New Equiptment

So after talking to a few forum members on stargazer forum and reading the book "make every photon count" I've worked up a list of equiptment which I will be purchasing to start me off. 

Telescope: Skywatcher 80ED

Mount: Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro

Guide-Scope: Skywatcher ST80

Guide Cam: Starlight Xpress Lodestar

Focal Reducer: Skywatcher focal reducer for the 80ED

Also some other equiptment I need are;

Dew Shield and Dew Control

Laser Collimator

Bahtinov Focus Mask

Carpenters Level 

As you can see the list isn't simple or cheap. 

I will be planning to purchase this gear in the first week of December when I hopefully would like to do some videos or some photos of the whole experience.

So keep a eye out.

Observing Session: 29/09/2013

Tonight was another clear night. I was in Telford again.

The last few nights I've managed to go out I've been trying just to learn the constellations better and today i learned Pegasus and found that Andromeda is attached to it so its now even easier to locate M31.  I also learnt where Cepheus is located.

Used my 20x80 binoculars on a tripod today which was easier that hand holding the bad boys!. I still find its awkward when looking directly towards the zenith and a little below.

Anyway that's its for tonight i wasn't out for long got a early start in the morning.

CosmosNewb

Celestron 20x80 - New Binoculars

Observing Session: 27/09/2013

Last night even though it wasn't the first time i went out star gazing it was the first of many things. So i got prepared got my walm clothes on got my planisphere and a torch and my new binoculars. These new binoculars are super big so I needed a tripod to use them. Unlucky I had one but couldn't use it as the fixture to the mount seemed to be wedged. However at the time of writing this the day after I've managed to fix it so hopefully next time I will have a even more better experience.

The sky was clear and i went out for my eyes to adjust. I first went to Lyra my favorite constellation not only because its the brightest star in my sky but also because when I am at home my garden faces west directly looking at Lyra so its a good starting point.

I am really new to learning constellations and last night I used my plannisphere to learn some more i worked out where Cassiopeia was and from there onto Andromeda. M31 looked similar to the view i get from my dobsonian which is relatively impressive when you think your looking through a pair of binoculars. Again this could of been improved if i had a tripod to steady my view.

Celestron 20x80

The next big spot was M45 - The Pleiades wow what a sight. I actually saw these around midnight. I looked through the binoculars and wow a compact set of stars. These are apparently the 7 sisters?

Finally and lastly i new that Jupiter was in the sky next to the moon. The sky was clear so around 2am I saw my first sight of it I wished i had a tripod. You could tell it wasn't a star and it was so bright. Deffently look forward to looking at using a tripod. 

New Beginngs

Even though this inst really my first start in astronomy it is the first time I've found myself getting really serious about it. Last November I brought my first telescope for visual viewing. Since November I think I have only used the telescope a couple of times and I've never really had a idea of what I am looking at.

By creating this blog I hope to track my adventures in astronomy and show you how I do.