Absolute beginner

[Major Havoc (Travis)]

Hello,

Have been doing a fair bit of drinking tonight and finally decided to take the plunge and register on an astronomy forum and wound up here!

I have a $600 Celestron telescope in the basement but have never used it, a family member set it up years ago but I don't think they had any idea what they were doing.

I live in Maine, U.S.A. and just now noticed this is an Australian astronomy forum by looking at the top of the page, so not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing

Anyways, I have always been fascinated by the stars, planets, and space in general. I had a couple of cheap telescopes as a kid, but they were so hard to pinpoint on anything worth seeing that I just gave up. One night I got lucky and found Jupiter for just a moment, and one or two of it's moons, that was a moment I will never forget but have never been able to replicate.

I know I already have the equipment to begin my quest in amateur astronomy so I guess I just need some encouragement and/or prodding.

A few months ago I acquired all of the episodes of Carl Sagans "The Cosmos" , what a great show that was to watch.

Not sure where to go from here, but I guess I need to take some initiative and bring my telescope upstairs tomorrow

[Colin_Fraser]

Everyone starts somewhere.
But you won't see much in this condition

[Jaybee (John)]

G'Day Travis
I agree with Colin, speaking from experience, the more you drink, the less you see!
But welcome to a great community. There are so many amazing and helpful people here, and it doesn't matter that you're in the North...the concept is the same the world over. If you are unsure of where to find things, download Stellarium, its a free Astronomy Program that will give you an idea of where to look. There are also many apps that will give you a helping hand if you have an Iphone or Android Smartphone. There is a Mobile Astronony Apps Thread under Equipment on the Main ISS page that will give some suggestions. Above all, Have Fun!

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hi Travis, welcome to the deep, deep south. Not to put you off coming here, please do, but the equivalent web site for the northern hemisphere is Cloudynights

Worth registering there as you will get more specific help for your parrticular views and hardware and you will find a lot of the IIS people are also members there as well. It's a very friendly bunch of people and many events and findings are collaborative between various people and groups around the world to confirm or add information to new discoveries.

Get Stellarium, get the scope out, ask for help and it will be forthcoming from everyone. Good luck with your journey, welcome to the madhouse.

P.S I'd also suggest hooking up with a local astronomy group if you can to get some first hand experience and assistance.

P.P.S. I'd also not touch the alcohol when you drag the scope out ....save it for the cloudy nights ....

Cheers
Brent

[mishku]

Hahaha I love it!!

I was drunk, so HERE I AM!! Well done you!

Welcome to IIS, it's a fun community. Im sure it won't be long until you're longing to see some of the cool things in our southern skies, so better start saving for a trip down under!

and

Mish

[Suzy]

Sometimes that glass of chardonnay walks out with me
I know it shouldn't
But when it does, I have just one thing to say...
the views are fan-bloody-tabulous!
Let's face it, sometimes those faint fuzzies can do with a bit of imagination.

And did I forget to mention that my empty wine cask box doubles up nicely
as a head rest, yes it's the perfect height and errr a perfect night.

But on a serious note...
Alcohol isn't recommended because it's got something to do with depleting the oxygen supply that the eye needs to observe all that faint stuff.

For me, that's not a problem...
I'm both an experienced drinker and driver of my scope.
ssshhhhhh don't tell my astro mentor that I drink on the job, I only have but one mere glass, so maybe it's actually the 3rd, but all that matters is its one glass at the scope and that's it...


Hi Travis and

We have plenty of people on this forum from all around the world, so you will fit in here nicely, don't worry about it.
So... doesn't John Travolta live in your neck of the woods .
If you live next door, I would like to be your new best friend. And I'd be using that scope not for the sky I can tell you that much.