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Have I missed out?


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So I bought my first telescope three or four weeks ago, and almost as soon as I put it together the sky clouded over and hasn't cleared up since.

It seems now that Jupiter is slipping over the horizon; Mars is beating a hasty retreat for the next two years; Saturn and Venus are stuck behind the Sun .... it seems that, as a newbie I've missed out on all the easy interesting stuff, apart from the Moon.

Once the sky manages to clear up, what should I try looking at whilst learning how to drive my 'scope? At this stage of my hobby I suspect DSOs will be beyond me.

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What scope do you have? I wouldn't say you've missed out at all - there's a whole hemisphere up there to explore, and the planets will be on parade again, you just need to be patient 🙂. Take this with s pinch of salt as I only had a few months observing experience before moving to astrophotography... 

DSOs won't be beyond you at all. There is plenty to see as soon as it clears up. Spring is dubbed Galaxy Season as this time of year the milky way, and all the nebulae, clusters etc aren't really readily observable (unless you stay up late). There are a number of easy(er) galaxies to see though, like M51, M81 and M82, the Virgo cluster and Markarian's Chain. 

If you don't fancy that at this stage, double stars can be very rewarding. Albireo is a classic, Izar another good one top of my head. These can require high magnification and a steady mount though. 

I spent my first few months observing at this time of year and I was out every clear night. There's plenty up there, and an app like Stellarium on your phone can help you navigate around to start with. More experienced observers will be along shortly to give you some decent advice 😂

Edited by OK Apricot
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Unless you have really specific tastes, there's always something to look at (if the skies ever clear).

What scope have you bought, and how dark are your skies?

You can get some ideas for targets in this recent thread:

 

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I have a Skywatcher 150P with the EQ3-2 equatorial mount.

I guess I'm feeling a bit intimidated. Mars/Jupiter are easy to start with  (I could even see them with a rubbish toy telescope I had). Thanks for your encouragement.

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Just now, Samop said:

I have a Skywatcher 150P with the EQ3-2 equatorial mount.

I guess I'm feeling a bit intimidated. Mars/Jupiter are easy to start with  (I could even see them with a rubbish toy telescope I had). Thanks for your encouragement.

That's understandable. Start by getting to know the sky, the way it moves through the evening and changes from week to week.
Even if you have the scope out on an evening, spend some time just trying to identify the more obvious constellations with the naked eye. If you have some binoculars, try sweeping the sky and see what you find.

As you get to know the sky, you will be better placed to navigate with the scope and find objects that aren't as obvious as the planets. There is plenty that you can see with a 150p.

https://britastro.org/2018/star-hopping

https://lovethenightsky.com/what-is-star-hopping/

 

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I don't think you've missed out. Still plenty of time left this year to catch some clouds!

Seriously though, you don't even need a scope for some celestial events. Auroras for example, and we are approaching the peak of the solar cycle which is looking like it will beat predictions, meaning we could see auroras at lower latitudes relatively frequently in the next few years.

Don't forget meteor showers too. While they often disappoint, every shower/year is different, and some years/showers can be spectacular. Sometimes individual meteors can be spectacular too, and not all are caused by meteor showers, but are easily missed if you are looking through an eye piece! We are also now starting to see predictions for large fireballs. I'd say you picked a great time to start :)

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Venus is in the evening sky, so you can watch it as it grows in size and its phase goes from a tiny gibbous to a large thin crescent.  If you spend some time studying it you may even note its bright polar regions, and along the terminator you may detect bright regions that appear to bite into the terminator. Alongside these you may even notice subtle darker wisps of cloud extending around the brighter zones and often creating a horizontal Y formation along the equatorial region. It's very subtle but not imaginary. If you can see detail in the cloudtops of Venus, you'll have a great time with Mars next time around. 

Mercury is another challenging target, but your scope is more than capable of showing you albedo features on its surface.

Often deep sky is thought of as being only nebulae, galaxies and star clusters, both open and globular, but stars are deep sky objects too and many are spectacular, especially contrasting binary stars. Then there are comets, of which there are usually several  each year. And don't forget the Moon, the alien world right on our doorstep. With your 150P you could have more than one lifetime of enjoyment and discovery.

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Put the app Skysafari on your phone, it has suggestions on the search icon bottom left to see the images attached, you will see you are spoiled for choice.

Double stars are so rewarding on moon filled nights, 150p's are superb I may buy another as they cool down so much faster than my 12 inch dob or my 127 Mak.

Screenshot_20230325-071612.png

Screenshot_20230325-071438.png

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If you get the plus or pro version of sky safari you can configure it to show the view through the eyepiece as well which is fab for star hopping and framing.  @Coco has his showing a telrad display I believe.

You can get pretty close to the orientation  through the eyepiece in a Newtonian by looking at the display upside down. 

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Hey, just downloaded SkySafari and it looks really good... thanks for the recommendation.

I've also downloaded Skytracker. Anyone have any experience of that app?

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At six inches you have a very capable ‘scope there!

 Lots of good targets suggested above especially M81&M82 - a pair of galaxies which with a bit of patience are relatively easy to find (track diagonally across the bowl of the Plough from the bottom of the “pan” nearest the handle, just over the same distance again and you’ll be in the right area).  

Also check out the Great Hercules Globular cluster (M13) which is roughly half way along the top of the Hercules “keystone” shape. Will look an amazing fuzzy, glittering ball of stars with your scope and will take some magnification. 
 

Another I look at almost every time I go out is the Double Cluster - half way between the prominent W/M shape of Cassiopeia and the curving top of Perseus. Fabulous object for that “lost in space” feeling.  

All we need are some clear skies! 

