The Goto works!!

[Shabadoo]

I actually found 3 stars to do an alignment on! It’s a seasonal thing- due to the forest I’m in.
Last night I was gifted clear skies during the new moon! Clouds 0. Trans avg, seeing avg. unfortunately, temp down to 37 F by midnight.

Jupiter and Saturn had ducked behind the trees to the South.
First test was M31- my favorite. Spot on!!!
Second test Mars. Spot on!!!
Ngc 281- still no nebula. ?? Interestingly, I saw nothing at N.A. Nebula or the Cats Eye the last few outings. (I’ve never looked either) but now I’m using a calibrated Goto.

Could it be due to hereditary color blindness?

I saw the “Ring” and “Dumbell”, a year ago. I’m getting my annual eye exam soon for new glasses, but I always take them off to look through the lense. Objects come out clear due to the focuser adjustments.

Back to Capella to check alignment.
Then on to a bunch of variable stars, starting with Beta Cepheus to make sure I had a double.
I would frequently go back to Capella to check the alignment.
I found for these never before seen stars they were in the center of the FOV!
I saw UU Aur, R Tri, D Cephi, T Cephi, RZ Cass, B Perseus, and RU Aqr and noted my observations for the future reference.
I finished with Neptune, very close to RU Aqr.
Best night ever!!!

[John Baars]

Good the goto works fine for you!

[Bigzmey]

Congrats on the nice session and getting GOTO behave, Jeff.

N.A. nebula is tricky, it requires dark skies and low power. It is too big for many scopes. UHC filter with small fast scope at low power or small binos with UHC are best setups. Under dark sky it is a naked eye target. "Mexico" is the brightest portion and most easily detected.

Pacman nebula (NGC 281) is best resolved at low power with OIII filter. I could not detect it without filters.

Cat's Eye (NGC 6543) is very small and at low power can be mistaken for a fuzzy star. I had to go up to 191x with my 8" SCT to resolve the shape and the iris. Filters are not required but depending on the sky quality OIII/UHC may help.

[Shabadoo]

Thank you for the intel. I’m glad it’s not “me.”

[terrynak]

Good to see the GOTO working on your Skyview pro, Jeff! Did you buy the GOTO as a separate accessory (add-on) or did you get the scope package with the GOTO already bundled with the mount?

It looks like we're the only ones on the Reports Forum using a Newtonian on an EQ mount...

[Ylem]

Go-To is pretty amazing!
I observe both ways, manual and with Go-To depending on my mood
There are many objects that I would have never seen without out it

[Shabadoo]

Bought the total package. The deluxe model of the Skyview Pro 8.
Frankly, I haven’t been too impressed with the GOTO. Finding alignment stars on the list is the biggest problem. I downloaded the Synscan starmap as well.

[Greenman]

Nice when it works I find Skyalign on the Celestron tricky always go for two star and the add calibration stars.Not sure if this helps on the lack of alignment stars on Orion scopes... depends on the software.

Great report and getting the stars bang on central for the first time is an event to celebrate.

[helicon]

Nice goto session from last Fall Jeff. Congrats on finding the planets including Neptune and the other gas giants. Neptune is once again in favorable position for observation near the moon. So I hope folks can replicate what you saw. Congrats on winning the VROD for today (10-22-2021)!

[Makuser]

Hi Jeff. Wow, I almost missed this thread. It is great that you enjoyed your session with the Goto mount and had much success on finding many interesting objects. Thanks for your well written report Jeff and congratulations on receiving the TSS VROD Award today.

[Butterfly Maiden]

Congratulations Jeff on receiving the TSS VROD award today.

[John Baars]

Congratulations on the VROD!

[turboscrew]

Congrats on getting the goto to work, on nice observations and the VROD!

[KathyNS]

Congratulations! It sounds like a fine night of vanquishing technology and enjoying the heavens. Totally VROD-worthy!

[Unitron48]

Great evening when all the tech works as advertised! Congrats on the VROD!

Dave