Complete beginner

[Mikegill111]

Hello

I have a holiday home in south-east Spain and after showing an interest in astronomy a friend has given me his old telescope.

I travel over there from England this weekend and I’m looking to make my start

I am a complete amateur so please go easy on me with my basic questions :

I’ve found this link : Sky Map for August 2011 - Astronomy News UK, Night Sky, Celestial Events, Images, Books and Star Naming Service which looks helpful to me not least as in shows the moon !!! Is this link recommended or are there better ?

The link above is for August ; how different will September be ?

First thing to do is line myself up so that south on my map is actually south in real life ?

I see one star which is extremely bright. And far brighter than any other. After seeing the link I’ve posted above, this looks like it could actually be Jupiter. Does this sound plausible ? I guess if I line myself looking at the moon then the “co-ordinates” of my map should prove it ?

Will the difference from my uk maps and actually being in Spain be negligible?

I’ve been told to download stellarium which I’ve done. Unfortunately I have no internet in Spain and this app looks waaaaaay too complicated for me at my limited knowledge. Are there are any other recommendations ? I’m ideally looking for things I can print and take with me !

Anything else I should know ?!

Many thanks in advance.

[brantuk]

Stellarium is actually extremely easy once you get to know what a few terms mean - so don't let that put you off using it - it's invaluable for knowing what's up on any night at your location.

It should acquire the time from your system clock and not need an internet connection - but I must check that for when I get home tonight and confirm later for you.

So long as you're within 15 degrees south of London the sky map above will be fine. Stand facing south and point "North on the map" in the same direction. Now when you hold it over your head and compare the sky you'll find north is pointing north.

A planisphere would be a good idea if this is the way you prefer to find objects - and you wouldn't have to print it out every time cos it works right through the year

[Nova]

Hi There. And welcome to the forum. I would reccomend Stellarium, once downloaded it doesnt need an internet connection to run but as you have found out it does not generate printable charts. As an alternative Cartes Du Ciel is very good and once you have a basic understanding of how the programme works it will generate printable charts

start [skychart]

I would reccoment reading through the user guide and going through the tutorial. Another option is to get your hands on a sky atlas. The sky and telescope pocket atlas is great and as it is A5 sized it actually does fit your pocket

Amazon.co.uk: sky and telescope pocket sky atlas

[matsey]

As well as getting hold of a star atlas (I have the one Nova mentioned, and agree it is very good), I would also recommend getting yourself a copy of Turn Left at Orion: Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope - and How to Find Them: Amazon.co.uk: Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis: Books

Not sure what size scope you've been given, but Turn Left is specifically aimed at smaller scopes and will give you some excellent and interesting targets to look at. What's great about it is that it gives really good instructions on how to "star hop" to each object, plus a pretty accurate picture of what you can expect to see through your eyepiece when you do find it. Plenty to keep you busy!

Enjoy your clear skies in Spain, am very jealous

[The Viper]

get yourself a planisphere try ebay really cheap and definetly works without internet.Most of all enjoy the night sky and remember ever night is more experience gained

[EntropyStar]

I couldn't recommend Stellarium enough, also a great app for HTC phones is the SkEye.........much better and more responsive then Google Sky Maps

[ollypenrice]

get yourself a planisphere try ebay really cheap and definetly works without internet.Most of all enjoy the night sky and remember ever night is more experience gained

Seconded. They are drawn for a specific latitude but the difference between the UK and Spain won't render a British one useless. Be aware that the planets are not in a fixed position so may confuse you. The planets don't twinkle (scintillate) and lie roughly on the ecliptic, which is to say the path taken by the Sun during the day.

Olly

[Gra]

As said above, Stellarium is the way to go and a planisphere. If you have an Andriod phone you can get SKEye or Google Sky Map for free or pay for Star Chart. For an iphone you can get Sky Safari.

Hope that helps.

[Freff]

Ditto, and welcome to the SGL.

[pete_l]

Mike,

I've got a place near Baza (on the Granada/Almeria border) - though I'm not over there right now

Will the difference from my uk maps and actually being in Spain be negligible?

So far as maps go, the ones for the UK will be a start, but not as good as maps for locations further south. If you're looking for ones on the 'net, it's better to go for ones intended for americans rather than brits.

The reason is that the further south you go, you can see more "stuff" in the southern skies and less "stuff" in the north. The Pole-star, that the whole mess revolves around is lower in the sky, in Spain, than in the UK. A consequence is that stars and constellations that appear low in the south in Britain, are higher up in Spain. Also stuff that's invisible in the UK can be seen in southern Spain.

If you want maps you can print out, the ones at Skymaps.com are pretty good. Being for americans, they are based at 40°North so will be a fairly good match for places around 37°

Anything else I should know ?!

Only that the weather's looking pretty good!

[Mikegill111]

Thank you one and all. Still feel a bit daunted by it all but will report back once I'm back in Blighty

[EntropyStar]

Thank you one and all. Still feel a bit daunted by it all but will report back once I'm back in Blighty

The confusion is daunting, I'm kinda in that state trying to pick a scope! Defo can't recommend Stellarium enough though.

[Mikegill111]

A little delayed in posting here but I'm back from Spain and things didn't go all that well on the astronomy front

I managed to view planets via the viewfinder but couldn't focus on anything through the actual telescope

I have a Hercules 60060 telescope

And the detachable parts I have are :

1.5x erecting eyepiece

Barlow Lens 3x

Eyepiece has H12mm printed on it.

All I was seeing was a mass of white :-/

Have you guys any idea what went wrong ?

[Sunwatcher]

Hi

I live in Eastern Spain myself and the viewing is good here. I cannot comment on your particular telescope but a couple of points come to mind. As others have said getting to know Stellarium is the way to go but if you prefer paper maps there is a Spanish astronomy magazine Astronomia which has a sky chart each month which is centred for Spain. The magazine is in spanish but you don't need that to use the sky chart. Everything is a bit higher in the sky here. There is plenty to see with binoculars and they will help you orient yourself better.

Good Luck.

Frank

[John]

I think this is your scope possibly ?

Werlisa - HERCULES 60060

For astronomy it would be best used with just the 12.5mm eyepiece, ie: don't use the erecting eyepiece or the 3x barlow lens.

Try it on the moon when it's next in the sky and see how you get on.

PS: Pay no attention to the "350 max" in the advert - it's simply not practical with virtually any scope, let alone a small one.

[Mikegill111]

I think this is your scope possibly ?

Werlisa - HERCULES 60060

Yes that's it ! Should be easy to get up and running then ?

[John]

Yes that's it ! Should be easy to get up and running then ?

Well, it's a matter of making sure the small finder scope points as near as possible to where the main scope is pointing and then putting just the 12.5mm eyepiece into the 90 degree diagonal (like in the picture). Point the scope at what you want to look at (NOT THE SUN !) using the finder to align it, then look carefully through the eyepiece. You will need to adjust the focus using the plastic wheels which more the diagonal and eyepiece in and out, and do this slowly, until you get sharp focus on what is in the field of view of the eyepiece.

Stick to bright and obvious objects to start with like the moon and Jupiter.