Beginner Please help Constellations

[gt11990]

Hi,

i am new to telescopes and have no idea how to use em i have a equatorial mount and a powerseeker 127eq.

Could some one please help me and explain to me how i can set my mount so that i can view a planet.

for example what does all this mean and how can i use it to set up my telescope to view Jupiter using these data

Object name: Jupiter

Object type: Jupiter

RA (current): 09h 05m 59s 

Dec (current): +17° 34' 17" 

Azimuth: 43° 17' 21" 

Altitude: -08° 29' 42" 

Axis position angle: 18° 48' 

Magnitude: -2.13

Phase (%): 99.11

Rise time: 11:39

Transit time: 19:27

Set time: 03:18

Hour angle: -08h 58m 37.267s 

Earth distance (au): 5.29

Sun distance (au): 5.36

Rise/set notes:   Set: 2:17:51 AM DST_NOT_SET on 5/6/2015

Rise: 10:39:27 AM DST_NOT_SET on 5/6/2015

 Transit: 6:26:41 PM DST_NOT_SET on 5/6/2015

Constellation: Cancer

Geocentric longitude: 133.8° 

Geocentric latitude: 1.0° 

Geocentric radius: 5.2945

Polar diameter: 0.1° 

Thank You

[NGC 1502]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

You very definitley do not need all that info in your post to view Jupiter or any of the bright planets ( thank goodness   )

As soon as it has got fairly dark, if it's clear, look towards the west and brilliant Venus will be above where the Sun has set, and above and to the left of Venus, Jupiter although less bright should be obvious. Just point your telescope at them for a closer view.  Later in the evening, Saturn will be low in the south, much dimmer but still fairly obvious.

As to setting up your telescope and things in general have a look here http://www.wwnorton.com/college/astronomy/astro21/sandt/backyard.html

Good luck, and perhaps let us know how you get on, Ed.

[Pleiades M45]

You shouldn't have to enter any of this information. Jupiter is usually visible all night.

[fondofchips]

Hi there, I would just add that setting up your telescope in daylight will help the first few times you use it.  It then becomes easier to set it up in the dark.  Jupiter is a nice first planetary target.

Welcome to SGL & Clear Skies,

Fondofchips.

[LukeSkywatcher]

As above, forget all that stuff. You really dont need it. 

The simplest way to find your way around the night sky is to download a copy of Stellarium. Its free and very easy to use and understand. It will have you viewing Jupiter and tons of other objects in next to no time.

Here's the link to it:

http://stellarium.org/en_GB

The main thing to remember when looking for planets is that they dont "twinkle" like stars do. The light from them is pretty constant. Not forgetting that they are bigger and often much brighter then the average star.

Happy hunting.

Paul

[damnut]

As above, stellarium is great resource. If you want to do some reading 'turn left at orion' and 'sky&telescope pocket star atlas' will help you around the sky and help you with other objects to look at.

[Paul73]

Welcome Aboard.

As mentioned, you don't need to worry about a lot of that information. Here are the important bits to start with (hope that I get it right!):

Dec : indicates how high in the sky it gets at transit. This will be in the south (180°). Anything above 0° is nice and high. Anything below -25° will be really tough/imposible from UK latitudes.

Mag : Brightness. The lower the brighter. Mag 4 to 5 is about the best that you will do for stars with the naked eye from an ok UK suburban location. This works for stars but goes a bit awry with DSO as this refers to the total brightness of the object which is spread over a larger area.

You will see much fainter stuf with your scope.

Rise, Transit , Set : Time rises above the horizon, Time crossing 180° (South) and Time sinking below the horizon. The transit is most important as this tells you when the object is at its highest so viewing will be at its best.

Constilation : the northern sky is split into 50+ (?????) groups of stars. For navigational / planning purposes, it is really helpfull to know.

Hope that this helps.

