New to Star Gazing (Saw Jupiter!!!)

[Mirko]

Hello!  I am a new star gazer and also new to these forums.  I purchased a Celestron Astromaster 70AZ  on a whim from Amazon.  I am 31 years old, but have always had an interest in astronomy since I was a child.  I received my telescope today and set it up.  Me and my 2 kids, ages 8 and 6, were impatiently waiting for the sun to go down we finally saw the first object in the sky light up.  I pointed the telescope at it and WOW!  It was Jupiter!!  What luck!  The very first object we decide to look at was spectacular.  We could clearly see Jupiter and 4 moons, and even got to see 2 cloud bands on Jupiter itself!!!  

I am so excited to see what else the heavens will reveal as I get comfortable with my telescope.  I know I don't have the best telescope, but I am already extremely happy I got to share this with my kids.  Thanks for reading and I look forward to being part of this community.

 

Best Regards,

Steve 

[romx]

Welcome to the site, Jupiter is amazing the first time you see it but never gets old, Saturn is one of my favorite things to look at too but sadly not often visible, I hope you have many more great days stargazing there is always something new to see (clouds and weather permitting ofcourse)

[BhaskarK]

Hello,

Incidentally, the first thing I saw was Jupiter too. It is quite bright right now and is easy to catch. Mars is also quite bright but may or may not be interesting due to its small size. Try Saturn.

It will be a good idea to install Stellarium to see the objects that will be in the sky at a particular time.

Clear Skies !

[Dave In Vermont]

Greetings and welcome to SGL (& stargazing!) - it's great that you've joined us!

Everyone always remember their 'First' with Jupiter - and Saturn, too! We're here to help with any questions of an astronomical - nature, so don't be shy.

Clear & dark skies,

Dave

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Welcome Mirko. One of my first sights was Jupiter through the little 70mm F/10 achromat at school. Awesome sight. Jupiter never ceases to amaze

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. Congratulations on your first view of Jupiter and it's great that you have got the kids involved .

[Linda]

Welcome to the lounge.

Nice that you can share your excitement with your children. Jupiter and Saturn are magic. Wait until you see the Orion nebula, which is also spectacular.

[baggywrinkle]

Welcome to SGL...always good that first WOW moment.

[Floater]

Welcome.

Hope you and the children continue to have fun and enjoy the hobby.

[skywatcher58gb]

Hi and welcome to the forum, there are two free programs that you might be interested in downloading for reference. One is Stellarium which is a sky atlas and will enable you to see what is visible at any time of the year plus loads of extra features, another is www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm, this program lets you see what your telescope will actually see by selecting an object from the drop down listIt has your scope listed and you choose which eyepiece you want use. Hope this helps

 

Dave

[Astro Imp]

Welcome to the forum

Its great that you had a great view first time out with you scope. 

You and the little ones are in for some fun in the months ahead.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Putaendo Patrick]

Welcome to the SGL forums. You and the children had a great "first light" experience, congratulations!

As mentioned, Stellarium is a fantastic free sky-map program. You can set your location and it will show you the sky for any date/time. Another great free program is Virtual Moon Atlas which allows you to view an enormous quantity of detailed lunar imagery and identify all the features. https://www.ap-i.net/avl/en/start

In your telescope, the planets will always be small and it will be difficult to make out much detail. But if you want to get close and personal, download the free Virtual Planets Atlas http://www.ap-i.net/avp/en/start

You might like to get hold of a book such as John Read's 50 Things to See with a Small Telescope which will give you ideas on what to look out for. Later on you might progress to trying to find some of the Messier objects. Charles Messier was a French 18th Century astronomer who searched for comets. To avoid making mistakes, he compiled a list of objects to avoid! That list has now become a classic for amateurs to find. The late Sir Patrick Moore added to Messier's 110 objects with his own Caldwell catalogue of a further 109 objects. Some will prove a challenge, or may even be impossible due to your location, but many can be easily observed with your telescope.

Good luck and "clear skies"

[Charic]

....why not add some binoculars to the equation?  You will see greater swathes of the sky, their easier to hand round, and set up, and there's  no waiting/fighting to take a peek through the  single telescope  either, as everyone can be kept occupied, and binoculars alone, don't really  need any special setting up or cooling down for them to work effectively.

Something in the range of 7x50, 8x40 or even 10x50's. The lower the magnification, generally the wider the view and easier to hold and control, especially for the younger folk. Most binoculars can also be mounted or just rested on something to make them rock steady, improving the quality of the final image.

[iPeace]

However you decide to continue, it's all about smelling the roses! Welcome.