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[digital42]

HI everone. I am new astronomy and dont know very much about it. My name is Scott and I have always been facinated with the stars! I live in Carol Stream, IL and I attend DeVry University under the Network Systems Management program.
I just bought my first telescope, its an Orion XT8 8" Reflector 1200mm f/5.9 50.2 sq in light grasp. I have been able to see a few stars but nothing that has blown me away yet. I know that I will be able to see amazing views of the moon but I bought this telescope for deep sky observing. I would really like to be able to find nebulas and distant planets in our solar system. Can anyone tell me if I will be able to get quality shots of these things with this type of telescope. I have read all the reviews and they say that its great! But I have to admit that so far my experience has been less than stellar. If you have any helpful suggestions please feel free to email me at [e-mail]!! Thanks

Scott

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Scott,

Welcome to the Chicago Astronomer Family and for your enthusiasm in astronomy.

The 8" dob is a good instrument to search out those nebulae and DSO's. We use one at the Adler Planetarium for public observation sessions and it provides us nice views of the planets through the haze of Chicago skies.

The Orion is tough, easy to use and good gatherer of photons. With your dob, it means that you must really learn the skies and star hop, as it does not use setting circles or go-to technology. And that's ok. Sometimes we get too complacent in just punching in coordinates to locate objects, have it slew for us and forget how to do it manually.

You don't say what kind of eyepieces you have, but you should always use the low powered one first on your target hunt. Astronomy is shades of grey most of the time and never like the dramatic images we all see in the magazines. But locating your first galaxy is always a big thrill and the planets will be bright in your fov.

You say you desire shots of the objects, and if you mean camera or CCD shots, it can be done, but with a dob it can be a little difficult. For lunar and brighter planets, no problem, but for dimmer objects, one needs to track the object for some period of time. The dob you have doesn't have this capability. You can retrofit it with a tracker of some sort, but really I wouldn't go through the trouble.

But from your location, and your Dob, you can target countless DSO's in a single night. I would be eager to read of your observations and experiences here on the Chicago Astronomer. Perhaps you might even wish to join us in a star party one "warm" evening soon, bringing your scope, and comparing sights in our own.

Thanks for your first post and hope to see you here often.

[digital42]

Joe,
I would absolutely love to join you and other fellow chicago astronomers in a star party sometime soon! Thanks for the invite
As to my eye pieces, since the telescope is so new ( about 1 week old ) I only have the standard lenses that it came with. I have a 25mm Sirius Plossl and a 10mm Sirius Plossl. Eventually I will do a little research to find what better eye pieces are out there and probably pick one up.
I tried to do a little star gazing last night but the lights from the city were really washing everything out. And then later it clouded over The first object that I aimed my telescope at was the star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion. It was quite a site to see!! I am quite excited about further exploring our night time skys. I will post my findings as I have more of them.
Thanks everyone for such a warm welcome to the star gazing community!

Scott

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Scott,

Winter skies are indeed nice.

I recall as a young lad of 14, in my backyard with my trusty 60mm refractor that my Mom bought me from Mongomery Wards, spending hours and hours in the bitter cold observing the Orion nebula, planets and other DSO's. I no longer do hours of winter observing, as that activity is a folly of youth...

Regarding eyepieces, I would recommend a wide field/low mag eyepiece. A 40mm would be great, and with the light gathering capability of your 8" Dob, the field will be crammed with objects. I constructed an eyepiece with a convex lens that provides an incredible star field view. I would get a zero mag star finder as well. I have become partial to the Rigel Quickfinder, as it has cut my searching time down considerably. I have it posted under the "Equipment" board here on the forum.

Keep an eye out on the Chicago Astronomer Star Party plans for upcomming events I would like for you to attend. I'm working on something different as well, for better notification. A direct email for example.

Glad to have you on board.

[Maddad]

digital42 said:

I tried to do a little star gazing last night but the lights from the city were really washing everything out.

Hmmm. You live in North America? There are no dark skies in the eastern half except every other decade or so during a regional power blackout.

[digital42]

Yeah I live in a city called Carol Stream which is a subburb of Chicago. The combined lights from all the little cities surrounding it make it next to impossible to see the stars. Even the brightest of stars apear faint in the sky.

