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Hello from a complete novice

MarkL

By MarkL
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MarkL

MarkL

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Hi guys,

Just registered now after finding the forum online. Looks to be a great place.

It says to tell you about me. Erm, well I have always been fascinated by space, planets, stars, but am a complete novice. I don't own a telescope, but have some weird obsession with Saturn and wanting to see that with my own eyes through a scope.

Due to having just bought a new car and camera, plus an upcoming wedding, I don't know when i'll be buying a telescope to use, but until then I'll be hanging around here trying to increase my knowledge further, and possibly trying to get out to some clubs that meet to see if I can learn more.

Mark

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ronl

ronl

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Hi Mark welcome to the lounge,

you are doing the right thing, learn the night sky and research

which scope is suited to your needs, if you rush into anything

you may have regrets later, and yes Saturn is obsessive and so

is the rest of the night sky.

Good luck, and most of all, enjoy.

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jason.p

jason.p

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Welcome Mark. You've come to the right place for help and advice. As Faulksy says "Stellarium" is a very useful download and it's free! It would be a good idea to get this and a few star charts and spend time learning the night sky, it will be invaluable when you get your scope. It's also worth bearing in mind that you can see a lot with binoculars.

Clear skies, and best of luck with the upcoming wedding :smiley:

Jason

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MarkL

MarkL

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Hi guys,

Thanks for the warm welcome :)

I've downloaded Stellarium, so will start to play around with that later on after dinner. It says the location is Paris, I tried changing it to Bournemouth, and whilst it says location is Bournemouth, the view hasn't changed from where it was when I started the programme. It's probably me doing something wrong, but it does look like it's going to be alot of fun to get to grips with and a great way to learn!

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helicalwave

helicalwave

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Hi Mark,

I got my first telescope just a month ago. I have a real interest in deep sky objects, but I live in Central London, where very few stars ever appear to the eye, even on the darkest night (not dark at all). Last Thursday, after spending an hour or two with a light pollution filter, trying to find enough stars to star-hop from Vega to the ring nebula that I know is right above my head, I realised that Saturn was just above the roof of my house, about to disappear behind it. I "raced" down to the other end of my garden with my SW200p in hand (lol), pointed my scope in the direction of the tiny twinkle of light, focused in on what my handy Starmap phone app was telling me was Saturn and when the image resolved and I could see a pale whitish disc and rings tilted to one side, I almost lost it. I must have said "Oh my god" a dozen times, and I'm an atheist.

I quickly switched eyepieces, my hands shaking, to get my scope up to maximum power, and when it came into focus again, I saw a large crisp image of the planet, the rings were clear as day, the Cassini division carved a black line through the middle of them, and I even noticed an ever-so-slight banding of colour across the planet's surface. I took my eye away and looked again at the tiny twinkle and back to the scope and the planet had gone. I was gutted. It was a too too brief moment of pure ecstasy. However, it is not going away, and the nights are only growing longer, so I will see it again.

Saturn will always be my first planet, and my first anything. I hope every new thing I find in the night sky brings me that same excitement, because it was truly great.

Welcome fellow newbie, and good luck.

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