Getting started with stargazing this Spring and Fall observing

[goddasgirl2021]

what  cool things will I see in the sky, when I am sitting out on my Porch in the Early morning,  just looking up at the  vast UNIVERSE?......

   I  have already identified the Big Dipper, and I  got to see the Space Station go overhead, I also Identified JUPITER, in the Western part of the 

sky where I live, which is in Peoria,ILL .

    I  have also seen  Starlink, satellites, although another member in stargazers lounge,said if I keep looking up I just might see 

satellites  that Chine will launch, or even some Russian satellites, but lately its been cloudy here in ILL, where I live, so I haven't got to see

much up in the sky, hopefully  in the next couple days,it will clear up here in Peoria and I will get to observe, more things in the sky.

[TheycallmeRiver]

Download yourself an app like Stellarium or Sky Safari, point your phone at the sky and you should easily be able to identify whatever you're looking at.  It'll also help you navigate towards the kinds of things you want to see 👍

[Mandy D]

5 hours ago, goddasgirl2021 said:

what  cool things will I see in the sky, when I am sitting out on my Porch in the Early morning,  just looking up at the  vast UNIVERSE?......

   I  have already identified the Big Dipper, and I  got to see the Space Station go overhead, I also Identified JUPITER, in the Western part of the 

sky where I live, which is in Peoria,ILL .

    I  have also seen  Starlink, satellites, although another member in stargazers lounge,said if I keep looking up I just might see 

satellites  that Chine will launch, or even some Russian satellites, but lately its been cloudy here in ILL, where I live, so I haven't got to see

much up in the sky, hopefully  in the next couple days,it will clear up here in Peoria and I will get to observe, more things in the sky.

Very soon the constellation of Orion will move into the evening sky. It is very obvious and easy to spot and great to photograph. See if you can spot it in my photo. If you are not sure what it looks like, search for it on the web.

Jupiter is a great one to spot and as you already know where it is, look along the sky to the right of Jupiter, quite a long way and you will see Saturn, which is much dimmer and glows a fuzzy yellow. If you look towards the eastern horizon a few hours after you spot Jupiter, you might see Mars.

Follow @TheycallmeRiver's advice and get yourself an app. It makes life much easier.

[zikalify]

Get good at identifying constellations with nothing but your eyes then when you're ready, upgrade to binoculars (leave telescopes until later they can be fiddly and put you off).

Here's are some targets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Sirius, Castor and Pollux, the Moon, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, Mercury (difficult), Kemble's Cascade (binoculars), M31 (binoculars), M44 (binoculars), Uranus (difficult, probably need binoculars).