New 20" Dob, I'm now officially obsessed !

Congratulations Dave --now that is what I would call a real telescope. Your generosity in sharing your new scope, that you had only owned for 24 hours, was truly commendable and what great foresight by Mikkel to photograph the occasion that others might see. I am sure that the other SAC members ( Frank, Simon, Yvonne, Colm, Mikkel, and John ) all appreciated the spectacular nights observing. It is indeed great to get a club members observing session going again. To me this is what astronomy is all about. With such a display of big scopes last night I was intimidated into leaving my humble ETX 90 in the car boot!
BTW, I was almost glad to have to go home at 12:30 as I would not have had the stamina for the second half --- 4:30 am!!! I am certainly looking forward to the next observing session.

Couldn't agree more Conn. Very enjoyable evening and a great highlight to look through Daves' new scope. I look forward to the next club observing session.

John

Well guys, I'm totally exhausted now, I'm really feeling the hours lost last night.!
I just watched the video that came with the scope and found some very useful tips on cleaning mirrors and using/storing the scope.

Thanks to all who came along, these observing sessions are as much social occasions (good craic) as they are about observing the sky.
MAny thanks to Simon and John for bringing their 8" SCTs and to Conn and Frank for bringing their ETXs (90 & 125).

Me thinks we'll be having a few more big dobs in the club in the next year or 2?

Matthew, as for the horsehead, Orion is setting in the blue western sky so I've just missed the constellation for this season, so maybe next winter. I reckon I might still need a h-beta filter to see it. I have to say, actually seeing the galaxies fairly clearly is something else. I got mine on ukastrobuy&sell, at a good price, haggling is always fun. I get the impression that these scopes are not easy to sell due to their massive size and the fact you need a ladder for anything higher then 35 degrees.

Conn, if you ever need help bringing your 10" scope along, just let me know.

Carl, I think there will be many more sleepless nights soon enough.

Phill, I now need a new deepsky atlas :shock:

Frank, that is a class pic, with the laser pointing to saturn, it makes for a good finder.

Dave

That is a fantastic piece of kit. I'd say you will be blown away by the views in it. May you have many more opportunities to use it til 4.30 in the morning.

Thanks Trev,
Just to give an idea of the M13 view, here is an obsession comparison page for differing apertures, and I can tell you they don't exaggerate!

www.obsessiontelescopes.com/m13/index.html

also, star spikes are very visible when looking at stars like vega and Archturus, I've never really seen them before, they are so delicate, images don't do then justice.

Many congrats Dave!!!
So, when are you calling up to Monasterevin did you say?