TheSkySearchers

I finally got some clear weather tonight, so I took my new telescope out for its very first night.

I started off with something simple and easy to see, Jupiter. I could clearly see the cloud bands and its 4 moons with my 10mm eyepiece in. I wanted to see more, so I used the Barlow I had for my other scope, but I don't it works correctly with my dobson because it made my views look worse even though they were bigger. So, after that I decided that was enough of looking at Jupiter, so I moved on to my next target.

For my next target, I decided to pick the Moon, because, well why not, it is big and would be a good target to test the clarity of my telescope's optics. Immediately, I was over whelmed by how bright it was even though it was only waxing gibbious so I put the front cover on to block out most of the light. That helped a lot. It showed lots of detail, more than I ever remember seeing with my 4.5 inch. I used the 10mm to zoom in and saw even more details. I took a few pictures with my smartphone, and moved back to Jupiter which I watched until it went behind my treeline.

My next target was the north star, Polaris. This was just randomly selected on the spot, there no particular reason for this one. I did use it to make sure I had everything focused without it moving out of my FOV. I am getting used to not having tracking, but it is something I have had for a while. I did see the dim star next to Polaris, I think that was not the companion, but just an unrelated star.

My next target was the brightest star, Sirius. It appeared very bright and even had spikes around it because of the brightness. I didn't much time here. Moving on.

My next target was the Orion Nebula. It appeared grey and fuzzy, but was clearly and easily visible, I saw the Trapezium easily with the 10mm eyepiece. I looked at some of the stars around it too. I saw lots of them, and they were all really clear.

My final target was a challenge. I chose comet 19P/Borelly because I saw on SkySafari that it was visible tonight, and I thought it would be a great target to test the abilities of my new scope and my ability to find objects without goto capabilities. It took some time to get there, but after doing some starhopping to get to it, I located all of the stars from the surrounding area around the comet. Then, I finally saw it, it was in the lower middle of a triangle of stars, very dim, but it was there. At first, I wasn't sure if I saw it or not, but after changing eyepieces back and forth and still seeing it, I was sure. It appeared as a dim fuzzy spot like many other comets I have seen. It was insignificant. It did prove my ability to locate objects on my own though. It is my 13th comet sighting.

And that ended my night. Hope you enjoyed reading about my first light experience, I had quite a night with my new telescope.

Congratulations on a fine session!

Great first light report and well done on successfully star-hopping to find objects! Are you just using the eyepieces that came with the scope?

Great first light with your new telescope.
The barlows included in starter kits are often not of impeccable quality. ( an understatement) Which 6 inch do you have, the f/5 or the f/8?
A barlow in combination with the f/8 may be too much , or may be the collimation is not 100%. On the other hand on a low contrasty object like Jupiter, low on the horizon, the magnification is too high rather quickly. With Jupiter that low on the horizon, I got used to magnifications around 120X.
Compliments on finding the comet!

Nice report, glad it was productive for you.

Outstanding First Light!!

Awesome first light report

I am using the eyepieces that came with it. I haven't ordered any new ones yet. Mine is the f/8 version. The Barlow I was using was a Meade #127 Variable 2x-3x Barlow I bought for my old scope. Jupiter was also pretty low, so it might have been too much magnification.

Thanks for the compliment. I didn't originally plan on that, but I am glad that it happened.

Thank you for the first light report. I looks like you had a wonderfully productive evening.

What a great first night Shelby. Jupiter always amazes, a does the Orion Nebula and congrats on observing the dim comet! Also, you are the winner of today's TSS Visual Report of the Day award! (Honor badge coming)

I joyed reading your report, hopefully I’ll be giving my first in the very near future when my scope arrives! Thanks for sharing very interesting ,

Wow, thanks for the award, I wasn't expecting that. I had quite a good night last night. I plan on doing it again soon. Does anyone know the best way to check the collimation on my scope, I haven't checked it yet, although it seems to be performing well based on last night's adventure. I saw the comet under moonlit skies.

Check out this video....

Congratulations on the VROD!

GREAT

Hi Shelby. A very nice observing report with the new Sky-Watcher 6" Dob. Yes, sometimes bumping up the magnification can result in a larger yet blurry image. However, the moon is always a treat, and you also caught the Orion Nebula and congratulations on viewing Comet 19P/Borelly. Thanks for your excellent first light report Shelby and congratulations on receiving the TSS VROD Award today.

Great session and report! Congrats on your VROD!

Dave

Well done Shelby and congrats on the VROD. Sounds like your new scope is going to work well for you. Excellent work in pursuit of the comet.

Congrats on the first light and VROD, Shelby! Polaris is indeed is a double star, so you have resolved its faint companion. Well done! Getting the comet is impressive to.

Thanks for all the congrats everyone. Yeah, getting VROD kinda made my day. I was glad to find the comet as well. That was not part of my original plan. I just wanted a challenge to test my skills, and saw that comet visible on SkySafari, so I chose it as a target to test my abilities, and I passed the test. I found a pretty dim comet under moonlit skies. Thought about doing it again tonight, but the moon is even brighter now. I'm waiting for the Moon to move out of the way so I can really see how much I can see with my new scope. Also, things just look better without the Moon washing them out.