starhopper13

Wait till you see Saturn. It'll surely knock you off your feet!

A series of cloudy nights had begun to make me rather depressed. Your post reminded me how fun it is to go observing! Thanks for it. Now I can't wait to go outside myself 😊

I hope I will have decades ahead so that I can say the same. It's rather sad to realize how little time we have to observe this vast universe.

Sure does!

Whoops! I might have to wait a long time then. But it's well worth the wait 😄 And I actually showed saturn to my elder sister who is about 8 years older than me. Even her reaction was priceless.

Absolutely glad to have helped in bringing back so many pleasant memories, sir. Wish you many more better views in the future!

With my equipment it's rather easy to separate the ring and the sphere, but I couldn't see anything more 😅 perhaps if I look a little harder..

Yep! It's great for observing planets. Not too high, nor too low.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and advice, everyone! I guess I'm lucky in this regard that from my place the planets go quite high up in the sky. It's been cloudy lately and I can't wait to go observing again. Clear and dark skies!

Hello ella! I'm another female with the same hobby and i'm rather young (20years old) and inexperienced compared to you. I'm still learning the way. I hope i will be able to learn loads from you and someday be of some help to you too!

Astronomers often describe their first sight of Saturn as being unforgettable. Now I understand why. Few days ago I saw Saturn with my celestron 130mm reflector. It looked so unnaturally beautiful and rather eerie against the starry background. I would really love to know your first experience of seeing Saturn and what impression it left on your mind. Also, it would be really great to know how I can see the divisions and gaps in Saturn's Rings. I only have two eyepieces for now, a 10mm and a 20mm. Should I switch to higher magnification or just look harder with the current eyepieces? Can I even see divisions with a small scope?

I have a celestron astromaster 130eq which has an RDF. I've been meaning to buy a 6x30 finder and fit it on it. Currently i'm thinking of buying this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Meade-Blue-6x30mm-Crosshair-Telescope-Viewfinder-w-Tall-Bracket-New-Old-Stock/362503357396?hash=item5466e243d4:g:hR4AAOSwxZxcCapY The question i have is: will the tall bracket cause any problem? The RDF is pretty low and i'm planning to make a wooden adapter because my scope has an unusual foot (is that what it's called?).

Wow it looks stunning!

Lucky for me that all planets go quite high up where I live. I must reap all the benefit I can.

Hello, Aryan and welcome to the forum. I'm new to astronomy as well and coincidentally we have the same instruments (minus the kit). I'm a neighbour of yours from Bangladesh, and despite all the light pollution (bortle 6), the equatorial belts are easily visible through my telescope with both of the eyepieces. When the conditions are good I can even spot the Great Red Spot. It may be that your place is more light polluted than mine, but I'm not sure if it can obscure obvious details like the belts. Though I noticed that when it's hazy the belts seem less obvious and the planet just looks like a bright disk. You said that It's been cloudy, so perhaps you should wait till it becomes clear and hopefully less windy. Another suggestion will be to take a chair with you so you can sit down comfortably and look through the eyepiece for a long time. Clear skies and best of luck with the hurricane.