Hello

[tjmurphy_2]

Would anyone care to offer some helpful advice to someone who has just purschased their first scope (Celestron Firstview) and has no experience with any sort of telescope?! ?. Not expecting much from it tbh but thought I would get familiar with navigating around the night sky and locating objects within our solar system before moving on. 

First view of the moon was pretty cool through the 4mm & 20mm eyepiece! 

Would anyone recommend the accessory kit as I’ve no idea how to navigate the sky and at the moment I’m just pointing hoping for the best! 

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

Tom

[mikeyj1]

Hi Tom and welcome

not sure which scope you have, is it the 76mm reflector?

There are some good resources around, 'Turn left at Orion' as a book will get you a long way - show you whats up there at any particular time of year, and what you might see and how to find it..

Moon is a good place to start, although better when only at around a 1/4 - you will see much more detail at the light / dark join then (the terminator)

close to the moon at the moment is Jupiter  give it a try!  you could see the 4 'Galilean' moons also..

there are plenty of things to try for like globular clusters - M13 coming up soon, easy(ish) to find in the hercules, once someone shows you the keystone - thats your best bet, find someone who knows a bit.

stick around here, plenty of info and helpful peeps

good luck!

Mike

[pragmatist]

Hi Tom,

Mike's advice is good, you cannot go wrong with 'Turn left at orion'.

It's almost the astronomers bible, especially for beginners.

Don't forget the good old fashioned magazines such as Astronomy now and Sky at night. They will have loads of tips on equipment usage plus star charts detailing what can be seen this month with professional as well as beginners equipment.

 

Regards,

 

Matt.

[cletrac1922]

Tom

Welcome from land down under

You travel the universe in this forum, and make friends along the way

Would suggest you get yourself a 2 times barlow, and assortment of filters for looking at the moon and planets

You can also get a solar filter, or make your own using Baade filter to observe the sun

There is also some good APPS around, and depending if have an Android or Apple mobile phone

I have Android, and use Sky Map, and another useful APP is Heavens Above

If using the browser for Heavens Above, set GMT time zone for your location, before saving to browser favourites

Cheers

John

 

 

[Demonperformer]

Hi, Tom, and welcome to SGL.

It is good that you are starting with realistic expectations ... no hubble-like views through that scope! But play to its advantages - As well as globulars, the wide field of view will give you some lovely views of open clusters. M44 will be particularly magnificent at the moment. A cheap purchase that could seriously enhance your experience is a planisphere - rotate it to the correct date and time and it will show you what is visible and where in the sky to look.

Enjoy the journey.

[swag72]

Hi Tom and welcome to SGL - I could never get on with a planisphere .... where do you hold the thing? Above your head? I really don't know!! There's some good planetarium programs for the PC, such as Stellarium and also if you have a ipad my husband has something where it will actually tell you where you are looking after he's whirled the iPad around for a few figure of eights and pointed it at the sky! 

Look forward to seeing you around and enjoy your purchase

[PeterCPC]

Hello and welcome. +1 for Stellarium.

Peter

[tjmurphy_2]

Thanks, yes it is the 76mm version Mike. I think I’ll look into the accessory pack as it comes with additional eyepieces, a moon filter and a finder scope (not sure if my terminology is right there?) and also the book a few of you have mentioned (Turn left at Orion). 

Im a complete novice and don’t want to run before I can walk so I think that will keep me going for a while ?. 

Thanks for taking the time to reply to me everyone ?

Tom

[Floater]

Welcome to the forum and the hobby. Have fun with both. ?

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. Lots of good advice already given. The first thing to do is to learn the constellations visible in the night sky at a the time of the year. Then you will be able to use them as pointers to navigate your way around. Stellarium is very helpful with this and is free to download.

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Tom, welcome. 

[ronl]

Hello Tom and welcome to SGL, hope you enjoy your time with us.

Clear Sky's.

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire :-) 

[sloz1664]

Hi Tom and a warm welcome to the Lounge

Steve