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Hi from Glasgow.

BlackMonolith

By BlackMonolith
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BlackMonolith

BlackMonolith

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Got my first telescope this week - a Storm 60 - from Cash Converters. Always wanted a scope as a kid - I'm now 42 - but never had one despite being very into space and astronomy, so I'm filled with delight at it. Hoping to get some beginners advice to help me avoid silly mistakes and find good things, and that this will be the beginning of a hobby I should have taken up years ago.

I'm especially interested in the Moon, Jupiter, and Mars. ( My scope has a x3 Barlow which is obviously way too powerful to get any of these three imaged well. Do I need to scale down the Barlow to x2 or get some other kind of eyepiece for close-up lunar/Jovian observations? )

I have a habit of introducing myself with newbie questions - just point me to the right thread if I'm a nuisance! :)

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sologuitarist61

sologuitarist61

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Hello and welcome to SGL, let us know how you get on with the scope. Don't worry about the question, thats the reason most of us introduce ourselves in the first place - because we are stuck on something and need advice :smiley: For the moment just play around with the EP's you got with the scope and see what you can find. Only then can you decide from a position of actually knowing what you want, make a choice about new EP's. Good luck

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dtr42

dtr42

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hi mate welcome to the forum i'm from glasgow and there's a few others as well [where in glasgow are you near> i stay in the southside ] you should get out tonight as its clear and cloud free a goood combination .you may strugle to get mars in your scope [ it can be pretty hard tog et any detail on it [i usually see a small red spot and that's about . the moon and jupiter are well worth a look . just enjoy the new scope there's a bunch of us who have regular meet up at harpenrig near edinburgh this is there web site www.scottishastronomers.com and i'm a member of the astronomical society of glasgow [http://theasg.org.uk] who have regular meetings [membership is £15 for the year a bit expensive] but would give you access to a large variety of scopes and events through the astronomy season [sept to may usually ] good luck and enjoy yourself

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. dtr42 makes a good suggestion of attending a local astro club as meeting like minded people can be useful in accessing practical advice and possible suggestions of any dark sites to observe from, as light pollution can be a bit of pain if you live in a big city. Lots of experience and advice for you to tap into when the need arises so keep those questions coming in! I can certainly recommend a free piece of planetarium software called "Stellarium" which is very popular with many members her on the forum and you can find out more about it here. Lots of features and it can be configured from your exact viewing location thereby creating an exact copy of the night sky as seen from garden. Really useful in helping you to identify objects and for suggestions on what to look for- - particularly planets!

Clear skies for now and enjoy the forum

James

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BlackMonolith

BlackMonolith

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Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone.

I'll definitely give the ASG some thought, dtr24, as I do feel like I'm flailing in the dark a bit. So to speak.

Clear skies over Glasgow - miracle! - have given me pretty good views of Jupiter the past couple of nights. I fool myself into thinking I can almost seen colour bands on the disc, but three of the Galileans are def visible.

Woke up early for no good reason this morning and saw Venus, so grabbed the scope to have a look. It's simply so bright that it dazzles!

Thanks too for the Stellarium advice, JamesM. I'm pretty low tech right now, but I'll bear it in mind.

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dtr42

dtr42

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the ASG has a stars over the botanics on Tuesday 23rd October 2012 [it costs £4 but lets you have a cheeky peak at some decent scopes if the sky is clear [think theres a 10" dob an 8" meade sct to name 2] so may be worth your while if you stay near the botanic gardens in the west end .

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