now, you need just to use the eyepieces you have on the objects you
want to see, and determine where the shortcomings are. THEN you can
decide what eyepieces you need next. But one eyepiece you aren't going to
find, is one that will show you all of M31 in your scope... But a 32mm
Plossl will still be pretty awesome...
--
Jan Owen

Then what was I seeing, M33 (Pinwheel Gal.)?? If M31 is so big how come
I can't find it with 10" dob?
-Tom

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272
"Tom" wrote in message
...




"Jan Owen" wrote in message
newsdu_c.204128$sh.188243@fed1read06...
There is no eyepiece for your scope that will let you see all of M31.
It
is WAY too large. Don't blame your eyepiece, or the scope. M31 is
HUGE!
It will fill the field of a pair of BINOCULARS!

Right now, you need just to use the eyepieces you have on the objects
you
want to see, and determine where the shortcomings are. THEN you can
decide what eyepieces you need next. But one eyepiece you aren't
going to
find, is one that will show you all of M31 in your scope... But a
32mm
Plossl will still be pretty awesome...
--
Jan Owen

Then what was I seeing, M33 (Pinwheel Gal.)?? If M31 is so big how come
I can't find it with 10" dob?
-Tom


You can FIND it easily enough, and it will be plenty bright enough, but it
is WAY too large to fit into one eyepiece field. Even with a 32mm
Plossl...

"Jan Owen" wrote in message
news:4Ru_c.204138$sh.202121@fed1read06...


--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272
"Tom" wrote in message
...




"Jan Owen" wrote in message
newsdu_c.204128$sh.188243@fed1read06...
There is no eyepiece for your scope that will let you see all of M31.
It
is WAY too large. Don't blame your eyepiece, or the scope. M31 is
HUGE!
It will fill the field of a pair of BINOCULARS!

Right now, you need just to use the eyepieces you have on the objects
you
want to see, and determine where the shortcomings are. THEN you can
decide what eyepieces you need next. But one eyepiece you aren't
going to
find, is one that will show you all of M31 in your scope... But a
32mm
Plossl will still be pretty awesome...
--
Jan Owen

Then what was I seeing, M33 (Pinwheel Gal.)?? If M31 is so big how come
I can't find it with 10" dob?
-Tom


You can FIND it easily enough, and it will be plenty bright enough, but it
is WAY too large to fit into one eyepiece field. Even with a 32mm
Plossl...

This is confusing. This is my punishment for not getting a go-to scope.
I found a distant galaxy, but heck if I know what it is. Pinwheel Gal.
perhaps. Neat discovery.
-Tom

"Tom" wrote in message
...




"Jan Owen" wrote in message
news:4Ru_c.204138$sh.202121@fed1read06...


--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail
address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272
"Tom" wrote in message
...




"Jan Owen" wrote in message
newsdu_c.204128$sh.188243@fed1read06...
There is no eyepiece for your scope that will let you see all of
M31.
It
is WAY too large. Don't blame your eyepiece, or the scope. M31 is
HUGE!
It will fill the field of a pair of BINOCULARS!

Right now, you need just to use the eyepieces you have on the
objects
you
want to see, and determine where the shortcomings are. THEN you can
decide what eyepieces you need next. But one eyepiece you aren't
going to
find, is one that will show you all of M31 in your scope... But a
32mm
Plossl will still be pretty awesome...
--
Jan Owen

Then what was I seeing, M33 (Pinwheel Gal.)?? If M31 is so big how
come
I can't find it with 10" dob?
-Tom


You can FIND it easily enough, and it will be plenty bright enough, but
it
is WAY too large to fit into one eyepiece field. Even with a 32mm
Plossl...

This is confusing. This is my punishment for not getting a go-to scope.
I found a distant galaxy, but heck if I know what it is. Pinwheel Gal.
perhaps. Neat discovery.
-Tom



Congrats on that, I've yet to see a galaxy, but the Orion Nebula was pretty
impressive last winter.
Saturn was absolutly awesome last winter, better than Jupiter, even though
it's smaller and farther away. I like my 25MM better than my 10mm for most
planet viewing, you may consider getting one close to that later as well.
Enjoy!

"Tom" wrote in message
...


"Jan Owen" wrote in message
news:4Ru_c.204138$sh.202121@fed1read06...


--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail
address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272
"Tom" wrote in message
...




"Jan Owen" wrote in message
newsdu_c.204128$sh.188243@fed1read06...
There is no eyepiece for your scope that will let you see all of
M31.
It
is WAY too large. Don't blame your eyepiece, or the scope. M31
is
HUGE!
It will fill the field of a pair of BINOCULARS!

Right now, you need just to use the eyepieces you have on the
objects
you
want to see, and determine where the shortcomings are. THEN you
can
decide what eyepieces you need next. But one eyepiece you aren't
going to
find, is one that will show you all of M31 in your scope... But a
32mm
Plossl will still be pretty awesome...
--
Jan Owen

Then what was I seeing, M33 (Pinwheel Gal.)?? If M31 is so big how
come
I can't find it with 10" dob?
-Tom


You can FIND it easily enough, and it will be plenty bright enough,
but it
is WAY too large to fit into one eyepiece field. Even with a 32mm
Plossl...

