Found the Andromeda galaxy using the new kit last night.

In the couple of clearish hours last night between clouds, I set up the 'scope with the new finder and wide-angle eyepiece (a Baader Hyperion Aspheric 31mm). The finder is great. So much easier than using the straight-through finder-scope. It projects a pair of concentric circles up to the viewer which, due to some clever optics, remains steady relative to the stars regardless of how you move your head. I didn't bother with the finder-scope at all last night so the scope wasn't too top heavy.

The first thing I did was point towards cygnus's rear end, to drink in the multitude of stars in the milky way. Pretty awesome in the 1.8 degree field of view and a mere 40x magnifiation.

Next I thought I'd find the Andromeda Galaxy. It wasn't hard to find, once I'd worked out how huge the Andromeda constellation is. The core was nicely visible as were two companion galaxies, all in the field of view at once. Despite the light sky, it was possible to see the orientation of the disc, a hazy elongated ellipse stretching out of view either way. Nice.

Posted via email from Graham's posterous