First light and a new target

[Greenman]

Firstly my thanks to Ian (Kanadalainen) who highly recommended the Celestron 15 x 70’s. I'd been thinking about for a while.

Last night there was a brief gap in cloud cover from 10:30 to 11:45 pm. It was obvious this wasn't a time to set up for AP. Luckily the 15 x 70’s had been delivered that morning. I used these in the garden, and I was impressed with the depth of field (nice 3D images) and able to identify butterflies on the buddleia at the far end of my garden. Not that this was the purpose of the purchase.

I wandered outside the skies were still a bit light, so just gazed around until my eyes adapted. The first object was the brightest one, focusing on Jupiter it resolved into a solid disc, no moons, but that would be pushing expectations at 15x in a partly light sky.

Swung around and noticed Cassiopeia’s familiar W, looked along it identified Shedar, Caph & ’Navi’. Swept a bit further - eyes well adapted now and noticed the myriad of stars that had twinked into view. Now, I realised Cassiopeia was in the band of the Milky Way, but the broad view low magnification emphasised the rich nature of that constellation. Back indoors I read about Cassiopeia and decided this was now a good target for my first project.

All in all, a very illuminating and worthwhile session, when the skies clear again (Sunday next week apparently) project Cassiopeia begins.

Binoculars are something I've sort of ignored, but no more - they open up the skies to exploration in a very accessible way.



A very happy Tony from the Green.

[10538]

Hello Tony. It’s great that you’re enjoying your new binos. I have the exact same pair mounted on a Parallelogram mount that makes it so much easier to hold steady without arm fatigue. I highly recommend them as well. If you get the chance check out the nearby double cluster while studying Cassiopeia. All the best!

[Greenman]

Yes, the Binoculars are weighty and holding them still is wearing, The tripod adapter supplied is a bit iffy, and my camera tripod a bit too lightweight as well. Thanks for the new target I will lookout for the cluster you mention. Hmmm, tripod.

Thanks, Ed.

[10538]

Tony try reclining in a lawn chair and holding the binos closer to the front. Cassiopeia has lots to see with your binos. Just scanning around will reveal lots of clusters and Nebula. The double cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884) are nearby in Perseus along with the Andromeda galaxy (M31) and both are great targets. If you don’t already have an astronomy app you should definitely get one. I highly recommend SkySafari.

[helicon]

Great first light report. I have the 15x70 Celestron SkyMasters and they are superb under dark skies. (Mine arrived well collimated from Amazon).

[Greenman]

Tony try reclining in a lawn chair and holding the binos closer to the front. Cassiopeia has lots to see with your binos. Just scanning around will reveal lots of clusters and Nebula. The double cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884) are nearby in Perseus along with the Andromeda galaxy (M31) and both are great targets. If you don’t already have an astronomy app you should definitely get one. I highly recommend SkySafari.

Yes, I have sky Safari, thanks for the pointers. I have just made a quick purchase of a metal tripod adapter, as I think the included plastic one has a bit too much whip in it. I don't have a deck chair, think I'll try with a patio chair and camera tripod to start with. I aim to select targets to try out my new AP setup on (once I have some clear settled skies).

I’ll also look to star hop out of Cassiopeia and learn the constellations around slowly spiralling out. At the moment I find GOTO, doesn't encourage this process, but I'm sure it's an essential (being able to hold the fundamental map in your head).

It seems likely to me that the better astronomer you are, the more you will get out of astrophotography.

Great first light report. I have the 15x70 Celestron SkyMasters and they are superb under dark skies. (Mine arrived well collimated from Amazon).

Thanks helicon, yes mine are good in that respect too. There seem to be some who are less lucky. For the price these blow my old 10 x 50’s out of the water and have a cool balance of magnification and usability.

The forum is great for eventually getting that initial excitement funnelled in the right direction. Just listen, and you can progress without falling into too many potholes.

[Thefatkitty]

Good for you Tony! Nice that they arrived in good condition. I have a Celestron 15X70 bino; found them at a thrift shop of all places. Yup, they were badly out of whack, but I discovered collimating them was pretty easy. I'd go with Ed's advice on the mount too. At the moment I use my fence for stability...

"Project Cassiopeia"?? You've got me curious!

All the best,

[Greenman]

Good for you Tony! Nice that they arrived in good condition. I have a Celestron 15X70 bino; found them at a thrift shop of all places. Yup, they were badly out of whack, but I discovered collimating them was pretty easy. I'd go with Ed's advice on the mount too. At the moment I use my fence for stability...

"Project Cassiopeia"?? You've got me curious!

All the best,

OK, just my way of suggesting that I'm going to ’profile’ the constellation (binoculars) so identify targets, then look at taking astrophotos of the targets (new kit). Part one I learn the.constellation, part two I practice AP on the targets. Then branch out to other constellations... I have picked Cassiopeia as it is always visible, and even I can recognise it


This process sort of relates to a profiling technique I've used over the years selling scientific equipment. The targets in that case are prospects for my kit. Old habits die hard. Yippee kie ay!

[pakarinen]

My Skymasters were disappointing, so I'm glad you got a good pair.

[Bigzmey]

Congrats on the new binos and getting into binos astronomy!

[Greenman]

My Skymasters were disappointing, so I'm glad you got a good pair.

Bad luck, did you return them?

[pakarinen]

My Skymasters were disappointing, so I'm glad you got a good pair.

Bad luck, did you return them?

I returned the first pair that arrived broken, but the return period expired on the replacement pair. I was able to collimate them vertically but not horizontally. Orion's belt would be vertically centered on the right side, but well to left of center on the left side. I chalked it up as a learning experience.

[ARock]

I have had a good experience with my Skymaster 15x70 s as well.

My preferred mount for them is a monopod with a pistol grip. Luckily the center column of my tripod is a monopod, and I bought one these (they are quite heavy)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Neewer-360-R ... /488170393
While seated on a regular chair, a monopod is very easy to use to pan, and the pistol grip to tilt.

The other useful bino accessory, worth talking about is the Bino Bandit light shade, for urban viewers if you have stray light entering your eyes from the sides. It made a huge difference for me.

[Greenman]

I have had a good experience with my Skymaster 15x70 s as well.

My preferred mount for them is a monopod with a pistol grip. Luckily the center column of my tripod is a monopod, and I bought one these (they are quite heavy)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Neewer-360-R ... /488170393
While seated on a regular chair, a monopod is very easy to use to pan, and the pistol grip to tilt.

The other useful bino accessory, worth talking about is the Bino Bandit light shade, for urban viewers if you have stray light entering your eyes from the sides. It made a huge difference for me.

Thanks for the suggestions that sounds like a good route to go, I would need the monopod too, but hey-ho. I live in a bortle 4 but my neighbour loves garden lights & festooing them. Nice guy but I would rather he turned them off rather than used solar control.