i found jupiter lol

[nerointegrale16v]

hi everyone

had my telescope about a month now, total beginner.

am a little overwhelmed how complex the hobby is but are trying to learn

so woke up 3.00am after doing some homework last night where jupiter will be in gemini, so looked east found gemini pointed the telescope to what i thought was alhena but was gobsmacked, it was jupiter and 3 moons, clouds come over for 10mins then cleared again and observed 4 moons.

2 hours later still excited, wow

my first view of jupiter and a rewarding experience

have looked at the sun with baader solar sheet and saw sun spots but was thinking what should i aim for next ?? wheres my next logical step?

my stuff is skywatcher 200p newtonian reflector, EQ5, 32mm 2" ostara astro , 25, 10, 7.5, 6.5mm 1.25" and 2xbarlow and laser collimator and my wifes ipad with sky safari

regards martin

[kerrylewis]

Well done Martin. I love the planets and Jupiter is always such a fine sight with lots of detail and plenty going on with the moons. The other main planets are not so good at the moment with Saturn very low in the evening and Mars low in the morning. It's just below Jupiter and still very small.

I suggest that you try some of the main deep sky objects. Orion is now up with and you should easily find the Orion Nebula just below the three stars of his belt as a starter.

Sky safari will help. The two main recommendations on here are always the book Turn Left at Orion which is a great guide to finding some fine objects, and Stellarium, which is a free to download planetarium software.

Also, if you stick with Jupiter, there is a great little app which shows what's happening with the moons at any point.

best of luck

Kerry

[Bart]

Jupiter will keep you busy for months, with moons, transits, GRS, double transits. It's simply wonderful for me

Barry

[Superdavo]

Nicely done!

David

[Baselessum]

Yes well done on Jupiter, I was also out last night and seen it again since last season as it poked its head above the tree line and started to rise (around 02:15), but with your scope I would also be aiming at some Galaxies and some nebula, depending on your local LP. Seeing was good up to 02:00 for me last night and managed to get the Ring , and the Dumbbell in with a few others and with your EP set some DSO should be more than spottable from your scope. Have fun and clear skies

[nerointegrale16v]

kerry will get copy of the book "Turn Left at Orion"

can't wait to see the GRS, made a simple sketch of my observation last night and dated it etc. hopefully will be good tonight but just started raining here and very dark clouds.

was not expecting the telescope to get that wet with dew, and the bottom of my jeans got damp, so will turn them up

practical shoes are a must. good lessons learnt before i pluck up the courage to go out in field ( maybe will try Barr Beacon, a few miles from me but not far) my back garden is north facing and im think more of the action will south facing but a little apprehensive to go in front garden, scared of looking like a perv/nerd

[ScottS]

I remember the first time I saw Saturn being completely by accident. Just saw a nice bright star, so I trained my scope on it and...........WOW.

[cotterless45]

The smaller red dot to the left of Jupiter and rising an hour later is Mars. That'll start you off. TLAO is a great start as is

http://www.skymaps.com/

Nick.

[Davey-T]

Jupiter really bright early this morning, looked like you could read by it

Dave

[TractionMan]

Jupiter is always fun to look at. It's easy to lose track of time doing it though. Very addictive.

[goodricke1]

same here, saw it for the first time with my 8SE, no further words necessary...