Hello

[Capricornus]

Hi, i'm new to this site and to astronomy, i decided to give it a go last year and my hubby bought me a celestron firstscope which i've used to look at the moon and while i was delighted to see the craters i was disappointed not to be able to see Jupiter too well. I have read that a good set of binoculars are better than my telescope and i wonder if anyone could recommend a pair that are reasonably priced as i lost my job last year so am a bit skint although i would willingly save up for some as i'm desperate to see some planets.

[hes not well again]

Hi there, sorry to hear you were disapointed with Jupiter, could be a few reasons why this is. If it was close to the moon when you were looking at it the light pollution from it may have washed Jupiter out a bit. Or if you were in a place with lots of street lights that can seriously reduced the power of any telescope. I would have thought that even small scopes should allow you to see the bands and the moons. Can you tell me what power eyepiece you were using and in what way Jupiter failed to measure up? Bins are good for low power wide field veiwing but try and get the most out of what you have before you spend any more money. Don't worry, keep trying.