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Greetings from Stoke on Trent

Suesom

By Suesom
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Suesom

Suesom

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Hi all!

Just bought a Celestron but haven't had chance to do anything with it yet, typical it was the cloudiest night for ages last night. I'm a total newbie, so any tips on where to go, what to look for and in particular what accessories do I need/want would be gratefully received.

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Scott

Scott

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Hi Suesom,

I'm also from S-O-T (although origionally Oz). One thing I can suggest is that Keele uni has open days on Saturday arvos where you can look through their solar scope(s). They are also open on Tuesday evenings although when you can look through their 12" refractor although this is more suited to the winter  mths when the nights are longer. what part of stoke are you (roughly)? If you don't feel comfortable saying where, I understand. I'm from up Alsagers Bank (nr Newcastle)

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swag72

swag72

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Hi and welcome to SGL - Glad that you found us and I hope that we can be of help. Generally we need a little more information :grin: What scope? Visual or imaging? ..... that type of thing.

Look forward to seeing you around :smiley:

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Suesom

Suesom

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Hi Auspom, I'm from Meir Park, so the opposite end of the city :) I've been to Keele, not long ago so we were able to see Jupitor and some of the moons, we haven't been to see the solar telescope yet.

Hi swag72, it's a Celestron Nexstar 127 slt I was wondering what sort of filters I need to look at getting?

Hi rwilkey, I'm a driving instructor so I spend most of my life sitting in traffic on Victoria road.

And hi everyone else, thanks for the welcome,

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Sue and welcome to the forum. Hmmm pesky clouds always turn up to spoil the fun!  :grin:  :grin: Having said that, I'm sure the clear skies are not far away so you'll need to decide on what to look at. To help you, I would first download a free piece of planetarium software called Stellarium which is easy to use and will certainly help you identify what you are looking at. In addition to helping you learn the night sky, it caan also be configured to your exact viewing location so that the sky it reveals to you is identical to that which you will see outside with your scope. There are lots of other great features or 'toys' to play with this software, especially when the those clouds decide to come in again, so it will at least keep you focused on astronomy during those moments. 

In addition to the above suggestion I would recommend that you get hold of a copy of "Turn Left at Orion" which has proved very popular among those starting out but is also comprehensive enough to keep you going long after that. You can take a look here for an idea of its layout and what will be clear is that this book provides both written and pictorial instructions on how to find the most popular objects along with some text to help you understand what it is you are looking at. There is a lot more information in this book about astronomy such as how to observe, setting up your kit etc and it is written in a style that is informative without being patronizing. There are of course other great books out there but this one would certainly rank as one of the better ones for sure.

Hope my suggestions prove helpful and look forward to reading about your astronomical adventures in due course.

Clear skies

James 

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Welrod50

Welrod50

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O Rayt Sue ;)

Welcome aboard from another Meir Park Stokie.  I haven't been to Keele yet, but it is a good suggestion and I plan on having a nosey when the nights draw back out.

As for the back garden observing, there are lots of apps and/or books you could consider to help you.  I started out with 'manual' star hopping to learn the skies before going down the synscan route later.  Now I spend the vast majority of my time doing astrophotography when I'm not at work and when the skies clear (so not much then).

PM me if you wish and I can assist you if needs be.  Maybe a bit of a Stokie get together to Keele later in the year if there are enough of us interested??

Scott :)

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Scott

Scott

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O Rayt Sue ;)

Welcome aboard from another Meir Park Stokie.  I haven't been to Keele yet, but it is a good suggestion and I plan on having a nosey when the nights draw back out.

As for the back garden observing, there are lots of apps and/or books you could consider to help you.  I started out with 'manual' star hopping to learn the skies before going down the synscan route later.  Now I spend the vast majority of my time doing astrophotography when I'm not at work and when the skies clear (so not much then).

PM me if you wish and I can assist you if needs be.  Maybe a bit of a Stokie get together to Keele later in the year if there are enough of us interested??

Scott :)

I'm up for that Scott :D.

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