Hey Hey
I look forward to getting to know you all
I have always been very interested in astonomy, I bought a small telescope when Haley's came by, got disapointed, never had the time to follow it up further, untill recently. The skies have always held my imagination, now I'd like to get up close and personal. I was lucky enough to stumble on quite a bargain - so much of one my wife did't complain at my purchase of a Celestron Nexstar4GT with Skyalign. After all, we do have young children, and this is educational!
Herin lies my problem, much enthusiasm, no experience.
I was lucky enough to have it when we recently had a the lunar ecplipse. I found it magnificent, yet I find the Moon never disapoints. Always a new crater, a new shadow. I have 25X and a 10X eyepiece, and have manged to locate Jupiter and it's four moons on several occasions. I use the 25x to line up and then swicth to the 10x. I swear I can see the bands. My wife agrees.
Here starts my problems.
I have had much difficulty with the Skyalign database built in. I asked the NG shop where I purchased it, but they suggested I give it a miss and stick with manal slew on a slow rate. I'd like to use the software, being an amatuer, that was a big selling point to me. Any experienced Skyalign users able to help a noob?
which cascades into my next dillema.
Where the heck is everything? LOL. I seem to have no problem making some stars somewhat larger/brighter, and have found quite some that cannot be seen with the naked eye by just aimless roving, Jupiter as mentioned above, Venus (very cool cresent on my first night, quite impressed I didn't realise it showed as a crescent), great Moon watching, and that's it. I can read a plan, but I have never read a star chart. Can anyone ofer a link to some basics for getting the references right - grid lines and so forth?
Where can I find Mars, binary stars and all that cool stuff. Impatient I guess, and it is had not to be, is there a guide I should be following, can anyone help with the Skyalign software, or just some general tips?
I have contacted the NG shop for pricing on more powerful eyepieces, but since have discovered this wonderful invention called the barlow lens (I told you, ultra noob here - but eagre!) would that be a better purchase?
All offerings much appreciated in advance, I cannot wait to find Mars and Saturn, although from what I have already read here, I am gonna need to reset my alarm clock for Saturn! Glaxies, anything, maintenance care, whatever is on offer, I greatly appreciate anyone who can share their experience and hep my learning curve to become a short one. This world of the night sky is fascinating and beautiful!
See Ya All Real Soon I hope
