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

On Sat, 4 Sep 2004 18:42:36 -0700, Tom wrote:

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.


Hi Tom,

Congratulations on the new scope and welcome to the sleepless society!

Now for a little advice. . .when first viewing most any object, start with
a lower power eyepiece and work your way up until you get the most
revealing view your

As for M31, no eyepiece you can slip into the focuser of a 10" dobsonian is
going to reveal something that looks like what many newbies imagine a
spiral galaxy should. Expect to see a dark dust lane and a stellar-like
nucleus on nights of good seeing when using moderate magnification. For a
real treat, slip in that 2" EP and look for two other galaxies in the same
field of view.

Have fun.



--
Martin
"Photographs From the Universe of Amateur Astronomy"
http://home.earthlink.net/~martinhowell

Insert:
revealing view your new telescope can deliver.


--
Martin

"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...

"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!

"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
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

"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