New user weighing up options...

[Renato1 (Renato)]

I assume your telescope came with an 8X50 finderscope, and that you know how to adjust it to get it sharp. Next thing you need to do is get good sky maps, either store bought or have printed out the free ones, and learn to read them upside down (using a dimmed down flashlight).

Basically, under a dark sky your telescope should be able to see most everything printed in Sky Atlas 2000 2nd Ed or equivalent atlas (though you may need a UHC filter for some of the small planetary nebulas).

The more detailed atlases like Uranometria are sometimes useful for finding particularly tricky objects, but a lot of what it has printed you won't be able to see without a bigger telescope.

You might also want to look at Tirion's Bright Star Atlas, which is small and not that expensive. It's not that good for use with your sized telescope, but it does have the advantage of listing the 600 or so brightest and best of what's in the sky.
Regards,
Renato

[bobban]

Originally Posted by Renato1

I assume your telescope came with an 8X50 finderscope, and that you know how to adjust it to get it sharp. Next thing you need to do is get good sky maps, either store bought or have printed out the free ones, and learn to read them upside down (using a dimmed down flashlight).

Basically, under a dark sky your telescope should be able to see most everything printed in Sky Atlas 2000 2nd Ed or equivalent atlas (though you may need a UHC filter for some of the small planetary nebulas).

The more detailed atlases like Uranometria are sometimes useful for finding particularly tricky objects, but a lot of what it has printed you won't be able to see without a bigger telescope.

You might also want to look at Tirion's Bright Star Atlas, which is small and not that expensive. It's not that good for use with your sized telescope, but it does have the advantage of listing the 600 or so brightest and best of what's in the sky.
Regards,
Renato

Thanks for the tips on those atlases. I need something like this so I can start locating other interesting objects. Does anyone know a good bucketlist of good objects to check out?

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

Messier and Caldwell lists are two obvious ones to start working your way through (don't rush!) -- you can see the majority of them from most Australian locations, and for the rest, well, wait until you go travelling!