new on the block

[stopusinmyid (Tammy)]

hi,

my name is tammy and i am definitely new to astronomy. i don't understand any of the lingo. we (hubby and i) don't know how to align our telescope to any of the angles/ altitudes. we use the Stellarium program to find the general direction of where the stars are, using the southern cross as our reference point. we found saturn the other night, it was so exciting. lol. i am planning on getting up in the morning to have a look at jupiter.

we have a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ. have had it a couple of years but have only just started really getting into it. our view of saturn was pretty small but still a thrill for us. i have just purchased a Celestron omni 1.25in 2x barlow. have read that they are good. sadly have to wait for it to get here from america and sadly on limited funds, so upgrades will be a slow process.

look forward to learning and getting a better understanding from you all.

tammy

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hi Tammy, to the mad mob on here.
Better to start slow and learn well than never start at all. At least then you can't leap into purchasing gear that really isn't what you require. Plenty of people on here to give you pointers as to what works and what doesn't. And there are some good deals to be had on here in the sell forum area.

The Southern Cross is an excellent place to start. Without moving the scope very much you can just scan with a wide eyepiece along the Milky Way and find heaps of objects, globulars, nebulae etc within 10-15 degrees of it. A pair of binoculars are good to give you a better view to start from. Stellarium will help you identify and locate them once you get the hang of it.

You don't list what Eye Pieces (EP's) you have with your scope but they are the most important part of any future purchases. List them up here and someone will give you some advice as to their sutitability for various objects.

[Poita (Peter)]

G'day Tammy!

I've found you can get stuff in Australia about as cheaply as buying from the US, Andrews have been very good to me http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-co...section-10.htm
and there is a classifieds section here on iceinspace as well.

It is such a buzz seeing Saturn for the first time, I remember thinking OMG it is actually real!

Most nights I don't align anything and just use the computer or iphone to find stuff in the sky and swing the scope around until I find it, which is a challenge as my finder-scope broke a long time ago, so I'm getting good at manually lining up my celestron and sweeping the sky.

If you have an iphone/ipad/ipod touch, Star Walk is absolutely amazing, you hold your phone/pad up to the sky and it overlays the constellations, planets, messier objects etc. right over the part of the sky you are looking at in real time - makes finding stuff so easy.

I find with binoculars that a monopod is a great addition to keeping them steady on chilly nights.

Check out the star-parties forum to see if there are any groups near you.
Welcome aboard and enjoy the night skies!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Welcome aboard Tammy!
Slow and steady is good. It gives you time to absorb what you're learning.

[stopusinmyid (Tammy)]

hi there,

in reply to your replies. we only have the 20 and 10mm eye pieces that came with the telescope. so any suggestions will come in handy. the 2x barlow is on it's way. i had a look at andrews.com. i noticed his 2x barlow is cheaper then other australian shops i looked at but i'm sorry to say the one i have purchased from america is cheaper still. i'd be interested in buying second hand. i shall have a look at the classifieds on here also.

we don't have iphone or anything like that but the lad does so shall give your suggestion a go Poita. and yeh all i was doing at the start was swinging the scope around to see what i could see. hubby didn't have the view finder aligned properly. but he has corrected it and we are finding it easier to use.

i found jupiter and his 4 big moons this morning after about half hour. (tracked it for 90mins, hands and feet got a bit cold in the end.) i'm guessing i was looking through the view finder at the wrong angle/height. hubby (steven) wants some suggestions for another one or what do you's think about using a gun scope?

all suggestions welcome
tammy