Observing Reports
March 2006
This report is from our new house which we moved into on 24 th March 2006
28.03.2006 - First Light – Skywatcher 200mm (8”) f/5 Reflector on HEQ5 (Skyscan not yet installed)
I ordered my new telescope from Bern (Modern Astronomy) on the Friday and it arrived on Monday 27 th March 2006 in 4 heavy boxes. This is a substantial upgrade and I was quite taken back by the size of the scope.
First off I want to say a big thanks to Bern for all the help in choosing this scope and I would highly recommend him to anyone wanting some new astronomy gear. Cheers m8 ;)
The new gear curse must have known I was getting a new telescope coz ever since we moved into our new house on the 24 th March 2006 it has been raining constant.
Setting up the telescope was very easy and didn’t need to consult the instructions. Collimation of the telescope seemed a tad out, but I shall need to adjust this at a later date when I have a bit more time.
Once the scope was set up on the HEQ5 mount it was a large piece of kit. Taller than myself, I could just reach the eyepiece.
First light arrived the day later as we had a break in the clouds and the first object on view was Saturn.
Saturn appeared perfect in colour and very bright. Seeing was pretty bad, but I could just make out the Cassini Division in fleeting moments. I did notice a band on Saturn’s globe which I could not view very well with my 120mm refractor.
I can see why the scope must be set up in stages as the mount is very heavy and I, only just, managed to lift it (without the scope) with the weights attached.
Our new garden is going to be great for astronomy and now I only have the problem of deciding where to position the telescope.
First light was a success (although quite short) and the HEQ5 mount is excellent, very responsive.
29.03.2006
First try at imaging Saturn with the toucam.
Image turned out pretty well, but I’ll need to try collimating the scope and getting my laptop to work better.
Collimation was really difficult and I don’t even know if I have it any where near aligned. Need to read up on collimation and buy a laser collimator.