Anonymous
Unregistered
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Since you're reading this I figure you want to hear about my first great night out so read on  .
First off I call it my *real* first night out because my actual first night out I pretty much found Pleiades by following it along the telephone pole :P. So after that night I decided to ask for a telrad for my birthday, and sure enough I had the base duct taped to my tube waiting for a clear night. Well that clear night was tonight (2 weeks later  ).
Well I packed up around 9:30, (I just moved into a new development) so my backyard is all dirt, and it had been raining the last 2 weeks. You do the math! So I went to this new closed road they just built a couple blocks from my house. So I set up and having my newly purchased "turn left" and a handy star chart printed off starry night I started looking for things. First up, the moon (duh). I didn't think I’d actually let out a loud Wow, but I did .
After watching that for a bit and aligning my finder and telrad to perfection, I decided to move away from the blinding rock. I took a peek at my starry night star chart and found Saturn (surprised to see it this early) I immediately swung over and let loose another Wow! Very impressive first sight I must say. I was able to pick out the gap between the ring and planet, but couldn't separate the rings themselves. Oh well, I guess I’ll need more practice. Feeling a bit worried (thinking my big ol' 8'' would make it easier to pick out those minor details) I decided to check out the one thing I had my eye on for quite awhile, Orion. I swooped over to his belt and down to the sword and checked out the eyepiece. Not being too sure about my accuracy I moved it around a bit while looking through the eyepiece and low and behold my first fuzzy thing, the Orion nebula! It was about time to search for my next planed target, the andromeda galaxy. after about 30 minutes of searching I gave up, I convinced my self the light pollution was too much to see it (even though I’ve heard its possible to see w/ the naked eye), Turn Left said you'd need dark skies :P. So now it was time to hit a few easy targets, Mizar, Betegleuse and Rigel.
I tried a collimation star test on Betegleuse and I finally got it to work (the night before I tampered with my collimation for the first time to see if I could get the hang of it) and it seems I did pretty well for my first try.
By now my hands were pretty cold, and I was starting to regret that Pepsi I brought and was wishing for a thermos of coffee. Before I left I check out the Orion nebula and Saturn one more time. While observing Saturn this time I saw 2 very faint 'stars' near by, possibly a couple moons? I'm pretty certain about one of them being titan though.
Time to call it a night.
One thing I found kind of disappointing was that my telrad's plastic viewing area would fog up like crazy, it was almost impossible to use. I was trying to use my telrad with one eye closed, but later tried with both eyes open so I could sort of see the star with one eye not looking through the fogged up plastic but still have the circle in view with my other eye, and it seemed to be accurate enough. Is there a way to keep that telrad from fogging up so quickly, or am I doomed to use it with both eyes open at all times?
What did I learn from all this?
Next time bring a chair!!! 
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miniventures
Something Else
Reged: 09/13/03
Posts: 11259
Loc: Powell Butte, Central Oregon
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Tim Congrats on a great first night out---those of us who've been around for a while still say WOW at a good view of the moon or Saturn.
You might try making a paper hat or cover for your telrad to keep it from fogging up. Believe it or not, it works and well too. Regarding looking through your telrad with both eyes open---develop that habit. That's the way you want to do it--especially when using a star chart.
About bringing a chair?!!! Read Tom T's shootout in the article section comparing observing chairs---being comfortable is most important to making a night out under the stars thoroughly enjoyable. If you want a dedicated astro chair, do a google search for a lybar chair----simple, cheap, easy to make and it works@!
Clear skies to you
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LarryC
Volunteer
http://www.sunrivernaturecenter.org
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Tim2723
The Moon Guy
Reged: 02/19/04
Posts: 5762
Loc: Northern New Jersey
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Sounds like a great night out!
Your getting the hang of it already. Try to use both eyes on the finder (works better), and making a dew shield is good advice.
Saturn was probably a little low in the sky to get a good view of the Cassini Division, but there's no doubt you can pick up a couple of the moons with an 8". Just wait a little while and try again.
