Looking promising for tonight...

[JamesF]

though there's a little cloud at the moment. Hopefully that will disappear before it gets dark.

So, despite a suitable torch which has as yet failed to arrive despite being advertised as "in stock" when I ordered it from a certain supplier's website almost three weeks ago I'll see if I can bodge something up with a normal torch and get out to set up my EQ mount and then hopefully spend some time trying to find some of the easier objects suggested in Turn Left at Orion.

I see Uranus is still close to Jupiter which might help with finding it. Given my lack of experience, am I likely to be able to see it with my Startravel 80 or would I be better off leaving it for another time (or another scope)?

Looks like Saturn might be visible if I stay up after midnight, too, bang in the middle of Virgo by the looks of it. Should I just be looking for a bright star where it shouldn't be?

And finally (for the moment , why does the cap on the objective(?) end of the scope have a separate small cap of its own, about 2" in diameter? For a solar filter?

Thanks,

James

[nathuk]

Download Stellarium, it's a big helper!

[perrin6]

Uranus is def worth looking for, at about magnitude 6 under a dark sky it's visible with the naked eye. It will look like a bluish star at low power but crank the magnification up high and you should notice that it is bigger than any star looks and more disc-like. BTW its about 2 degrees to the West of Jupe and slightly further South.

[planetdnb]

the 2 inch cap i believe is some form of mask. If you put the main cap on and take the small one off you can look at things with less light gathering power. It also removes diffraction spikes when imaging. I may be wrong though.

[JamesF]

Uranus is def worth looking for, at about magnitude 6 under a dark sky it's visible with the naked eye. It will look like a bluish star at low power but crank the magnification up high and you should notice that it is bigger than any star looks and more disc-like. BTW its about 2 degrees to the West of Jupe and slightly further South.

Well, I think I can see it in the scope. Unfortunately the moon is far too bright tonight and I can't see it with the naked eye, so I'm relying on what I can pick out from the spotting scope based on what Stellarium tells me should be nearby.

At the moment the moon is really not being helpful. I can just about pick out Polaris, but can't see the rest of Ursa Minor, and whilst the major stars in Orion are clearly visible it's not easy to pick out M42 or the Pleiades. Bit frustrating given that it's the first clear night in the three weeks I've had the scope. Such is life...

James

[nathuk]

Moon is a bit of a pain!

Think I've learnt my lesson to look at it without a filter - wait, I haven't because it still looks fascinating!

Have a look for Jupiter before it disappears I've just had a quick look with my 70mm and I managed to make out 3 moons and a dark band across the top.

Good luck

[reader34]

Hey everyone,

The names reader and I'm new to this game Just got in from tonight ( only spent a 30 mins, too cold ha) However managed to spot Jupiter with 4 moons and a dark stripe going across it! That was pretty cool

Talking about Jupiter's moons, what the most you've seen with a 3 inch reflector? I got 4 moons so far. Is that normal for a that size of reflector?

[JamesF]

Hey everyone,

The names reader and I'm new to this game Just got in from tonight ( only spent a 30 mins, too cold ha) However managed to spot Jupiter with 4 moons and a dark stripe going across it! That was pretty cool

Talking about Jupiter's moons, what the most you've seen with a 3 inch reflector? I got 4 moons so far. Is that normal for a that size of reflector?

Just come in after an hour and a half, myself. I've left the scope outside for the moment and might try to catch Saturn rising later if I can stay awake that long. It's cold here -- there's a ground frost, but my weather station says it's still (just) above freezing.

I don't believe you stand any chance of seeing more than four moons with a 3" scope. From memory the four Galilean moons make up most of the mass of all the Jovian satellites; the remainder are tiny by comparison. A quick check on wikipedia suggests that the next two largest in terms of diameter are still twenty times smaller than Europa and in my 80mm scope, Europa is little more than a point of light.

James

[John]

Hey everyone,

The names reader and I'm new to this game Just got in from tonight ( only spent a 30 mins, too cold ha) However managed to spot Jupiter with 4 moons and a dark stripe going across it! That was pretty cool

Talking about Jupiter's moons, what the most you've seen with a 3 inch reflector? I got 4 moons so far. Is that normal for a that size of reflector?

4 is normal - any others you see (unless you have a huge scope) will be background stars.

[reader34]

Ah sweet guys! It was worth a try, getting the best out of my little one haha! ( God that sounded wrong).

Just a quick question. When I was viewing Jupiter, the dark stripe I saw was on it's side. Correct me, but I thought Jupiter clouds were horizontal and not vertical? Unless it's my Scope?

Reader!

[Jimmy Stix]

Just a quick question. When I was viewing Jupiter, the dark stripe I saw was on it's side. Correct me, but I thought Jupiter clouds were horizontal and not vertical? Unless it's my Scope?

I am just a newbie myself but I believe it depends on where we are in relation to it. Somebody else will be able to give you a much more in depth answer I am sure but that is the very basics of it.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Reader, your star diagonal rotates the image. The bands do go horizontally across the surface. To correct this IF you want you can buy a erecting prism. Looks the same as a star diagonal but gives the correct orientation of objects.

[Jimmy Stix]

Ooops! I told you I was a newbie. Sorry. Engage brain before opening mouth Jimmy. Errrrr laptop!

[perrin6]

Just a quick question. When I was viewing Jupiter, the dark stripe I saw was on it's side. Correct me, but I thought Jupiter clouds were horizontal and not vertical? Unless it's my Scope?

Reader!

There is no up or down, horizontal or vertical in space !

[reader34]

Thanks, I have a better understanding now.