This weekend I traveled to Rockford, IL to visit my parents and girlfriend and its located at the top most portion of IL. There is a lot of farms surrounding it so it makes a great place to observe the stars so I brough my scope and found Jupiter and Saturn almost immediatly! I logged my observations in the Observation section of the forum if you want to read more about my experiences.


Scott

[Maddad]

I can remember when I was a kid out West, some 40 years ago, seeing what looked like millions of stars just looking up into the night sky. Yeah, I know, there were only a few thousand, but it was impressive. Today, 40 or so miles west of Philadelphia, I usually see two or three stars. It's such a shame. Most people only know what they see today, and don't know what they're missing.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

In regards to light pollution...

As I was growing up in Chicago, we had the white light street lamps shining. It was bad, but I could remember seeing much more stars in the night sky. In around 1978 or so, the city changed over to Mercury vapor lighting, and washed out practically the entire night sky in one night.

I recall being quite angry at the city for that, and haven't forgiven them since.

Sigh...

[Maddad]

Did you go pee on the mayor's foot?

[Al Degutis]

digital42 said:

This weekend I traveled to Rockford, IL to visit my parents and girlfriend and its located at the top most portion of IL. There is a lot of farms surrounding it so it makes a great place to observe the stars so I brough my scope and found Jupiter and Saturn almost immediatly!
Scott

Ah, you were up in my neck of the woods. I live near Woodstock and as you point out there are lots farms to shield us from big city lights. Maybe during a future trip out to Rockford you could make a side trip to my locale.

If you get out early you may be able to catch M42 (the Orion Nebula) before it starts to set. It's nice to see in an 8". Not many Deep Space Objects (DSOs) are as bright and easy to see as M42, although you'll enjoy seeing M57 in a few months. M42 higher up in the winter but the weather is (mostly) nicer now. I was out last Saturday when the temps dropped to the mid-30's when I packed it in by 2am.

Also, give globular clusters a chance. Try and find M3. I've come to enjoy viewing globulars and now need a wider field of view for open clusters.

[digital42]

Al-
That would be really great! This summer I will have 3 weeks to do whatever I want with. I will definatly head out to your area. The lights are so bright here that there is NO chance that I would be able to see clusters.

Tonight I got the see the moon for the first time though my scope! I was incredible. I was only a crescent moon, not anything too exciting, I am still waiting for the full moon! I am going to purchase some filters and try them out on various objects. I am anxious to see how they help with the clouds on Jupiter!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Scott,

It was a nice dark sky this evening as I peeked thru the window. No viewing for me this time tho.

You will find that the moon is always a great object to observe, but the views are much better when it is not at full. At full moon, the details are washed out and the light at times, overpowering. Even with a lunar filter or neutral density filters, the full moon is a lot to look at.

I prefer the days of the the waxing and waning moons. Here the angle of the sun creates great surface relief and casts good shadowing. Examining the terminator always brings up new objects for me. I find the crescent moons more exciting, as Earth shine on the dark side is always cool and impresses those peering thru my scope. And conjuctions along with crescent moons are hard to beat.

Great that you are getting good use of your scope...

Gonna finish the Sky and Telescope 100 one of these days.

[ionguy]

You must have a great scope as Orion is considered a high quality brand. The most important thing for you to do is collimate or align its optics. I think Sky and Telescope has nice guidelines on its site. From light polluted skies you can do great close double star work, and it will help you evaluate your optics also.. Check on Castor in Gemini, The double-double in Lyra, a beautiful colored double in the head of Cygnus, albireo. Try to find two additional stars hidden within the trapezium in the Orion Nebula. Look for moon transits and shadows on Jupter and try to count five moons on Saturn. On darker nights or sites you could see a magnificent double cluster in Perseus . On M13 you can see individual stars by the dozen. Look for a tiny crater at the end of the straight wall on the moon. But most important of all is to keep your telescope aligned becaust more than one superb instrument has been sold or disposed of for hot having known this.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Ion, great to see you on the boards!

The objects you mention are nice ones to target, and I look forward to them everythime they come back. I am quite partial to the double-double.

My optics are sooo out of proper collimation presently it's pathetic, but even so, I still great good views thru the scope. There is a collimation session in store for me very very soon.