danglee

24 minutes ago, AstroExploring said:

Hi Dan, welcome to SGL! I'm not too far from you (Cirencester). I started with the 130EQ just like you! Best of luck and welcome to this incredible hobby!

Nice, I work in Ciren! Thank you. 

49 minutes ago, Ruud said:

Hi Dan, welcome. You joined the right forum!

First thing to do is download the free program Stellarium from https://stellarium.org. That's a great tool.

35 minutes ago, domstar said:

Hi and welcome. Great advice above about stellarium. Also I would say look no further than the Orion Nebula. 

30 minutes ago, carastro said:

Welcome to Astronomy and this very friendly and helpful forum.  I'd spend a little time using your new scope and finding your way around the skies before trying to start astrophotography, it's quite a big learning curve needing rather expensive equipment.  

Things to enjoy at the moment.

The planets are fairly low, but depending on you horizons, Venus is currently to the right of the Moon in the twilight sky.   Both are worth looking at, Venus will not appear completely round as it has phases like the Moon.  The Moon will be bigger in the next few days and is best viewed at around half Moon (or first quarter to give it it's correct name) as the shadow in the craters will show up better than when it is fully lit.

M42 the Orion Nebula, should be easy to find. 

As stated above, download Stellarium.

Carole 

 

Thanks all! just downloaded Stellarium, very handy. Will help with planning.

8 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

You will be most welcome, it will be great to meet you.  Clear skies!

Great to meet you also, thank you.

12 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

Hi Dan and welcome from me, also in Swindon. If you are interested the local club, Swindon Stargazers have a programme on imaging on the 17 January, more details found here:  http://www.swindonstargazers.com/clubdiary/clubdiary.htm

Great, thanks. I would be interesting in a local club so this is ideal.

Hello!

My girlfriend surprised me with a Celestron AstroMaster 130 this Christmas, always wanted to get into Astronomy and feel now is the time to take it on properly as a hobby.

I am interested in astrophotography and general gazing. I spent some time last night learning how to polar align and get comfortable with the scope and find objects, and ordered a planisphere to help me start identifying what I am looking at. Any suggestions on objects I should keep an eye out for over the coming weeks are most welcome.

Looking forward to meeting new people!

Thanks!

Dan