Off the starting block.

[Scorpion50]

I had my first close look of the moon with my Sky watcher 4" 500mm focal length. I believe Uranus was just behind the moon tonight but couldn't see it, possibly because of the brightness of the moon. Anyway, very pleased with my first step into astronomy. Can't wait for Mars, Venus etc .... now.

[Size9Hex]

Good stuff. Hopefully the first of many good evenings to come. Uranus is visible in binoculars, so you'll have no trouble seeing it with your scope. The bright moon obliterates everything though, so it might be easier once it's moved on. Jupiter, Venus and Mars are all visible early morning in the east right now, and with your scope you'll easily see four moons round the disk of Jupiter, and a half disk of Venus. Mars might be just a red dot. Neptune is also doable in a scope that size, but is a little dimmer. Saturn and Mercury are both a bit near the sun right now, but they'll come round again before long. Enjoy!

[Paz]

Me too - last night was my first look at the moon through my own scope. I noticed Schiller in the south - being near the terminator and being oblong rather than round it stood out. Tycho's rays were getting bright as it's not that far of a full moon, and I saw 2 deep craters next to each other near the terminator to the north - I guess Aristarchus and Herodotus but am not sure.

It's completely different looking at it directly for yourself as opposed to looking at photos!

[Astro Imp]

Me too - last night was my first look at the moon through my own scope. I noticed Schiller in the south - being near the terminator and being oblong rather than round it stood out. Tycho's rays were getting bright as it's not that far of a full moon, and I saw 2 deep craters next to each other near the terminator to the north - I guess Aristarchus and Herodotus but am not sure.

It's completely different looking at it directly for yourself as opposed to looking at photos!

To help identify luna features the Virtual Moon Atlas is a great free resource:- http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon/

[Paz]

To help identify luna features the Virtual Moon Atlas is a great free resource:- http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon/

Thanks very much for this - I've downloaded it and it is very good! Putting my observing time in I can see Aristarchus and Herodotus right on the terminator - it was definitely them. The other candidates were Le Verrier and Helicon but it can't have been them as they were too far from where the terminator was at the time.

[Astro Imp]

Glad you found it useful.

BTW Aristarchus is pretty unmistakable as it's so incredibly bright.

[todd8137]

The moon is still my main focus after years of looking

Pat