On a good staedy night you will do six easily in the trapezium. The supernova in M82 will be available to you as it is still going. The type of light guards Stan built and Kent has are the best design for in the city. I only used three eyepieces for most big dob observing. A wide 10, a 22, and a 2X barlow. That's about it. Get the televue Mars type 2 filter. It will change the way you see Mars. Mars really does need filters to see properly.

On Friday, March 21, 2014 7:02 AM, "lalagoe@..." <lalagoe@...> wrote:

 

I finally tried out the 12.5 inch last night in my backyard.  It's final... we have to move out of the city.  Everything is washed out with city light and all of my neighbors have glaring outdoor lights that they leave on ALL NIGHT.  My husband said he'd build me a light guard or two... which scares me because he's not a craftsman by nature.  

Jupiter, Mars, and M42 wowed me. I could easily make out 4 stars in the trapezium when before I could only distinguish 3 easily. I could see at least 2 more bands on Jupiter that I couldn't see before. :)  M81 & M82 were easier finds as well (that is, once I was able to find my guide star naked eye - which was the hardest part in cruddy light-polluted skies).  Although the FOV was smaller with my current eyepiece, so it was tricky finding them both.

I'll definitely need a new eyepiece or two!  Mine only range from 4mm - 25mm.

I'm VERY excited to get him (yes, I think it might be a 'him') out to NWRP tonight for some darker skies and see what he can do!