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Wazzer

By Wazzer
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Wazzer

Wazzer

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Hi everyone. This is my first post, so here goes, its bound to ramble...

I've always had a fascination with the night sky for many years but never did anything about it. It was only when my 5 year-old daughter came home from school reeling off names of planets and enthusing about how cool they were, that I thought it was about time I did something about it! After some investigation, I bought a Skywatcher Capricorn 70x900 beginners scope which came with various lenses, and bits and pieces, but due to other commitments, I hadn't used it in anger until last week, when I went out armed with a loaned copy of 'Turn Left at Orion', and a pretty clear night. It was a full moon, so no chance of me starting with that (my lunar filter is in the post as we speak) so Jupiter was the next best thing. I did manage to see Jupiter as a bright white disk plus three of Jupiters moons, using the 25mm lens. I do have a 2x Barlow, a 10mm, and a 3.6mm lens that came with the scope but thought the 25mm would be the best to start with. I have a million questions on how to start off in astronomy but I'll just start with one. How do I get the best out of the scope I've purchased and get the best details out of objects such as the moon and Jupiter?

Any hints and tips for using my Skywatcher would be greatly appreciated.

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hemihaggis

hemihaggis

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hi and welcome , well done for having a go ! i think to get the best out of the scope will just take time and practice , jupiter looks great just now ,sometimes just spending some time on an object will bring out more detail ,

you should be able to get quite a bit of magnification on the big planet , i think the 3.6 will not be of much use , but the 25 and the ten are fine ,give the barlow a go with the 25 , that will be the same a 12mm , experiment , swap and change . find whats best for you !

we are heading into a great time of year for skywatching , after the clocks change orion should be visible at a more friendly time (not 3am) have a look at some of the brighter dso`s , M45 , you will love m42 , .

anyway have fun ,and get some wooly socks :)

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damnut

damnut

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HI Wazzer,

Welcome to SGL, I would first start with your scope and the excellent book!. You will sonn learn your way round the sky. Consider joining local astro group, there will be folk there who are bound to have kit you can have a look through, you can then make an objective choice on your eyepieces. Almost any bought separately will be a big improvement on the one's that come with your scope, have a look at the BST range that start about £35, and check out the buy & sell section when you have more than 50 posts! (and more than a month membership)...

Cheers

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Double Kick Drum

Double Kick Drum

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Wilkommen to the lounge from the wilds of North Kent!

You will find out much that is worth knowing here.

:) Turn Left at Orion seems highly recommended in SGL. I've seen quite a few posts name-dropping it already.

Talking of posts, check out the Welcome and Advice for Beginners forums. There is all sorts to be gleaned from questions others have raised.

Practice and patience are important. A good start is to familiarise yourself with a few constellations (ORION - appearing soon, LEO - spring, CYGNUS - dissapearing soon, CASSEOPEIA - the W) for example + the plough, part of URSA MAJOR) as they are good points of reference when you are trying to find something in your scope that you can't see with the naked eye.

Finally.....ask questions. Everyone seems friendly here, so get stuck in!

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Wazzer

Wazzer

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Thanks everyone for the kind welcome and the advice. I managed to get out last night for another Jupiter viewing. Managed to notice some banding I didn't see on my first outing. As you all have said, practice, practice, practice! I got some 10 x 50 binos with the scope which I didn't even think of using until I read through the Welcome and Advice for Beginners forums. I'm now trying to use them at every opportunity to get used to finding various objects. Being able to just make out some of Jupiters moons with them was a bit of an eye opener if you pardon the pun!

Thanks again for all the kind words of welcome.

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