Hello.

Hi there,

Very new to astronomy. I recently purchased an 8" dob, and got my first glimpse of the sky last night. Had a look at the Moon, Mars and M42. Tried to catch a glimpse of Jupiter and Saturn, but clouds & time got in the way.

What other objects should I be aiming to see? I've very new to this, so still learning. Have been using Stellarium to see what's available in the sky for the night.

Is there any other deep sky objects I should look at? Anything else more local? I'm also in need of a Barlow lens - any recommendations? (I have a Skywatcher Skyliner 200P 8")

Thanks

Here's a the only picture I've taken so far, it's with a camera phone - so don't expect anything special

Not bad for a camera phone shot John. The Moon makes it easy to take those kind of shots because of it's brightness. You could try doing the same technique with a standard digital camera - if you got one. Although a proper (D)SLR or webcam is the way to go for astrophotography in general.

As to the kinds of deep sky objects (DSO's) to look for, something easily within reach of an 8" Dob would be the Messier Catalogue of (110) objects. Check out en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_object with a list and individual pages and info on them.

Oh, welcome to our little community by the way John!

Seanie.

Welcome John.
An 8'' Dob is a fine starter scope!
Stellarium is good ok but try and get
your hands on a version of Starry Night.
It's better for searches and lists etc.

Hi thanks

Just got my first glimpse of Jupiter today. Only had a few minutes as I've graduated from college today, so things are a bit hectic! Saw 4 of it's moons - but there is too much light pollution in the way to make out much detail.

I think I'll need to invest in a barlow too, I have a 10mm and a 25mm lens with it. What should I use for planetary bodies if my focal length is 1200mm with a 200mm diameter?

johnob wrote:

I've graduated from college today

Congrats!

Thanks Just looking at Saturn now - he's a camera-phone snap. Nothing special!