This is confusing. This is my punishment for not getting a go-to scope.
I found a distant galaxy, but heck if I know what it is. Pinwheel Gal.
perhaps. Neat discovery.
-Tom


You should easily be able to see M31. Just don't expect it to look like
it's photos. It is WAY too large to fit in one eyepiece field, as I have
already said...

But the central core should be easy to see, and you can move the scope
back and forth to pick up the rest. Just not all at once...

You DON'T need GOTO... If your scope had GOTO, M31 would look precisely
the same...

Maybe you should try for a globular cluster or two... Maybe M13 would be
a good place to start... Should be a stunner in your scope. And if you
are far enough south, like I am here in Arizona, you might want to try
M22... Either of those should be real eye openers... Or what about the
Double Cluster in Perseus??? A personal favorite...

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272

This is my punishment for not getting a go-to scope.

WRONG!

This was your first night out with a new scope, not knowing what to expect.

Pick up a copy of Tirion's Bright Star Atlas at Willam Bell, learn your
constellations, and get star hopping. That way when the GoTo on your next
scope takes a crap, you will still be able to find your way around. Fully half
the fun of the observing part of this hobby (at least for me) is being able to
point the telescope myself at what I want to see. It is very rewarding after a
year or so to have a fundamental grasp of where things lie. Otherwise, you
might as well just look at purty pictures, the faint fuzzies in the sky are
easily as fun to find as they are to look at (IMHO).
rat
~( );

email: remove 'et' from .com(et) in above email address

"Tom" wrote in message ...

This is confusing. This is my punishment for not getting a go-to scope.

Patience and perseverance are essential virtues in amateur
astronomy--you will not become an expert overnight, so try to enjoy
the process of discovery. Even if you had a go-to scope, you might
question whether it's working properly! :-) What you need to learn is
how to star-hop. If you don't have a good sky chart, then you need to
get one. I just use software like Cartes du Ciel:

http://www.stargazing.net/astropc

With your binocular, scan the sky along Andromeda, starting at
Pegasus. Do this at least several times, training yourself to view
the constellations a portion at a time (the scale of the image may
throw you off at first). Now sweep from Alpha Andromedae (part of the
Great Square of Pegasus) to Pi Andromedae and then to Mu Andromedae.
M31 should almost be in your field of view (FOV) at this point, close
to Nu Andromedae--one more hop, and you will have bagged M31.
Practice star-hopping from Alpha Andromedae to M31 with your binocular
until you feel comfortable, then try this with your telescope's finder
(there's no time like the present to get accustomed to the rotated
view). While you're in the neighborhood, check out Gamma Andromedae,
which is a nice double star with contrasting colors. By the way, you
may want to simulate these steps in Cartes du Ciel first, making use
of its eyepiece feature.

It's not too late in the year to view the goodies of the Southern
Milky Way from your location, as long as you start early enough in the
night. Begin by locating the Teapot asterism of Sagittarius (can you
recognize it?). The top of the Teapot, Lambda Sagittarii (Kaus
Borealis), is a good jumping off point for exploring this amazing
region of the sky. With this star centered in your binocular or
finder, globular clusters M22 and M28 should both be in your FOV; M22
is one of the most impressive of its breed. Following a path from Phi
Sagittarii past Lambda Sagittarii will soon bring M8, M20, and M21
into your FOV; M8, the Lagoon Nebula, is especially impressive. The
whole region is definitely worthy of random exploration, too. Take
notes as you explore, if you care to, so that you can try to figure
out what you've discovered later. Relax and spend some time with each
object--the longer you look, the more you'll be able to see.
Afterward, try to locate M11 and M57 by developing your own
star-hopping strategy. Oh, and don't forget about M7--a great
binocular object that might also be visible to the naked eye.

Above all, have fun! :-)


- Robert Cook

"Tom" wrote in message
...



"Jan Owen" wrote in message
newsdu_c.204128$sh.188243@fed1read06...
There is no eyepiece for your scope that will let you see all of M31.
It
is WAY too large. Don't blame your eyepiece, or the scope. M31 is
HUGE!
It will fill the field of a pair of BINOCULARS!

Right now, you need just to use the eyepieces you have on the objects
you
want to see, and determine where the shortcomings are. THEN you can
decide what eyepieces you need next. But one eyepiece you aren't
going to
find, is one that will show you all of M31 in your scope... But a
32mm
Plossl will still be pretty awesome...
--
Jan Owen

Then what was I seeing, M33 (Pinwheel Gal.)?? If M31 is so big how come
I can't find it with 10" dob?
-Tom


So that you understand; this galaxy is so huge that it will fill a 4
degree field, if you could see a field that wide with your scope (but you
can't).

Your telescope will show about a fourth of that, depending on what your
widest field eyepiece may deliver...

So you simply can't see it all in one eyepiece field at one time with your
scope. To see all of this galaxy at one time will require a MUCH lower
power, wider field instrument... Or a pair of binoculars...
--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272