how long will jupiter be visible for?

[bullettooth]

will i still be able to see it when i get my scope at christmas?

also i hear saturn will be around soon when exactly will i be able to see that?

thanks in advance

[umadog]

Yes, it will still be visible then. Download Stellarium and you can check these things out very easily.

[jkwhinfrey]

Good advice to try Stellarium, it's a great piece of free software.

Jupiter's around for a while; Saturn is likely to be outstanding; and then there's Mars and Venus too.

I wouldn't worry about there being nothing to look at after Christmas... just as long as the clouds stay away

[bullettooth]

thanks for that guys! i have stellarium but havent worked it out fully yet. guess i'l get used to it the more i go on and look about

[Omega]

In a similar position myself, was orignally going to get my scope for Christmas, but am so eager not to miss out on some of the highlights of the sky at the moment that I'll be getting it ASAP

[coxy322]

On Christmas Day Jupiter will be nicely due south quite early in the evening/night. Uranus will be to it's right and there will be NO MOON to ruin observing of deep space objects (if your scope will allow you to see these of course!)

[bullettooth]

haha omega, lucky you if you do get it early, my wife is adament that i have to wait

thanks for that coxy. im not sure my scope will let me see DSO's its a skyhawk 114 newt, just something to get started with. didnt have a bigger budget.

[mcro89]

Check this webpage out will tell you where all our planets are at any time:

http://www.dynamicdiagrams.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/orrery_2011_bce.swf

Matt

[Starlight 1]

You can allways get the book

Turn left at Orion

but get the fourth edition then it will be ok for the next ten years.

[M4lcs67]

Had a nice early sesh myself last night. Beats getting up at 3 am. Jupiter in fine form again. I am waiting with eager anticipation of Saturn myself.

[bullettooth]

Check this webpage out will tell you where all our planets are at any time:

http://www.dynamicdiagrams.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/orrery_2011_bce.swf

Matt

thanks matt that is an amazing link thank you

[bullettooth]

thanks starlight. will look into that!

[heathenwoods]

haha omega, lucky you if you do get it early, my wife is adament that i have to wait

thanks for that coxy. im not sure my scope will let me see DSO's its a skyhawk 114 newt, just something to get started with. didnt have a bigger budget.

Hey man, I'm sure you'll see some DSOs but maybe not all. Until I get my own 'scope I'm using my eldest son's scope and that's a 76mm/300 £30 Firstscope. I've seen a (small) number of DSOs with it, enough to get excited about . You should see far more than me!

I found this map & info very useful for pointing out what's in the sky and just discovered that I can 'turn up' the light pollution in Stellarium so that it shows the sky pretty much how I see it - I've found that *very* useful for navigating my way to DSOs'n'stuff.

[stolenfeather]

Stellarium is a wonderful program indeed. There are always wonderful things to see out there but what will soon become your nemesis are the clouds!

Isabelle

[bullettooth]

Hey man, I'm sure you'll see some DSOs but maybe not all. Until I get my own 'scope I'm using my eldest son's scope and that's a 76mm/300 £30 Firstscope. I've seen a (small) number of DSOs with it, enough to get excited about . You should see far more than me!

wow thats amazing im even more excited now haha! i get a free philips guide to northern constellations and a planisphere with my kit so hopefully that would be some use to start with!

im still figuring stellarium out but its good so far:D

[stolenfeather]

There are a few good books out there as well such as "Turn Left at Orion". That was my first book and it keeps serving me well.

Isabelle

[bullettooth]

yeah thanks Isabelle, im gonna see about getting that book. probs after christmas when i see if my freebies are any good!

[heathenwoods]

A quick suggestion for the first DSO you could look for: The Orion Nebula (M42); if you can find Orion you can find it. You can see it with the naked eye and a scope will let you see it better (and if you see it through a scope then you'll also pick up its pals M43 and NGC1981 ).

In a way your wait for a scope is a great chance to get to know the night sky (clouds permitting) via Stellarium and working out what you can see 'out back'. Don't forget to set Stellarium to your latitude/longitude coordinates (this site is a handy way of getting them)

Jupiter's so bright at the moment then you can use it as a starting point to navigate round the constellations or the plough and the swan* are also useful starting points. Cassieopia's 'W' shape is usually easy to spot too* (but will probably give you a crick in the neck).

So... when you get your 'scope you should have a fairly good idea of where you want to look for stuff.

*I didn't know where they were 4 weeks ago but I 'know' them now and am starting to pick other constellations I'd never even heard of - all thanks to Stellarium and looking up

[bullettooth]

thanks alot heathenwoods. the reason i started getting into astronomy is because i was looking at the sky whilst walking the dog on a night and trying to see cons that i remembered learning in primary school, i spotted orion and the big dipper (easy ones) and got hooked and wanted to know more. so started checking things with a free ipod app. ive learned so much more already by just looking and asking around this site. its really good with really good people thank you all