Quote:
Originally Posted by inferno
Hi everyone my name is Chris and i live in the Newcastle area. About a month ago i took my sons telescope out the front because a website said you could see Saturn really easily and it was easy to find because it was next to the moon. My sons telescope is a very cheap $50 piece from aldi...lol
But low and behold we could even see the rings a bit. From then on my family has been hooked. I bought a 114mm x 500mm newtonian with an eq III mount from ebay. It works great for the price i paid. I have skyview cafe and sastro view online on my comp but i now find it hard to see saturn again..lol
I am joining the newcastle astro society this month which should help me out.
Is this a good enough telescope for the back yard explorer. Money was a big option for me at the time of sale. Will i be able to see anything besides the big planets?
Thanx guys only new here.  |
Hi Chris and welcome to IIS!
Your 114mm newtonian should more than enough to peer deep into space. I'm pretty sure most newbies like you will soon realise that you don't need a massive telescope to see the wonders of the universe and that all you really need to know is what to look for. I learnt that the hard way.
A good starting point will be to observe the bright planets to get your bearings. Then when you are ready you should try to locate some of the many bright Deep Sky Objects (DSO) like the M42. I suggest you buy a book to help you to recognise the night sky and the constellations.
Oh and another thing. You should check the c
ollimation of you scope. I'm sure many others can shed light on this.
