Newbie question

[TheTaz]

Hello and apologies if this is a silly question. Am finding all the advice and insight really helpful but am still struggling. I live in the east midlands in the UK and have been trying to observe since January.  Now that the weather has improved I have been getting my Skywatcher 130m EQ2 out to try and see things. Although I have seen great detail of the moon, I have not managed to see much else. I accept this likely due to my lack of experience but I was wondering whether due to the time of year I am probably not able see much between 9:30 and 10:30 at night and need to wait until a lot later. At this stage I really want to see the planets before exploring anything else. Grateful for any advice. Cheers

[Seelive]

Only Jupiter and Uranus are evening objects at the moment and they will both have set by 9:30.  All the other planets are currently morning objects rising just before dawn.

[DAT]

With all the clouds it’s difficult to see anything at the moment. Maybe someone else can verify but I even on clear nights, seeing conditions have not been great. I have  been enjoying various clusters but struggling with faint objects and anything that requires high magnification, made worse by the fact that the fact I observe from a light polluted area. Best of luck to you!

[Waddensky]

It's a bad time for planets currently. Jupiter disappears in the evening twilight while Saturn and Mars are just above the horizon at sunrise. 

But don't worry, things get much, much better in the second half of this year! 

If you download an app like Stellarium, you can find out exactly which planets are visible from your location. Clear skies! 

Edited April 25 by Waddensky

[SwiMatt]

While planets are porely placed at the time, there are a couple of deep sky object that are a must for any beginner! 

Right now, towards the Western horizon, you should be able to find the Pleiades (and your telescope should frame them neatly, if you have a ~25mm eyepiece)! They are bright enough that you can see them even before it gets very dark. They are roughly between the constellations of Taurus and Perseus. A good planetarium software, such as Stellarium, will show you the way. Otherwise, another favorite of these time of the year is the Beehive cluster, up in Cancer - that's visible until later! Try and tell us how it went

 

 

[DirkSteele]

I would also note, that while you mention wanting to view the planets (as above, better in the second half of the year), it is also not astronomically dark now until around 10:30pm so deep sky objects will be better after this time.  Unfortunately, we are not too far away from no astronomical darkness for a few months in the UK, not that it has ever stopped me before.

[Mr Spock]

There are other things to look at, such as clusters (a couple of nice globulars in Hercules for example) and hundreds of double stars.

I'm in Sheffield too and the LED streetlights here puts paid to any kind of deep sky observing unless you are willing to go out into the Peak District. There's a narrow dark strip down the centre there if you find the right place.

[Nyctimene]

I'd suggest some brighter open clusters (the same type of target as the Pleiades). The easiest to find will be the "Beehive" cluster  M 44 in the constellation Cancer, in the SW and to spot without optical aids (sailors in ancient Greek took this as a sign for favourable weather conditions). Not far away (8.2° to the SE) is the densely packed cluster M 67. More to the W, the open cluster (oc) M 35 in the western part of Gemini is  a brilliant target. When you found it, you may try to spot the smaller and fainter oc NGC 2158 SW.

Always beautiful is NGC 7789, "Caroline's Rose" in Cassiopeia, easy to find close to the star Beta Cas (Caph).

Hth.

Stephan

[TheTaz]

On 25/04/2024 at 07:38, DirkSteele said:

I would also note, that while you mention wanting to view the planets (as above, better in the second half of the year), it is also not astronomically dark now until around 10:30pm so deep sky objects will be better after this time.  Unfortunately, we are not too far away from no astronomical darkness for a few months in the UK, not that it has ever stopped me before.

Thanks for this and all the other helpful suggestions and comments. Many of the comments seems to suggest that this time is not necessarily a good time of year to view many planets so focussing on clusters seems to be the way forward. I need to stay outa little later for my time to be more productive. Cheers Tim

[PhilB61]

If you put Stellarium on your mobile phone you can search by target names and it will guide you where in the sky to look. You can then click on the time icon and use the slider to view where in the sky the target will be at whatever time you choose, similarly you can tap the dates and change those to help plan future viewing sessions, so you can know exactly when targets will be visible at your location. This and other similar apps can also be used on a pc.

[TheTaz]

I have now got Stellarium. Thanks for the suggestion.