Juliette.x

I recently borrowed an 8inch telescope from a society I've joined, and it's the first I've ever used. (It's a DIY one, and looks a bit like meccano )

I took it out, and found the finderscope WAY out. It took me ages to get the scope pointed at Venus and a ridiculous amount of time to find the moon.

So in daylight, I looked at how to adjust the finder, and one of the adjuster screws was completely broken! The society have taken the finderscope to fix it, leaving me without anything to help me find my way around.

It's been so dark and clear recently that I've really got frustrated at not being able to find anything other than Venus, Jupiter and the Moon; because I just don't know where I am.

(Don't get me wrong, I spent ages gawping at these three!)

If you have any tips on how a beginner can tell what they're looking at without a finderscope...I'd love to here them.

Thank you

P.S. I've only recently joined and reading through all the threads has been really helpful, so thanks again!