And yeah, nothing like a good chair. I always say that being comfortable is like adding an extra inch to your scope! Same goes for being warm and comfortable. It can get really cold this time of the year, even if it's not the dead of winter yet.
Good job, and a nice report!
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Intes MK-66 Deluxe (6" f/12 Maksutov)
Celestron C-102HD (4" f/10 achromat)
Celestron C-102AZ (4" f/5 achromat)
Orion 6LT (6" f/8 classic Newtonian)
Orion Apex 90 (90mm Mak spotter/grab-n-go/little fun scope)
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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having read that i so want to save and save quickly to get my first scope
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Hi Tim,
Glad to hear you're having fun. You should be able to find M31/Andromeda galaxy with your scope even in light polluted skies (I can do it from mine :-)). It can take a bit of finding first time. If you have a pair of binoculars, try using them to find it first using the "Turn Left at Orion" description. You're not alone, there are several threads in the Deep Sky Observing section on trying to find it :-)
For aiming practice, I recommend trying some of the double stars in "Turn Left" e.g. Gamma Andromedae and Albireo in Cygnus, easy to find, pretty and useful practice.
Cheers - Marc
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RobSter
sage
Reged: 06/28/04
Posts: 449
Loc: Nottinghamshire, UK
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Cool, you have the same scope as me. When Saturn is high in the sky it looks amazingly sharp in that scope, and the cassini division really stands out. Use http://www.skyviewcafe.com/skyview.php to find all 8 moons.
I once tried looking through the eyepiece whilst standing, only for about 30 seconds, but already it was killing me. I made an observing chair before i got the scope as i couldn't imagine not being comfortable the first time i used it. You should definately buy or make one, to me it's as important as the scope itself.
The orion nebula is about twice as bright without the moon there. It's not even faint or fuzzy! To me anyway..
Nice report and well done with Saturn
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Robin
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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It's nice to see that your starting out as a fellow starhopper. IMHO, that's the only way to properly learn your way around. If you do a google search for Telrad Dew Heater, you will find a few different types our there. I use a Moonlite and it works great. Nice report.
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dgs©
Postmaster
Reged: 03/29/04
Posts: 15091
Loc: West Monroe, Louisiana
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Someone here (Don W. I think) made a clever little anti-dew hood for his Telrad from a sheet of thin, black foam like you might find at an arts/crafts store. I think he used a few little spots of Velcro™ to secure it. It simply attaches to the side of the Telrad, arches over the view screen, and attaches to the other side, forming sort of a tunnel. I haven't gotten the material yet, but intend to make the same sort of thing for mine.
I have been just wiping the screen with a tissue at times, but that gets old on nights of extra bad humidity.
You should be able to see Cassini Division easily, and subtle banding on the planet, and when the sky is dark enough, several moons. What magnification were you using?
You should be able to look at Saturn with 200× almost any night... better nights allow higher. I can often push it to 333× and it still gives a tolerable image.
Andromeda will be a much better target when the moon isn't in the sky. Most deep sky objects are at their best when the moon isn't in the sky.
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- david
8"Ø Newtonian on SVP, Moonlite CR2, Telrad
PST Oberwerk Ultra 15x70 Orion Ultraview 10×50
Hand-me-down Sears Refractor (Discoverer) 60mm×900mm
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world, remains and is immortal." --Albert Pike
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dgs©
Postmaster
Reged: 03/29/04
Posts: 15091
Loc: West Monroe, Louisiana
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Here you can see The Don W. Telrad Anti-Dew Tunnel™ 
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- david
8"Ø Newtonian on SVP, Moonlite CR2, Telrad
PST Oberwerk Ultra 15x70 Orion Ultraview 10×50
Hand-me-down Sears Refractor (Discoverer) 60mm×900mm
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world, remains and is immortal." --Albert Pike
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Jon Isaacs
Postmaster
Reged: 06/16/04
Posts: 32442
Loc: San Diego, California
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Tim:
Sounds like you have a good night last night...
