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Curly Claire

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Hello and welcome, Claire. 

You could have a look for M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. It will look like a fuzzy blob in your scope (a nice one, btw), but it blows my mind to realise that it's another galaxy, bigger than the Milky Way, containing perhaps 1,000,000,000,000 (1 Tn) stars. It's 2.5 Mn light years away but heading towards us at 110 km/sec! Don't worry, it'll take ~5 Bn years to get here 

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28 minutes ago, Stickey said:

Hello and welcome, Claire. 

You could have a look for M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. It will look like a fuzzy blob in your scope (a nice one, btw), but it blows my mind to realise that it's another galaxy, bigger than the Milky Way, containing perhaps 1,000,000,000,000 (1 Tn) stars. It's 2.5 Mn light years away but heading towards us at 110 km/sec! Don't worry, it'll take ~5 Bn years to get here 

Hi! Another one I'll add to my list, thanks! It's a gift to all to be able to see things so far away. It's hard for my mere mortal mind to comprehend at times! 

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Hi Clare and as said by many others welcome to SGL, you can ask any questions here that you want and you will always get helpful information and be pointed in the right direction.

When I joined I was a rank beginner but despite probably being asked 100's of time people on here are most patient and explain and offer excellent advice.

I live in chester so possible not too far from you, one thing i would suggest is you download an App called Sky Safari Pro 7, it has a live view of the sky where you are and tons of info of everything that you want to look at.

Good luck and enjoy your sky watching.

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On 15/11/2021 at 21:46, Curly Claire said:

Now Jupiter has always been my favourite planet.......so my friend texts me Claire, set up your scope, Jupiter is out, so I very quickly set up said telescope and BOOM....... Jupiter and BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM......the four Galilean moons! I cried! I could not actually believe I was looking at Jupiter with my own eyeballs.....and his four main moons! Totally blown away. Puts things into perspective. My next quest is Saturn with her rings and maybe Titan thrown in there too.

Claire, welcome such raw enthusiasm will make you a fantastic visual observer, have fun!

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Welcome aboard SGL Claire, good to have you with us.

I also love the enthusiasm. The heavens still blow me away after 20+ years.

Out towards the South West, you'll find Cygnus the swan, wings outstretched. At the bottom of the constellation you'll find Albireo which is probably the most gorgeous double star in the sky. Two stars of different types and colours in orbit around each other. You won't see any movement, but you will see a glorious sight.

Looking East, you'll find Andromeda. The bright star on the left (and the end of one of her 'legs') is called Almach, and is another beautiful double.

It's great fun to look at these one after the other and compare the colours, gaps and magnitude.

Mizar and Alcor (Horse and Rider) was the first double I came across and still love them. as I live in very light polluted skies, doubles have become a favourite.

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1 hour ago, Soligor Rob said:

download an App called Sky Safari Pro 7

+1 for Sky Safari, though you might want to try the free or Plus editions first.

31 minutes ago, Starwatcher2001 said:

Out towards the South West, you'll find Cygnus the swan, wings outstretched. At the bottom of the constellation you'll find Albireo which is probably the most gorgeous double star in the sky. Two stars of different types and colours in orbit around each other. You won't see any movement, but you will see a glorious sight.

Looking East, you'll find Andromeda. The bright star on the left (and the end of one of her 'legs') is called Almach, and is another beautiful double.

These two are magnificent sights, if you like observing doubles (not everyone does). Doubles have the advantage over some fainter objects in that they can be seen in more light-polluted skies, and when the moon is about.

http://web.archive.org/web/20150114035527/http://astronomy.eaglecreekobservatory.org/doubles/contrast.html

Also, if you're not already aware of it, this book is a great introduction to some of the better objects up there:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html

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2 hours ago, Soligor Rob said:

Hi Clare and as said by many others welcome to SGL, you can ask any questions here that you want and you will always get helpful information and be pointed in the right direction.

When I joined I was a rank beginner but despite probably being asked 100's of time people on here are most patient and explain and offer excellent advice.

I live in chester so possible not too far from you, one thing i would suggest is you download an App called Sky Safari Pro 7, it has a live view of the sky where you are and tons of info of everything that you want to look at.

Good luck and enjoy your sky watching.

Not too far at all! 

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1 hour ago, Starwatcher2001 said:

Welcome aboard SGL Claire, good to have you with us.

I also love the enthusiasm. The heavens still blow me away after 20+ years.

Out towards the South West, you'll find Cygnus the swan, wings outstretched. At the bottom of the constellation you'll find Albireo which is probably the most gorgeous double star in the sky. Two stars of different types and colours in orbit around each other. You won't see any movement, but you will see a glorious sight.

Looking East, you'll find Andromeda. The bright star on the left (and the end of one of her 'legs') is called Almach, and is another beautiful double.

It's great fun to look at these one after the other and compare the colours, gaps and magnitude.

Mizar and Alcor (Horse and Rider) was the first double I came across and still love them. as I live in very light polluted skies, doubles have become a favourite.

I am definitely going to look for that double star system! Think that might go to the top of my long list! 😁 Thank you! 

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40 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

+1 for Sky Safari, though you might want to try the free or Plus editions first.

These two are magnificent sights, if you like observing doubles (not everyone does). Doubles have the advantage over some fainter objects in that they can be seen in more light-polluted skies, and when the moon is about.

http://web.archive.org/web/20150114035527/http://astronomy.eaglecreekobservatory.org/doubles/contrast.html

Also, if you're not already aware of it, this book is a great introduction to some of the better objects up there:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html

That book will be to me from me for Christmas 😂 and the list of double stars is fab! Thanks so much!

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Hi Claire and welcome to SGL.

In addition to Turn Left at Orion I would recommend the desktop version of Stellarium, now at 0.21.something. Even though I'm mostly an imager I find it very useful for planning sessions and seeing field of view. There are other planetarium software packages that I use (Cartes du Ciel) but find Stellarium easier to use for a look around at what's in the sky.

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8 minutes ago, DaveS said:

Hi Claire and welcome to SGL.

In addition to Turn Left at Orion I would recommend the desktop version of Stellarium, now at 0.21.something. Even though I'm mostly an imager I find it very useful for planning sessions and seeing field of view. There are other planetarium software packages that I use (Cartes du Ciel) but find Stellarium easier to use for a look around at what's in the sky.

I've got a few apps on my phone that are very helpful. ☺️

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I'm also new to astronomy (I started this summer). The Moon, Jupiter and Saturn are a treat to see but my best WOW! moment so for has been M42, the Orion Nebula. It was easy to find (I could see it in the finderscope) and bright enough to see some structure. Wait until midnight so that it's reasonably high in the sky.

I also find Stellarium very useful for planning what to observe. I use the ocular view to tell me what I should expect to see through the finderscope so I can check I'm looking in the right direction.

 

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1 hour ago, PeterC65 said:

I'm also new to astronomy (I started this summer). The Moon, Jupiter and Saturn are a treat to see but my best WOW! moment so for has been M42, the Orion Nebula. It was easy to find (I could see it in the finderscope) and bright enough to see some structure. Wait until midnight so that it's reasonably high in the sky.

I also find Stellarium very useful for planning what to observe. I use the ocular view to tell me what I should expect to see through the finderscope so I can check I'm looking in the right direction.

 

Hi! I bought a finderscope but it's the wrong bracket for my telescope! 🤣😳

A few people have said M42 so will definitely look for that! 

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