My Blogging

I know I haven't been updating too much lately, i'm new at blogging and can't write well on a topic so easily like many bloggers. I just love to share my pictures and promote the Orion Dobsonian XT8 telescope and share new accessories that work well with it. I am thinking about expanding my blog as well, not only for the telescope, but for other things such as a microscope I will be purchasing soon and more! I hope you are enjoying my blog!

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New Improved Photos of the Moon

Here are more improved recent photos of the moon I took last night! Of course I used a bit of detail enhancing for this set of photos to see it more clearly. I'm still waiting for a full moon!

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Colors of Sirius 2 with Great Video

Sirius seemed to be jumping with much more color than I've ever seen from the star tonight! It was beautiful! I have recorded it and screen-capped some more still video images to make another "color chart"! It sure is much more interesting than my first video and color chart of Sirius!

Aren't the colors so pretty? Sirius is the only star I can see that gives off bright rainbow colors!
Of course, it is the brightest star around here!

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Constellation Maps - Useful for Finding Objects in the Sky

I'm always looking for new things in the sky, and some constellations look the same as others so it's a bit hard to distinguish each if you're new to observing the sky. I recently went out to look for my first nebulae, so I had to study some constellations. I found the Lyra constellation with the help of some sky maps and ended up finding the Ring Nebula! I will post photos of it if I can capture it, the Ring Nebula is very dark. I haven't found any others yet since I am currently away from home and surrounded by trees and mosquitoes...

This is useful for locating using other constellations and NSEW directions.

This is useful for finding the Andromeda Galaxy.

This is useful for finding the Crab Nebula, Pleiades, ect.

This is good for finding the Orion Nebula, which should be pretty easy.

I used this to find the Ring Nebula. Vega is a pretty useful star.

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More Improved Photos of Jupiter

Jupiter is a planet that never gets old to look at. It's the biggest, brightest planet in the sky, so of course it's always an interesting target! Every night I have been going out to try improving my photos of Jupiter with just a cheap digital camera, and they are getting much better! I try many different angles and camera settings to try to get the sharpest details. Of course I enhance the photos just a bit to help see the details. I can't wait to get the video usb eyepiece to record and take perfect photos!

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Mercury - the Second Planet I've Found

I was up around 4:00am, the same time when I filmed Sirius, and decided to look at a "small red star" that came up behind the moon. I've never really thought about looking for Mercury since it's so small, but apparently I found it! It's not a bright planet at all, it's kinda faint, but it's still fun knowing you've found a planet!

It's very small, so it's a bit hard to see detail on this planet.

Mercury. [3x barlow, no filter]

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Using Basic Telescope Accessories

This post is to show beginners how to use basic viewing accessories for the Dobsonian XT8 such as the eyepiece, barlow lens, and eyepiece filter. It's common knowledge, but sometimes there can be confusion with something you're new to! I hope it's helpful!

This is where the filter goes. It wont attach to the main eyepiece, although it seems like it should. I've tried many times. So far, I can only attach it to my barlow lens. Make sure it's screwed on tight, if it's loose, it could fall off and onto the mirror inside the telescope and can break it!

This is where the eyepiece attaches to the barlow lens. The silver pegs on the side of the barlow hold the eyepiece tight into place when screwed in.

This is how the whole viewing piece will look once it's all put together. Now all you need to do is attach it into the telescope with the silver pegs to hold it in place! Remember, you don't need the barlow lens; if you don't have a barlow, just attach the eyepiece into the telescope itself!

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