A chair is a good thing.... I find with an 8 inch DOB like yours that a basic folding chair is all I need. I generally place the chair somewhat behind the eyepiece so I can have easy access to both the finder and the eyepiece.
Where are you located?
jon
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Bill Grass
Prince Regent
Reged: 10/07/03
Posts: 11665
Loc: Baton Rouge, LA
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Great report, Tim! 
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miniventures
Something Else
Reged: 09/13/03
Posts: 11259
Loc: Powell Butte, Central Oregon
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Now, how did I miss that post from Don W about his telrad invention, The Don W. Telrad Anti-Dew Tunnel™,
---and to think, I've been messing around trying to reperfect the technique of making paper hats from newspaper for my telrad---his idea is even easier and my daughter won't be asking me soon to make one that she can wear. great job Don.
Edited by miniventures (11/02/04 10:13 AM)
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Yaquina
sage
Reged: 09/07/04
Posts: 358
Loc: Newport, OR
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Great report! Keep after M31, you will find it as well as many more wonders of the night sky. I agree with Galactica, by learning to find objects by star-hopping you really learn the stars and constellations, not just the major ones.
Clear skies, Mike
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Explore Scientific 80mm ED APO
Orion XT10 Classic (many mods)
9x63 Meade Bino's
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Jeremy Perez
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/12/04
Posts: 2125
Loc: Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
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That was an enjoyable report, Tim. Never underestimate the power of telephone-pole alignments! 
I hear you on the cold hands problem. I broke down last month and dropped fifteen bucks at Sears on a pair of fingerless gloves with mitten-flaps. They've been great in the deep cold late at night. That way, you can keep everything covered when you're just observing, or pop the mitten cover off one hand when you need to switch eyepieces, focus, make notes or sketch. I've seen them at Walmart too (can't stand that place...but sometimes ya gotta take your lumps). They're pretty popular with hunters, so if you're so inclined, you can pick up some sweet camo patterns. (I went with flat black, but that's just me.)
For some reason Sears & Walmart aren't showing them on their web sites, so here's an example from Sierra Trading Post
Keep us posted.
Jeremy
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Orion SVP 6LT (6" f/8 Newt) || Orion XT8 (8" f/5.9 Dob) || 15x70 Oberwerk Binoculars || Coronado PST
The Belt Of Venus || Sketch Gallery || Sketching Resources || Drawn to the Universe Column
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desertstars
Reged: 11/05/03
Posts: 41911
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Quote:
Here you can see The Don W. Telrad Anti-Dew Tunnel™
Thanks for posting that. Missed it somehow the first time around. (Not that dew is a major problem for me out here in the desert, or course...)
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Thomas Watson
Author of Mr. Olcott's Skies. Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
@desertstarsbks
Under Desert StarsEither Way, It's Reading
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dgs©
Postmaster
Reged: 03/29/04
Posts: 15091
Loc: West Monroe, Louisiana
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I think there was another thread that showed the Velcro™ and the hole cut to allow the Telrad dimming control lever to protrude. I can't find it now though. Maybe someone (or Don himself) will tip us off.
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- david
8"Ø Newtonian on SVP, Moonlite CR2, Telrad
PST Oberwerk Ultra 15x70 Orion Ultraview 10×50
Hand-me-down Sears Refractor (Discoverer) 60mm×900mm
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world, remains and is immortal." --Albert Pike
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Quote:
You should be able to see Cassini Division easily, and subtle banding on the planet, and when the sky is dark enough, several moons. What magnification were you using?
You should be able to look at Saturn with 200× almost any night... better nights allow higher. I can often push it to 333× and it still gives a tolerable image.
I was using the 2 beginner pieces that came with the scope, started out with the 25mm = 48x and the 10mm = 120x. Havn't started building my EP collection yet .
I think my biggest problem with finding amdromeda galazy was my dewed up telrad, hopefully i can fix that next time i go out.
Edit: and oh yes, I'm in Winnipeg Canada.
Edited by timtest1 (11/02/04 09:38 PM)
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