A few questions about a just arriving telescope, will you help me?

Question

OK, so the telescope arrives.
What are some good pointers and advice for just getting one, more specifically a 10 inch relfector.
What would you do to make sure you're gonna have a pleasant star-gazing night?

Answer 1

Assemble it in daylight, and then play with it. Align the finder on a distant target (at least a quarter mile away). Try looking at terrestrial objects (which also must be pretty far away to reach focus). If you got the IntelliScope, play with it too...you can fool it into thinking you've aligned on a couple of stars.

I always recommend having an observing plan...here's an article I wrote on it:
http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0712_What_am_I_going_to_look_at.pdf

Some easy targets at present are Mars, Comet Holmes, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Pleiades star cluster, and the Orion Nebula. Check out some double stars: Polaris, Mizar and Alcor in the handle of the dipper, Gamma Andromeda (Almach), Castor. Find them in the 25mm, then switch to the 10mm for a closer look, so you get used to your eyepieces.

You might also get up early in the morning and check out Venus and, especially, Saturn.

Remember to dress warmly, for at least 10° colder than predicted.

Answer 2

The first thing you will need is "a pleasant star-gazing night". That is not as easy as it sounds. Around where I live they are very rare (too many city lights, haze, fog, smog, etc.). But pretty much anytime we went into the country (you know, the kind of places that comes 8pm remind you of a cemetery after midnight), we had one or two nights with absolutely clear skies, a milky way you could have dipped your cookies into and probably seeing out of this world.

I guess in case you got THAT, all you need in addition is a level surface, some warm clothing, a good light to set up without breaking anything, a thermos with some nice warm tea or coco and there you are. Right in the middle of the universe.

OK... I would also either take a few star charts and tables with coordinates of planets and other objects of interest that are not easily found with the naked eye. You can have all that in a planetariums program on your notebook computer. Even better and easier!

And if this was my first telescope, I would set it up at daytime and learn the moves. You don't want to break the instrument at night or lose something just because you haven't figured out how to set up or break it down.

Answer 3

1. Know what you are going to look for. If you are not sure where the targets are, prepare simple charts so you can find the objects easily.

2. Don't do too much. Start with easy stuff, like the moon, Mars, M42, M15. Don't be disappointed if they don't look like the photos in the books. They won't. Mars is especially sort of dull.

3. Dress warmer than you think you'll need to. A hood or a hat without a bill is essential.

4. Try to set up when there's at least a little light remaining. Setting a new scope up in the dark is asking for trouble.

5. Take a small folding table along. It will come in handy.

6. While I generally encourage taking a friend along, it might be frustrating your first time out, because you may spend more time searching than seeing, and you will try to rush it if your friend is just standing there.

7. Remember that the view through the eyepiece is inverted. Star hopping at the eyepiece can be tricky for this reason.

8. Try to get used to how to move the scope to track with each eyepiece you are using and with where objects are located relative to Polaris.

Answer 4

A 10-inch is a big scope. I hope it's not so big and clunky that you'll tire quickly of hauling it out to a dark site and setting the thing up.

I keep a beaten up old 4 inch Newtonian reflector in my trunk. It has a horrible mounting and doesn't even have slow motion controls, so I have to simply grab the thing by hand and wrench it into position. Still, it requires basically no setup time at all. I think that's why I use it relatively often. I have a good time with it.

And don't let anybody tell you you need a giant scope to see much. The Crab nebula is pretty easy in my old clunker.

Answer 5

You can go to the link below and read the article. It is not specifically about dobsonian reflectors but some of the ideas will be relevant.