What can I see besides the moon?

[kevinncus]

I am completely new to telescopes. My wife bought me a Celestron 114 for Christmas with a "20" and a "SR4" lens as well as a 3x barlow lens. I have two questions. The first...what am I supposed to be able to see besides the moon? Am I supposed to see some of the images on the box...the rings of Saturn? The great red spot of Jupiter? Can I do it with the lenses I have, or will I have to purchase additional lenses?<br /><br />The second question, or I guess 5th...the telescope came with computer software that gives you the RA and declination. Where do I intially point my telescope so I can manually adjust it by the coordinates and find specific stars? If it helps, I am in North Carolina. Thanks from a newbie.<br /><br />Kevin

 

[weeman]

Hmmm, I'm not sure exactly what the power of the Celestron 114 is. I have a Celestron as well, it's a refracting telescope, and is 4 1/2 inches in diameter. I too have a barlow lens, which does help for magnification. I'm not sure how this compares in size with yours. With my Celestron I can see the rings of Saturn quite well. On a dark and clear night, it is possible to barely make out the cloud layers of Jupiter. When you look at Jupiter you might make out some small stars around it, those are its moons. I can also see the Orion Nebula, and a few other distant objects. I tried looking at the Andromeda Galaxy about a month ago, and I could see it, but it looked like a very faint cloud. <br /><br />So, there is much more than just the Moon to view in our sky <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> You might also want to consider buying some sort of solar filter for viewing that Sun, that is always cool. With a regular white light filter you will be able to make out any visible Sunspots. Also, you can buy a filter called a Hydrogen Alpa filter, which gives the Sun sort of a reddish orange glow. With this filter you can very easily see the Solar Prominences, these are the large flares that erupt off the surface of the Sun. <br /><br />As for pointing your telescope, there might be something on the stand that can be used as an indicator. My telescope has a tripod stand, and on it there is a scope type thing that you look through to point it at the North Star. This is so you can easily find things using Azimuth.<br /><br />Hope that helps <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[tfwthom]

OPTICAL DESIGN Newtonian Reflector <br />WEIGHT 19 lb (8.62 kg) <br />CD ROM The Sky Level 1 <br />ACCESSORY TRAY No-Tool Tray w/ Eyepiece holder <br />TRIPOD Aluminum <br />MOUNT German Equatorial <br />FINDERSCOPE 5x24 <br />BARLOW LENS 3 x <br />MAGNIFICATION 2 225 x <br />APERTURE 114 mm (4.49 in) <br />FOCAL LENGTH 900 mm (35.43 in) <br />FOCAL RATIO 7.89 <br />EYEPIECE 1 20 mm (0.79 in) <br />MAGNIFICATION 1 45 x <br />EYEPIECE 2 4 mm (0.16 in) <br />LIMITING STELLAR MAGNITUDE 12.8 <br />RESOLUTION 1.21 arc seconds <br />RESOLVING POWER 1.02 arc seconds <br />PHOTOGRAPHIC RESOLUTION 253 line/mm <br />LIGHT GATHERING POWER 265 x <br />ANGULAR FIELD OF VIEW 0.9 ° <br />LINEAR FIELD OF VIEW (@1000 YDS) 48 ft (14.63 m) <br />OPTICAL COATINGS Aluminum <br />SECONDARY MIRROR OBSTRUCTION 1 in (25.4 mm) <br />SECONDARY MIRROR OBSTRUCTION BY AREA 5 % <br />SECONDARY MIRROR OBSTRUCTION BY DIAMETER 22 % <br />OPTICAL TUBE LENGTH 34 in (863.6 mm) <br />TELESCOPE WEIGHT 19 lb (8.62 kg) <br /><br />First....go to the bookstore and get a copy of Nightwatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe by Terence Dickinson. It has star charts that you can use and just about every object on them you will be able to see in a 114mm scope. It's the best book for someone just starting out. Lots of other good info.<br /><br />You will be able to see the rings of Saturn, the red spot on Jupiter. Saturn rises about 8pm so it's in the skyglow till about midnight right now, Jupiter rises about 5am, both you will be able to see. <br /><br />Don't worry about the RA/Dec stuff for now, just star hop to the objects. Enjoy.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[kevinncus]

So you're saying that I should be able to see Saturn, Jupiter, etc. with just the equipment I already have? So far, when I look at the stars, they still look like dots...just a little brighter.

 

[tfwthom]

You are mixing apples and oranges. <br /><br />Stars are points of light and will always look like points of light. The fun part of stars are when they are doubles, clusters, etc. Try the Orion Nebula, it's points of light with a nebula (clouds of star forming gas)<br /><br />Planets are points of light naked eye, with a scope they look like planets. (rings of Saturn, red spot) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[kevinncus]

Gotcha. It's overcast tonight, but as soon as we get another clear sky, I'll get out there and check it out. I will also try to get a copy of that book. Thanks for the help.

 

[weeman]

December is a good month to view Saturn. I believe its rings are tilted towards Earth, which gives it a spectacular view! It should be just as good of a sight now, I think it might have been a little bit better to view at the beginning of the month. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[kevinncus]

I got a chance to see Saturn! Cool! That gives me a good start.

 

[3488]

Saturn is visible in western Leo.<br /><br />The rings are open with the southern hemisphere tilted Sunward as it is late Summer in the southern hemisphere of Saturn. <br /><br />However the rings are closing as the Saturn system has an Equinox in December 2009, so around that time, the rings will be edge on!!<br /><br />See if you can follow Titan as it orbits Saturn every sixteen days!!<br /><br />Jupiter will soon be re-appearing in the Morning Sky. Then try & spot the cloud belts, the Great Red Spot & the four large Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede & Callisto).<br /><br />Venus soon will become the evening star & follow its phases. Venus will look small @ first nearly full phase, well gibbous, as it is coming form 'behind' the sun. <br /><br />However the size will increase, as the phase will go from Gibbous to Half at greatest Eastern elongation, then from half to a large slender crescent, before passing through inferior conjuction with the sun. <br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>