Jupiter

[Easterlake]

For some reason I waited until I was 57 years old to purchase my first telescope and a nice  pair of binoculars. 

2 nights ago I took them out for the first time and saw  Jupiter and its 4 galilean moons.  Goose bumps aplenty.  

It's going to be a great summer!!!!

[Stu]

Great stuff Easterlake, Jupiter is looking fabulous at the moment ??

Welcome to the forum!

[cloudsweeper]

21 minutes ago, Easterlake said:

For some reason I waited until I was 57 years old to purchase my first telescope and a nice  pair of binoculars. 

2 nights ago I took them out for the first time and saw  Jupiter and its 4 galilean moons.  Goose bumps aplenty.  

It's going to be a great summer!!!!

Never too late to start - I waited even longer!  

Now let the enjoyment begin!

Doug.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Welcome to SGL! It is never too late to start enjoying the stars!

[Knighty2112]

You've opened Pandora's box now! Enjoy the ride and the views. Next planets to nab in the early morning skies are Saturn & Mars!  You can't miss 'em!

[Linda]

I started at 42. Better late than never.

And in the last few decades good telescopes have become a lot more affordable, so we have done something right by waiting.

[Saganite]

Congratulations ! You still have many years to enjoy the beauty of the night sky, and glorious Jupiter in particular.

[ngwillym]

1 hour ago, Knighty2112 said:

You've opened Pandora's box now! Enjoy the ride and the views. Next planets to nab in the early morning skies are Saturn & Mars!  You can't miss 'em!

And not just Pandoras box - if I were you I'd lock your wallet & credit cards in a safe and forget the combination

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. You are at the start of a wonderful journey. Enjoy.

[brantuk]

Welcome to SGL

It's never too late!

[Knighty2112]

4 hours ago, ngwillym said:

And not just Pandoras box - if I were you I'd lock your wallet & credit cards in a safe and forget the combination

Yep. Something I forgot to do, and now I'm skint every month! Always something new to buy; focuser here, EP there, UHC filter here! LOL!  

[Astro Imp]

Congratulations on your new toys, enjoy the journey.

[Easterlake]

Thanks all!

I was able to get a used orion xt10i dob, with case, and a pair of orion 15x70 binoculars for $340. I thought the guy would be insulted by my offer  but he accepted it. Neither looks like they have ever been used.

As thrilling as it was seeing Jupiter it was also a learning experience. I couldn't get near the focus and clarity that I had hoped for. I'm now educating myself, thru videos and Web sites, about the alignment of my optics. They are WAY out of wack.

Again, thanks for all the response and kind words.

 

Kevin

[rockystar]

That sounds like a fantastic bargain. Well done.

I'm now just waiting until I get old enough to retire so that I can enjoy even longer evenings and early mornings without having to worry about work the next day.

[Biglewey]

I'm 61 and just taken up this wonderful hobby and being semi-retired got the time for late nights and early mornings. kit includes skywatcher skymax 127, 10x50 binos, 32mm and 7.5 mm extra eye pieces and light pollution filter.

Really enjoy viewing objects but want to show other people so credit card itching to buy me a usb camera ZWO ASI 224 MC seems temping.

thinking about diy dew shields as an easy project.

the hobby is addictive and gets you wanting more kit.

[cloudsweeper]

Tell me about it! My latest is a WiFi module giving alignment and control via a tablet. Very impressive.

I used 1.2cm camping mat held with wide black tape for a dewshield. Light, effective, slips on treat!

Doug.

[DevonPaul]

I've just had exactly the same experience, recently bought a new telescope but have had little chance to use it ( mainly because it's in our other house on Exmoor ) but finally had a good clear night this weekend..

Got the finder scope aligned when the first stars came out and then just waited for the clouds to disperse and pointed it at what I thought was Jupiter ( turned out my phones compass wasn't working properly and pointing me in the wrong direction ) but eventually sorted it out and found the correct point of light to point my scope at.  Even in the finder scope I could see 4 small dots of light around it, like you when I looked into the main scope it was an amazing view of Jupiter and the moons.. 

My daughter won't stop telling people about seeing Jupiter and even my wife begrudgingly admitted should can now see why I brought the telescope !

Now just have to explore the rest of the sky :-)

[cloudsweeper]

1 hour ago, DevonPaul said:

I've just had exactly the same experience, recently bought a new telescope but have had little chance to use it ( mainly because it's in our other house on Exmoor ) but finally had a good clear night this weekend..

