Re: What will I see?
1. More stars than you can "shake a stick at".
But seriously a 4" 'scope will show you quite a bit:
- All messier objects (visible from here) - the guy who first catalogued these only had a 1/2" 'scope.
- Some of the brighter galaxies (eg. NGC 253)
- Some of the brighter nebulae (eg. M41)
- Star clusters (eg. 47 Tuc - Omega Centauri may be a little too large to see all of it) - Collinder star clusters are interesting (eg. "Tuft of the Dog's Tail")
- Have some fun splitting double stars
- Have a go at comets
2. Planets:
(Best observed with a cheap WebCam and Registax)
- Need high magnification - can be disappointing.
1. Mercury - Worth a look to say youv'e seen it.
2. Venus - Bland and featureless but it displays phases like the moon.
3. Earth - very boring.
4. Mars - good target but moving away from us at a great rate of knots.
5. Jupiter - Excellent - don't know about the not so great red spot.
6. Saturn - Excellent - But get in before its rings look edge on!
7. Neptune - Looks like a bright dot.
8. Uranus - Looks like a dot.
9. Pluto (demoted) - Forget it!! (Mag 14)
3. Moon - Keep you occupied for a long long time.
A couple of tips:
Join the Astronomical Association of South Australia - Great bunch of people, excellent advice and superb facilities.
If you buy the Mak ask Raf to replace the finder with a good "Red dot finder" - IMHO Red dot finders are the best thing since sliced bread.
Coffee time.
Regards,
Jerry.
Get a Planisphere and a star chart program (eg. Starcalc ... freeware)