Jupiter alternatives

[tiredboy]

I'm very new to astronomy and have a meade etx80. Managed to see Jupiter with slight banding but not sure what to go for next. Slightly disappointed as I won't get my webcam for another few weeks by which time it will be too late to image Jupiter I think. Looking for saturn (even if its only a blob of light!) is on the agenda, but what are the other "wow" sites I should look for and take photos of (a whole library of "other stars" may not be that interesting to show people!).

[Jimmy Stix]

I have no experience of imaging, so I don't know what's possible with a webcam, but have had plenty of "wow" moments in the last 6 months since I started seriously.

• Discovering again the beauty of the Pleiades.
  
• Our fabulous moon at first quarter.
  
• Finding the Andromeda Galaxy.
  
• Finding the Orion Nebula.
  
• Getting up early last month and seeing the setting moon, the first time I ever experienced the optical illusion of it looking really big.
  
• Managing to find Saturn too that morning and seeing those rings.
  

Just to name a few of my personal highlights so far.

[perrin6]

Saturn should certainly look much more than a blob in your etx80, it should look lovely with the rings quite well shown and possibly the cassini division when conditions allow.

[tiredboy]

I'm hoping it appears more than a blob but didn't want to get my hopes up!

[ronin]

The ETX 80 is an f/5 achro so you will need something like a 3mm or 4mm eyepiece to get a reasonable view of Saturn. At that small you will need better then a budget plossl. Think the 80 has a built in barlow but I would guess that it isn't great. Basically unless surprised I wouldn't use the barlow with say a 7mm EP to get high magnification.

You may have to buy or borrow a small focal length eyepiece for Saturn.