What do I use to find objects in the sky?

[Zonify]

Just got my first telescope. Orion XT8, Barlow tri mag 3x Barlow lens, and Polarizing Moon Filter.

I've never looked into the sky before with a telescope. How will I find objects that I want to look for?

[Capricorn]

Seems to be 2 possible answers depending on the question:

If you want to know what is up there to look at then either get a copy of something like Stellarium, free astro guide software, or a book.

My preference is a book. My preference in books is The Monthly Sky Guide by Ridpath. I like this as it has a "constellation of the month" approach, on a month by month basis. Each month starts out with a diagram of the whole sky, then a detail of the chosen constellation. In the detail are the stars and relevant DSO's.

You need to be able to locate the constellation.

That covers how to find what to look at.

If you mean how do you point the scope at them and see them then you will need a finder on the scope. Options are Red Dot Finder and a simpler Finder Scope, usually something like 8x30.

Attach finder to the scope and then align the scope and chosen finder by centering both on a distant object. Actually centre scope on it and adjust finder until target is in the centre of the finder.

Then use the finder to locate chosen nighttime object and the object "should" be in the field of view of the scope. The "should" is dependant on the aligning of scope to finder.

Make life easy and use the biggest focal length eyepiece so that you have the biggest field of view. It helps to find things if you can see as big a chunk of sky as possible at first. Basically leave the 3x barlow in its box for now.

[Merlin66]

I love books and would normally recommend them first, but the freeware planetarium program Stellarium is very good for the absolute beginner......It will show the sky as it appears from you location and help you find the directions and objects visible in your telescope.

[kniclander]

a lot of people start off with a book called "turn left at orion" - it has 100 or so easy to find brightish objects and will get you familair with the sky and with "starhopping". In my experience, the problem with lots of other books and magazines is that they describe things as bright and/or easy to find and don't mention that that's if you're at the top of a mountain in Hawaii. Turn Left is more realistic for a typical "backyard" astronomer.

[Astro_Baby]

I'd suggest getting some astronomy magazines - Sky at Night Magazine usually has a guide for the sky for the month and also some objects to have a look at.

Dont be depressed if you find it hard to start with. Most astronomical objects are quite tough to find. Start with something simple like Jupiter or Andromeda both are relatively easy for a newbie to find.