Got the finder scope aligned when the first stars came out and then just waited for the clouds to disperse and pointed it at what I thought was Jupiter ( turned out my phones compass wasn't working properly and pointing me in the wrong direction ) but eventually sorted it out and found the correct point of light to point my scope at.  Even in the finder scope I could see 4 small dots of light around it, like you when I looked into the main scope it was an amazing view of Jupiter and the moons.. 

My daughter won't stop telling people about seeing Jupiter and even my wife begrudgingly admitted should can now see why I brought the telescope !

Now just have to explore the rest of the sky :-)

Jupiter is usually the brightest thing around, so easy to identify.  Google Sky Map and Celestron SkyPortal are handy apps for a tablet to aid with identification.  And of course Stellarium on a PC/laptop is an extremely powerful tool for astronomers.

Doug.                               

[baggywrinkle]

Welcome to SGL...always good to get a buzz from the first use of a telescope.

[7ragic]

Same experience for me too. My Skywatcher 150p and EQ3-2 arrived last friday.. Been lucky enough to get 3 decent nights viewing and great views of Jupiter on all of them. Fantastic. Also managed to get a good look at Alcor Mizar doubles which are easy to find for an absolute beginner like me. Mostly been getting used to learning how to move the telescope around as the Equatorial isn't intuitive at first. Loving it though. Hi to everyone on SGL. Great forum. 

[mikeDnight]

On 30/03/2016 at 07:59, Easterlake said:

For some reason I waited until I was 57 years old to purchase my first telescope and a nice  pair of binoculars. 

2 nights ago I took them out for the first time and saw  Jupiter and its 4 galilean moons.  Goose bumps aplenty.  

It's going to be a great summer!!!!

I was 18 when I bought my first telescope and I'm still 18 thirtysix years later. Cultivate those goosebumps,  they're what make life worth living!

Mike ?

[marsdar]

When I was a kid in school, I got an Edmund scientific 3" primary mirror telescope and I saw five moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn, and it was awesome. To make a long story short, I have been trying to find a telescope that comes close to that one and went through three telescopes that were disappointing and finally acquired a Meade Polaris 114EQ-D and it rocks ! I could use a couple of better lenses but don't know what would be a good choice for the money. I want my grandchildren to see the inspiration of the skies as I did as a child. If anyone could give me advice for seeing planets with a 4.5 in. primary mirror and 200X capabilities, it would be great. Still in the process of learning the equations.

[cloudsweeper]

4 hours ago, marsdar said:

When I was a kid in school, I got an Edmund scientific 3" primary mirror telescope and I saw five moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn, and it was awesome. To make a long story short, I have been trying to find a telescope that comes close to that one and went through three telescopes that were disappointing and finally acquired a Meade Polaris 114EQ-D and it rocks ! I could use a couple of better lenses but don't know what would be a good choice for the money. I want my grandchildren to see the inspiration of the skies as I did as a child. If anyone could give me advice for seeing planets with a 4.5 in. primary mirror and 200X capabilities, it would be great. Still in the process of learning the equations.

Mag = 'scope focal length divided by eyepiece focal length.  

You could initially do with a low mag of 30/40, a medium of say 80/100, and a high one around 150/180.  (No hard and fast figures.)  Remember that a Barlow will double up any value you have.  And always value the low mag figure, since that's where you get a crisp, bright, wide-angle view for scanning the sky.

Doug.

[marsdar]

19 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

Mag = 'scope focal length divided by eyepiece focal length.  

You could initially do with a low mag of 30/40, a medium of say 80/100, and a high one around 150/180.  (No hard and fast figures.)  Remember that a Barlow will double up any value you have.  And always value the low mag figure, since that's where you get a crisp, bright, wide-angle view for scanning the sky.

Doug.

Thank you Cloudsweeper for the advice, this means I have two out of three and need one more addition.

[StarJane]

On ‎2016‎-‎03‎-‎30 at 02:59, Easterlake said:

For some reason I waited until I was 57 years old to purchase my first telescope and a nice  pair of binoculars. 

2 nights ago I took them out for the first time and saw  Jupiter and its 4 galilean moons.  Goose bumps aplenty.  

It's going to be a great summer!!!!

Hi,

Yes I have also waited and done the same this March...When I first saw Jupiter and the moons I was so thrilled. I just love this hobby...... I have taken some images of the Moon but must now wait until Spring to do so with Jupiter. I have a ZWO 224 so this should prove better than my DSLR Canon EOS 70D. My telescope is a Skywatcher Mak-Newt 190mm, 1000mm.

Does anyone know if the software called Firecapture will give me a good image with Jupiter for my telescope? ...what settings would I use to image?

Thank You

StarJane