Celestron Firstscope 76mm

[Rich Bentley]

I am new to astronomy and decided after a little bit of research to go with the Celestron Firstscope 76mm as I didn't want to spend too much money just to have a fancy ornament if I didn't enjoy it. I have been able to see the moon in lots of detail with the 4mm lens but can anyone tell me what to realistically expect from the scope? Is it worth looking for DSOs with it or just sticking to planets and bright stars? Any advice would be welcome

[RikM]

The Celestron Firstscope 76 (Same as the SkyWatcher Heritage 76 Dobsonian) is actually a fun little scope. If you have a nice dark sky you should be able to see a fair few things with it. I use an 80mm refractor on a camera tripod as a holiday scope which doesn't have much more light grasp.

Star clusters are probably the easiest targets for small aperture instruments.

The double cluster between Cassiopeia and Perseus is great, M15 and M13 Globular clusters are very nice and should be visible as fuzzy balls of light in your scope.

M27, the dumbbell nebula is another good target, M57 also but that is pretty small.

M31 is heading into view later in the night, personally I've always found it a bit of a disappointment that our nearest large galactic neighbour doesn't show much (any) structure but worth checking out all the same.

Have a look around and get a feel for the type of objects you like to observe. Then when you feel you are ready to take the next step up in aperture (will probably be sooner than you think ) post up on SGL and people will be happy to offer advice.

[TheNorthernMonkey]

I can make out quite a few DSOs using my 80mm refractor. I can just make out the double cluster in cassiopeia, as well as m51. M13 is a good target if you can get to somewhere nice and dark

[Rich Bentley]

Wow thanks for all the great advice guys, I look forward to some clear skies so I can practice my new hobby!