First Telescope!

[evo1972]

At last after much delay my first telescope has arrived!

I plumped for a a Skywaycher Heritage 130P Dobsonian

Reflectors - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube

Can't wait to set it up and use it but I've 2 5yr olds fussing around and it's blumming cloudy anyway!

Any advice at what I should start off looking for? I'm quite excited so check out the planets and I've always found the Moon fascinating.

[naked"I"]

Sounds to me like the first thing you need is a fence around your scope with a locked gate......

Sorry mate cant help as im new to all this myself, but im sure you will get some good advice on here.

Clear skies

Dave

[evo1972]

Sounds to me like the first thing you need is a fence around your scope with a locked gate......

Sorry mate cant help as im new to all this myself, but im sure you will get some good advice on here.

Clear skies

Dave

I think a fence is a great idea Dave, it's eliciting a little too much attention at the moment!

[Lurker]

Any advice at what I should start off looking for? I'm quite excited so check out the planets and I've always found the Moon fascinating.

You could always look for Jupiter. It's very easy to spot on a clear night. Or you could try to find Saturn, Which will appear very early in the mornings, I have yet not seen Saturn due to clouds. But Jupiter is an easy bet for you.

[evo1972]

You could always look for Jupiter. It's very easy to spot on a clear night. Or you could try to find Saturn, Which will appear very early in the mornings, I have yet not seen Saturn due to clouds. But Jupiter is an easy bet for you.

Thanks Lurker!

Will I be able to make out Saturn's rings and/or the colours of Jupiter with my scope?

[johnnychaos]

If you get a clear night soon you could try for jupiter. It's bright enough to be easy to find. It'll be very small, but you should be able to make out some bands I'd have thought.

Could also have a peek at the orion nebular also very easy to find.

Finding things is probably the biggest thing that causes people to lose interest. The sky seems very empty if you don't know were you should be looking.

You can use star charts of course, but personally the best thing I got for my dob was a digital angle gauge. I got an app called Angle on my iPhone, but you can buy units cheaply from astronomy shops too.

Once you have that and a basic compass you can use programms like Stellarium to show you what's out there. Which direction to look at what angle (alt) it should be at.

[evo1972]

Just downloaded Stellarium and wished I done it much earlier! What a great bit of kit. Oriented it to image my back garden (turns out to face south east).

Now we just wish for clear skies but in the mean time I'll gen up on my constellations, planets and stars.

Thanks all for the advice and recommendations

[Watcher]

The Pleiades are always worth a look, both with the naked eye and also with your scope. They're easy to find and absolutely stunning.

[Astro Imp]

Have just borrowed Turn Left at Orion from my local library to see if it 's worth buying.

I have only had a chance for a quick look, it looks like a must have for us Newbies.

Enjoy your scope once the clouds go.

All the best,

Alan