How to see great things - Beginner

[MorgonGreen]

Hi guys,

I just wanted to ask how i would find a great sighting. I mean of course i'm a beginner therefore i have no understanding of where to look etc.

Thanks 

[Qualia]

Download Stellarium and check out what rises at the hour you could or fancied viewing. Also check out this link and download the latest issue. It would also be an idea to check out the sky conditions at a decent weather site. I like Meteoblue's astronomy link, but there are plenty of others.

Other than that, to get the ball rolling, I'll just post up what Astro Imp wrote the other night : 

Top target for the winter has to be the Orion Nebula - M42/3 - , while in the area look at the belt stars - Mintaka, the west-most is an easy double - just below Alnitak, the eastern star is another fine multiple system, sigma Orionis.

Have you looked at M45, the Pleiades, the Double Cluster in Perseus? Not to be missed.

When you've had a good look around Orion hop over to Gemini for another nice double, Castor, this is a bit tricky and needs steady seeing. At the other end of the chain of stars starting with Castor is a gorgeous open cluster M35.

There is plenty of good stuff to find at this time of year, don't forget Jupiter is becoming a late evening object and another on the "not to be missed" list.

Good luck and clear skies.

[PeterCPC]

For anyone to be able to offer any advice you will need to let us know what equipment you are using and seeing conditions e.g. light pollution levels. You could download Stellarium to give you help in locating things.

Peter

[phoobar]

As Qualia has said Stellarium is a great guide but can seem a bit daunting at first. The next cloudy night when you can not observe spend some time messing around with it and turning options on/off it will help you a lot and quickly.  If you mess it up just un install and re install.

In what direction are you facing when observing?

[MorgonGreen]

My telescope i'm using an my first is a Bresser 70/700. And my Garden faces towards the North and i have a pretty good view of all other directions.

[swag72]

Have a look at this thread as well to give you an idea of what you can see http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/