Jump to content

Completely Clueless!!

olivia's mum

Recommended Posts

olivia's mum

olivia's mum

Posted
Posted

Hello all, as you may have guessed I am Olivia's mum! olivia got a Celestron Firstscope 76 for her 7th birthday and was very keen to get started on viewing the wonders of the night sky.

We have managed to find the moon - she was really excited to see the craters but beyond that I am clueless as to where to start.

The telescope came with a manual which is only in German and a CD-rom also in German!:icon_salut:

Having tried a bit of googling on how to find a planet - what we found may aswell have been in German too as we have no idea how to navigate the sky and no understanding of the terms used.

I don't want her to lose interest before we have got started so any advice about how to get going would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
malc-c

malc-c

Posted
Posted

Hi Mum !

Welcome to the forum. There are quite a few free astronomy programs such as CDC, Stellarium and Winstars2, however relating what you see on the screen to what you see in the sky can be daunting.

Best advice would be to pop along to your local astronomy club/society. They can show you both where things are and you'll soon pick up the basics.

At the moment with the moon being full it's not ideal to see the three planets, but it's worth having a go. Look west to where the sun set and the really bright "star" low down is actually Venus. Your scope may not show much, but you might be able to notice a slight gibbous phase. Slightly further south and up a bit higher is Jupiter. Your scope should be able to make out the larger moons of Jupiter as pin-pricks of light either side of the disk. Then move round past the moon and come down about half as much in altitude is a small orange "star" which is actually Mars. I don't think your scope will be capable of showing much detail, as it's quite small.

Hope that helps

Link to comment
Share on other sites
UnderTheRain

UnderTheRain

Posted
Posted

If you have a smart phone there are lots of programs that you can install, Venus and Jupiter are visible early in the night sky they look light very bright stars, looking at Juptiter even with basic gear even cheap binoculars you can see the moons. If you have an android/iphone you can install the sky maps search for an object and your phone will have a big arrow on it pointing towards the object (sometimes you need to calibrate your phone). Plus the advantage on your phone is it's nice and portable to take outside next to your scope.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Islander

Islander

Posted
Posted

If you're looking for books then Turn left at Orion might be useful. It'll show you where to find interesting objects to look at and is aimed at small telescope users.

I'll add my vote for Stellarium too - it's free and very very good :icon_salut:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Viv

Viv

Posted
Posted

Hello Olivia & Mum,

Great on getting her interested so early in age - just brilliant.

How about Philips Guide to the Night sky.

You really need something, to keep her interested, that's not too (sorry for the word guys) geeky.

Also another vote for Stellarium, also look at heavens above (http://www.heavens-above.com/), that'll give dates & times for the ISS - which is always a wonder to see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.