Celestron Powerseeker 50AZ - Moon

[Sabalias]

3 hours ago, Sweet dreams said:

Thank you beka and Tiny clanged. As I am just a starter I do not know much about the sky. I hope that the stellarium will work and I am going to install it today. By the way, beka, tiny clanger and everyone else, can the light pollution in my city affect my observing of the planets. I am asking this as I am living in the highly polluted Indian city Chennai.

As I understand it excessive light pollution may have a small impact on your planetary viewing; however, you've already mentioned that you've been able to see Mars, Venus and Mercury so I don't think it will be too bad for you with the other planets. Something that can have a greater effect on planetary viewing is heavily disturbed air (rising air currents for example).

[beka]

3 hours ago, Sweet dreams said:

Thank you beka and Tiny clanged. As I am just a starter I do not know much about the sky. I hope that the stellarium will work and I am going to install it today. By the way, beka, tiny clanger and everyone else, can the light pollution in my city affect my observing of the planets. I am asking this as I am living in the highly polluted Indian city Chennai.

The light pollution will not affect your views of the planets. You should even be able to glimpse Uranus and Neptune as a tiny dots with no detail using this scope. You can also try some of the brighter deep sky objects like star clusters for example the Beehive Custer, and some people like observing double stars - you can try Mizar. 

Happy Observing!

Edited May 13, 2021 by beka
Some more info...

[Sweet dreams]

Thanks you so much guys. As for the stars I am able to spot out a few bright stars. Yesterday, I looked up at procyon and was able to see the binary stars separated. I am planning to see Mizar in my next observation. I installed stellarium and finding it very useful. From where can I get much more information about the phases and positions of the planet?

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Sweet dreams and welcome to SGL. 

You could try either of these filters to improve your viewing experience...
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-filters/baader-neodymium-filter.html
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-filters/baader-contrast-booster-filter.html

or even a variable polarising filter may help on the brighter planets. I have and use this type...

and would be the cheaper option. 

[Tiny Clanger]

7 hours ago, Sweet dreams said:

Thank you beka and Tiny clanged. As I am just a starter I do not know much about the sky. I hope that the stellarium will work and I am going to install it today. By the way, beka, tiny clanger and everyone else, can the light pollution in my city affect my observing of the planets. I am asking this as I am living in the highly polluted Indian city Chennai.

The planets are relatively bright, compared with galaxies and other deep sky objects so, like the Moon, they are ideal targets for urban skywatchers.

There is plenty of free general information on the internet to help you get started, for instance here are a few, very different samples: 

https://themcdonalds.net/how-to-select-beginner-astronomy-targets/

https://www.astroshop.eu/advice/telescope/telescope-knowledge/ebook-download/c,9154

https://web.archive.org/web/20190525224540/http://www.wwnorton.com/college/astronomy/astro21/sandt/startright.html

Do be aware that a lot of information about what you can see this week or month on webpages or blogs is made by, and therefore specific to, Europe and the USA. This site though lets you set a location and gives you advance notice of what will be visible where you are

https://in-the-sky.org/newsindex.php

Hope that helps

Heather

[beka]

2 hours ago, Sweet dreams said:

Thanks you so much guys. As for the stars I am able to spot out a few bright stars. Yesterday, I looked up at procyon and was able to see the binary stars separated. I am planning to see Mizar in my next observation. I installed stellarium and finding it very useful. From where can I get much more information about the phases and positions of the planet?

Stellarium will help on the planets as well - use the search feature on the left of the screen. 

Cheers! 

[Sweet dreams]

Thank you for your valuable help. I am glad that I joined SGL. As a beginner I would have really struggled a lot without having joined SGL. My upcoming observations will be based  on the moon. So I will be posting them here. Be sure to check it out!!!

[Sweet dreams]

17 hours ago, Philip R said:

Hi @Sweet dreams and welcome to SGL. 

You could try either of these filters to improve your viewing experience...
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-filters/baader-neodymium-filter.html
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-filters/baader-contrast-booster-filter.html

or even a variable polarising filter may help on the brighter planets. I have and use this type...

and would be the cheaper option. 

Hi Philip R. Do you think I need to use filters for the moon

[Tiny Clanger]

8 hours ago, Sweet dreams said:

Hi Philip R. Do you think I need to use filters for the moon

I'm not Philip, but I can tell you I could not look at the Moon comfortably with my 150mm aperture telescope, it was dazzlingly bright, so I bought a simple Moon filter.  However, I now have a smaller aperture 127mm telescope and an 80mm one , and I do not need to use any filter to view the Moon in either of them. Your telescope is a smaller aperture than any of them at 50mm, so it will collect less light,  and I'm sure you will not need a filter for comfortable viewing.

So, I suggest not spending money on  a filter unless you find you really  need one. If it turns out you do, a short term solution while you wait for a filter to be delivered is to wear sunglasses - you look a bit crazy in them at night though ! The full Moon is not the best time to observe the Moon, the areas of interest are along the terminator, the curved line between the lit and dark parts of the surface. There the slanting light and shadows show the surface features really well, and you get a changing area to view from night to night

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/how-to-observe-the-moon/

Do remember before buying any eyepieces or filters, you need to establish that your eyepieces are 1.25" diameter barrels or they will not fit your telescope.

Heather

[RT65CB-SWL]

9 hours ago, Sweet dreams said:

Hi Philip R. Do you think I need to use filters for the moon

As per what @Tiny Clanger says above.

[beka]

2 hours ago, Tiny Clanger said:

 

...Do remember before buying any eyepieces or filters, you need to establish that your eyepieces are 1.25" diameter barrels or they will not fit your telescope.

Heather

The Powerseeker 50AZ eyepieces are 0.96" so the usual 1.25" will not fit...

[RT65CB-SWL]

6 hours ago, beka said:

The Powerseeker 50AZ eyepieces are 0.96" so the usual 1.25" will not fit...

For comparison of 0.965" vs 1.25" I have attached the image below of my 0.965"/6mm Ortho and a 1.25" adaptor.

The good news is there are adaptors and star diagonals that have a 0.965" nosepiece and accept 1.25" eyepieces... so not so bad news after all.
They are or should be available from the usual sites... i.e. Ebay, Amazon, AliExpress, etc., if your local astro-dealer does not stock them.

[Sweet dreams]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will be seeing the moon tomorrow, a crescent moon. Will let u know about my experience