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Have you missed out. As others have suggested not at all. I started out just after 2 yrs ago and at that time had “missed out” on the planets. But it comes around quicker than you think. Especially if you are prepared to get up early in the morning. Then my first views of Saturn and Jupiter were at around 2am. Back then that was in the summer. And early in the morning I find that I generally get better views. Probably, as I’m in an urban environment, the air and atmosphere has settled down. Moreover, this year Jupiter and Saturn are giving to be even higher in the sky - potentially giving better views. 

And as mentioned there are loads of DSO. Here, in the spring and summer, I’ve got great views of the galaxies M81 & M82, various globular clusters, a host of star clusters, the Dumbbell Nebular and a big favourite of mine, the Ring Nebular. 

And don’t forget the sun in white light. The solar cycle is on the up so now is a good time to invest or even make a white light solar filter. Personally I really enjoy looking at the sun. And of course you can observe in the daytime with the advantages that gives.

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You have missed out for this year, but the cool thing is it all comes back around.  Now look forward to the spring and summer stuff.  

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Planets are over-rated (apart from Saturn and the Moons of Jupiter)* but with a scope like yours there's plenty of DSOs that are worth looking at. 

M81 and M82 in Ursa Major are good, as are the many open clusters in Cassiopeia and around.  We're coming up to prime Galaxy season, starting with the Leo triplet - and the galaxies above the bowl of Virgo. 

As we get to the Summer months, there's the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, as well as the planetary nebulae, the Ring Nebula (M57) in Lyra, and the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) in umm, Vulpecula ?? 

As has been suggested, if you look for the 'tonight's best' on any app, it'll give you a worthwhile list of what to look out for from your location for the evening. 

* OK - not a fair comment, but with your 150mm aperture, you have more light gathering capability than is absolutely necessary for the brighter planets - in principle, you will be get less diffraction limited with a bigger aperture, but manytimes, our seeing is atmospherics limited rather than diffraction limited.    

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As has been said before there is always something to see, clouds permitting. 
look forward to what’s coming rather than at what you missed. A good free resource is sky at night YouTube channel that gives a heads up to usual deep sky objects and solar system specials. 
it won’t be long til the Summer Triangle is up. Now there’s a chunk of easy to surf sky that’s full of targets… ring nebula being just mesmerising. 
 

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I’m relatively new to this myself, having only got my scope in January, but if the skies are clear, I’ll be out, there is so much to see up there, agreed, the planets are not ideally placed right now but IMO one of the best ones is the Moon, and in the early days of the hobby, it is an ideal target, get you used to the scope, the eyepieces, and the way the mount works, I can spend hours just looking at the moon. As for DSOs, there’s a huge amount to see, Andromeda and Pleiades are so easy to find, and when you see them, you’ll get a huge buzz. My advice is start easy, and build up, those planets, stars, nebulae and galaxies have been there millions of years and will still be there later on in the year. Have fun. 

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There are a few objects that don't come around time after time, or are time limited.

Comets are the obvious example. Halley is a predictable once in a lifetime. Others I have seen were on the first pass since telescope invention.
Near earth asteroids we can ignore. If they get big or bright enough for amateur viewing, maybe it is time to take cover🤣

Anyone wanting a photo of the ISS with a shuttle alongside. Sorry, that photo opportunity has gone. But other craft do visit.

I consider myself fortunate to have viewed both Venus and Mercury transits. Then the 1 in 400 years (I think) Saturn/Jupiter conjuction.

There is always something to see. It is just a case of knowing what is around at this time of year, or how the planets are placed.

Then of course if you are able to travel overseas to a different latitude, the sky is so different.
I was completely lost on a holiday near the equator. Polaris was useless as a pointer, being almost on the horizon.
But all those (unseen by me) southern constellations. Wow.

I like to think about viewing plans based on what is going to be around, rather than having specific targets. 

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"Once the sky manages to clear up, what should I try looking at whilst learning how to drive my 'scope?"

I would suggest getting a copy of "Turn Left at Orion" , if you haven't already, and check out any local clubs.

ATB

Rob

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would say wait for that rare event - a clear night. Then just get outside and start identifing a few convenient constellations.

Ideas like M45 really need you to know that M45 is in Taurus, and then you have to be able to work out where Taurus actually is. As it is well to the "right/west" good chance that by most reasonable times it is a bit too low now. To find Taurus the easy option is find Orion then head right along the belt to Taurus. So now you have to find one, amble across the sky and hope to bump into the second. And the bump into M45. Then throw in that the view you experience doesn't quite match the apparent movement of the scope.

Usually all targets are small, and have read they tend to hide when you look through a scope at them.

Get a wide low power eyepiece and rather low key go look at the moon.

But first just go out, look, and start identifing a few basic constellations, then you can look for targets in them.

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On 25/03/2023 at 14:02, Mike Q said:

You have missed out for this year, but the cool thing is it all comes back around.  Now look forward to the spring and summer stuff.  

Agreed. For me, one of the beautiful aspects of observing is the reemergence of objects as seasons progress. Keep at it and you'll see what I mean. In the fall, it's a joy to see the Pleiades on horizon for the first time in months. "Hello, old friend!" Seeing Izar again in the late winter... "Hello, old friend!" And so on... Friends for all seasons, and so many of them, and they keep coming back.

I suggest finding a beginners' book that breaks observing down into seasons. One that I like is Star Watch by Philip Harrington. It includes various objects and simplified star charts for each season. Then you won't have to figure it out on your own... It's certainly not a wheel that you need to reinvent. By the time you're comfortable with that book, you'll be able to use a more detailed star atlas along with observing lists... And then you're set for life 😊 A decent book (and friends to observe with, if possible) can take you a long way!

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