britchall Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Having just received my first telescope a couple of days ago and managing to view Saturn last night, I'm now eager to move onto the next step. I'm lucky enough to have access to some reasonably dark skies down in Cornwall. So what would you suggest I try finding next? Preferably objects which are easy to find and visible with binos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franco Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 what scope have you got? Im a newbie too and just got my first scope, however since i have had it theres been nothing but clouds, also light pollution is a problem near me and being close to the longest day it dosnt get totally dark till long after my bed time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britchall Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 I've got a Sky Watcher 130p SupaTrak. I was able to get an hour before the clouds came rolling in last night, Saturn was looking quite impressive. I was only in my back garden which has a fair bit f light pollution, so I couldn't make out any of the moons. Tonight's supposed to be clearish so I'm going to head out away from the local towns and try again.I know the long days does make things difficult. I was tempted to get up this morning to try Jupiter but as it started to get light around 4am thought better of it. Still on the flip side with long nights come freezing temperatures!What scope did you get? I'm sure you'll get to use it in the next few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britchall Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 Ah should have looked at the bottom of your post. 200p dob, very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4lcs67 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Newbie here too. Been doing this astronomy malarkey for a couple of months now. Unfortunately it has been mostly indoors reading books on it due to the ongoing rubbish weather. Have got outside a few times, but nothing for the previous month or so.A friend of mine loaned me his 43 year old reflector and my brother and I set it up in my back garden. After a bit of playing around with it a very fuzzy Saturn hoved into view. We were leaping around in the garden going nuts. Anyone who saw us must have thought we were mad. It was out very first time seeing Saturn with our own eyes. A momentus occasion. At least the nights are now getting longer so we can all spend more time outside looking at the stars (weather permitting!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adz Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Have you downloaded Stellarium? It is free and fantastic. M57 Ring nebula in Lyra, M13 globular cluster, Saturn etc.With these light skies, deep sky observing isn't great but still possible.Also grab a copy of the latest Sky at Night magazine?They have a great section in it about every planet and what is the best date and time to view everything.HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philhas Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 You could try looking at some Globular clusters, M13 & M92 in Hercules are still looking good at the moment or try looking at some of the double stars in Lyra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philhas Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Beat me to it Adz! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adz Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 No worries Phil You are right, check out some of the other clusters too. M92 for example is subtly different.Forgot to mention the Alberio double in Cygnus and mercury, neptune later this month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Astra Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 If you have a descent view of the southern sky, Scorpio and Sagittarius have plenty of interesting targets from nebulae to globular clusters and double stars.Cygnus which is higher in the sky is also along the milky way and very rich with fun targets. The nice thing about a crowded field for a beginner is that you can scan about and see plenty of neat things with out having to search too much! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MjrTom Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Also worth looking for are M3 and M53 which are also nice an high in the sky.File:M3map.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaMy last observing session I ticked off the following in the 90 minutes or so I had before the clouds rolled in:M13, M92, M5, M3, M53, M10, M12, M14 (all globulars) and lastly M57 which has already been mentioned.This should help you to find the others mentionedOphiuchus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThese were all seen from my light polluted back garden using an 80mm scope so these should be pretty easy with a 200mm DobI have not been observing long myself, only since last autumn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britchall Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 Thanks for all the replies. I drove out to good site, had time to set up the scope and had it tracking really well (SupaTrak), but as it got darker high clouds started rolling in. A shame, but at least I've got the tracking working well. I've heard a few people say they're not to impressed with it, yet I think it's great. I'm studying Mechanical Engineering at Uni, so maybe knowledge of how they work is helping me set it up properly?Thanks for the Stellarium advice. Made some sketches to help me find things and think M57, M13 and M92 will be my next targets as they're all close together and high in the sky at the moment.Again many thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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