what to look for next with my 2 scopes

[ottoman]

Right i have looked at the moon, and saturn. How cool is astronomy! I have one of those philips planispheres, but i dont think its very user friendly to be honest ( prob just me! )

I have 2 scopes, skywatcher 130p and just bought a meade lxd55 refractor which is a awsome scope. Saturn looks so much clearer with the meade than the skywatcher at high power.

What do you guys recomend i look at next? i have tried to find some galaxy's that were on the planisphere but no luck. To be honest most nights i have been out have been naff, so that will have something to do with it i expect.

[ottoman]

ow i forgot a vital bit of info, i live in swindon. silly me

[JamesK]

I recommend Turn Left at Orion if you've not alreay got it, contains over 100 easy objects to see with very user-friendly instructions

I'm new to this as well, but your scopes are much better than mine. Here's some things I have enjoyed recently:

The Beehive Cluster

Iota Cancri (Double)

Cor Coreli (Double)

Couple of fuzzy galaxies in Ursa Major, no luck for me so far on this one, you might see them better.

The great Orion Nebula is still on the horizon, if you have the right place I think, but won't be at it's best becuase it sets when it's still twilight, and horizon objects arn't as good because you're looking through more turbulernt air. (I'm learning!)

I've also found that some observing naked eye or binos, learning the constellations with a star map, learning the stories of the constelations, seeing if you can find the Lion in Leo, is also quite fun if your into that sort of thing.

Just search any of these in google with "How too find" at the front, and you should get some good info. Failing that, just tap it into Stellarium or whatever software you have and learn to make your own charts! The Joderall bank observatory site often has good info month to month, just avoid the dimmer objects.

But don't just take it from me, some clever people will be along in a minute and give you some better advice.

[ottoman]

cheers jamesk that has helped alot. i havent got turn left at orion, i wll order that offline.

[Doc]

M81 and M82 in Ursa Major.

M51 and M3 in Canes Venacti.

M13 in Hercules

[step_hen]

If your struggling with a planisphere why not try downloading Stellarium as an alternative, its free and very easy to use once you have set the time and location (Swindon is just down the road from where i am in Faringdon!). IYou can use it to plan what you want to observe or if you've got a laptop, take it out with you to help with searching the skies!

Stephen

Stephen

[adamsp123]

I trick I found when using the philips planisphere is to rotate it in your hand when you are looking around the sky. The 2D view you see on the Planisphere when you dial in the time and date represent the heavens "wrapped" around you in 3D so if you are facing East turn the planisphere around so east on it is at the bottom, facing west, west at the bottom, then the constellations look "right".

Hope you understood that, not sure if I did!!

Pizza

[Andrew*]

I can recommend the book Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders over Turn Left.. as it's much more difficult to "grow out of" and offers everything Turn Left.. does plus much more. This kind of book is perfect for helping you pick an object visible on any night.

Cheaper too - Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders: From Novice to Master Observer DIY Science: Robert Thompson: Amazon.co.uk: Barbara Fritchman Thompson: Books

I have reviewed the book here.

Andrew

[The Warthog]

With TLAO, I like to go constellation by constellation, seeing everything that I can before I move on to the next. Can do the same with Nightwatch, too.

[ottoman]

Cheers for all the advice guys!

[Capricorn]

Warthogs idea of going constellation by constellation is pretty good. They are easier to find.

As to books, TLAO is OK, I have a copy and have opened it just once. Cannot say it is bad, just doesn't click with me. I tend to use the monthly sky guides by Ridpath. They have a month by month view of things and I suppose that it just suits me more.

Planisphere: Weird things. Set the date, time and then face the direction you want with that direction on the planisphere nearest you (not easy to explain) then if you keep a good hold of it and hold it above your head it shows the stars etc in the right orientation.

Makes more sense if you try it. Only took me about 7 years to get it and I read it elsewhere upon which it enlightenment happened.

If nothing at hand to select a constellation and what is in it to view then try this:

www.starhopper.info

Created by someone a while back (maybe this site) and although Orion is now low Cassiopeia is up there and the site will give an idea of objects in there. There is a third constellation but to be honest no idea if it is visible at this time.