Paul

[Coastliner]

Another important point is spend time aligning your finderscope. This is best done in daylight. Get something way in the distance centered in your eyepiece ( a tv aerial for example) and then adjust your finder so that the red dot points to the same object.

At night, point the red dot at your target, you should then find it in your eyepiece.

Neil.

[skfboiler]

David Fuller's videos on his website, Eyes on the Sky helped me when I first got my EQ mount a while back.  Scroll down and find the 2 videos in particular, How to Align and Equatorial Mount and How to Use an Equatorial Mount.  His website is full of information.

http://www.eyesonthesky.com/Videos/TelescopeBasics.aspx

[Sirius Starwatcher]

Hello GT and welcome to SGL. Sound advice above. Do not try and get bogged down with too much technical stuff as you are starting out. R L WP post above is good advice and if you can an app for your phone would be a really good investment. It will be like having a star atlas in your hand. Depending on the app raise the phone to the sky and what you see will be on your phone with names etc. ESO Skywalk is good as is Sky Safari. Best of luck" relax and enjoy.

[gt11990]

Hi thank you all for your kind comments and advice i greatly appreciate it and it has helped me a lot. 

May i ask how i can adjust my mount because i have no clue on how to use it to adjust it so that i can see a planet or a star according to their position.

I can only see darkness with my scope and nothing else i could literally scan the whole sky and cannot see anything.

it is very confusing and frustrating LOL

[RLWP]

Sounds like your telescope is very out of focus at the moment. It's a shame the Moon is rising so late, it's a great object to start getting the feel for what you are doing

What eyepiece are you using?

Richard

(should I mention that I too have got an all black sky when I forgot to take the lens cover off?)

[Coastliner]

First thing you do when you get home this evening is to set the scope up and check that you can see anything in daylight. Focus on something as far away as possible, the closer to the horizon the better. That way you will have the focus adjusted close enough to be able to see stars/ planets, you can do the fine adjustments later.

As has been said before, do not concern yourself at all with all the facts and figures you posted, you do not need them.  Use the eyepiece with the largest number, i.e. if you have a 10mm and a 25mm go for the 25, it will give you a wider field of view (FOV) which will make it easier to find the planet. Once you have it centered, you can swap the eyepiece for one with a smaller number to give you higher magnification. Do not worry about the dials etc. on your mount, or aligning it for now - simply point it at Venus or Jupiter and take a look.

Also note that if you scan the skies you will have to do it relatively slowly, if you move too fast your eyes will not be able to pick up any light as the stars flash past.

HTH,

Neil.

[Cylon]

Hello, speaking as a fellow newbie do not panic about all the info you posted just yet.  i just point at what i want to look at for the moment, then now and again try to get the technical / infrormation side of it to go into my head and stay there.  the way i look at it is eventually all the knowledge will be in my head so i do not not try to fill it to quickly and just let it filter in.

Cylon

[glowjet]

Hi gt11990 Welcome to SGL. 

Setting up your scope is well covered in this web site... themcdonalds.net  "Setting up an equatorial mount" explanation and photographic guide,  various other headings will help you through all the various aspects of using your scope, enjoy your Astronomy and the forum

[gt11990]

Thank you all i have so much more information now however how to i set the different adjustments on my mount to position the telescope that's what i don't understand what does each axis represent and how do i adjust it according to what

[RLWP]

Based on my extensive (nearly six weeks now!) experience, you don't need to bother with them for now - except for the one at the very bottom to set your latitude

If you check the other scales, you'll find that they both have locking screws, so you can free them off and turn them without moving the scope. This means you have to set them for an observing session before you can use them. I'm not experienced enough yet to do the basics right, let alone start looking for something by coordinates or need to set those scales

It's a big sky, go find the obvious (and I mean really obvious) stuff first at dusk. This is where I find a cheap star map (mine is from Phillips), Stellarium and Skeye helpful. I would probably get more from meeting up with some experienced astronomers on a dark night

Richard