got my XT10!

Being the impatient sort, I decided not to wait for Santa to deliver a
scope (plus Mrs. Santa would've had him deliver a Starblast or another
P.O.S.).

By the time the scope was setup, it was too dark to do an alignment
(and was clearly out of whack). No worries.

Quickly found Mars and pleaides. Mars was a bit of a dissapointment (as
were other objects) -- it was a an extremely bright salmon/pink/coral
disk. There appeared to be a lot of wobble/shimmer going on and saw
virtually no detail. Went back inside, talked with my (visiting)
parents, went out recently and though there seemed to almost be the
same amount of wobble/shimmer, there appeared to be somewhat more
detail, almost a brownish patch. None of this was done with any dark
adaptation, with my best viewing done having spent 15 mins or so
outside. Let the wife look at pleiades and she declared "looks no
better than the binoculars" (she had a point). Not sure if it was the
lack of dark adaptation or something else.

A few things...

1) already called the neighbors, begging them nicely to turn off their
exterior floodlight :)

2) can already tell the difference between the 25mm and 10mm, and wish
I had a 2" eyepiece

3) cursed the headlights that come down our road every 15 minutes or so

Orion is rising now, and the moon should be visible in 45 minutes...
hope to have better luck soon!

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: got my XT10!
    ... > scope (plus Mrs. Santa would've had him deliver a Starblast or another ... There appeared to be a lot of wobble/shimmer going on and saw ... None of this was done with any dark ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: got my XT10!
    ... None of this was done with any dark ... At about 5 degrees, any telescope ... However, dark adaptation has no ... The 10" Orion dob was probably a great choice for a first scope. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: got my XT10!
    ... > scope (plus Mrs. Santa would've had him deliver a Starblast or another ... Mars was a bit of a dissapointment (as ... None of this was done with any dark ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: got my XT10!
    ... scope. ... By the time the scope was setup, it was too dark to do an alignment ... Quickly found Mars and pleaides. ... OTOH -- Mars is bright enough that dark adaptation is less an issue than for diffuse and dim objects such as most nebulae. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • **A FINE SEPTEMBER NIGHT (Sept. 9th)
    ... NexStar "Tour" asterisms. ... I usually see a dark blue sunset sky as the "call" to pull all ... when placed under the scope, so I wanted the laptop as far away as possible. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)