finding planet the easy way

[star 11]

 hi every one I have a first view telescope for beginners which I have just bought to view the moon its a 3 inch reflector what is the easiest way to view planets only from the back yard or just from your bedroom window

thank you from star 11

[Putaendo Patrick]

Welcome to the SGL forums,

If you view from your bedroom window, you may have problems with air currents which will degrade your views. Better outside!

Stellarium is a great free program which you can download to your computer and configure for your location. It will help to identify everything in the night sky! http://www.stellarium.org/

You will get the best views of the planets when they are high in the sky.

Good luck!

[John]

A great way to find where things are in the sky is to use the free planetarium software "Stellarium". Once you have entered your location (which it saves) it will show you what is visible from where you are at a particular time / date, including the planets.

Here is a link to the software:

http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/

Welcome to the forum by the way !

Edit: Ooops !!!! - I didn;t spot that Patrick had already provided this link.

I do agree with him about not observing through a window or from inside a house if at all possible.

[cloudsweeper]

......or you could simply get Google Sky Map on a tablet and point it at the sky to see where any planets are.  Aim your 'scope at the target (preferably with the finder), focus, and you're off!  Jupiter and Saturn are good, but don't expect to see much of Mars.

Doug.