Guest jameslcfc Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hello, my name is james and my boy whos ten was brought a telescope by santa. It is a astromaster 114eq and we have been observing the sky. We both have a interest in astronomy and have a few books that we have been reading. Although we are interested we know very little. I/we were looking for a club near belper where i can go along and get some advice on what to look for how the telescope works etc. I have been observing mars and jupiter along with a few cluster but not using the scope correctly as we are using our open velux window to observe. Unfortunately it faces south so we cant see polaris. Any way that is me :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hi James, i'm Rob, and welcome to EMS. Lots of local societies are listed on the forum if you're interested, and on here you'll get all the help and advice you'll ever need. Hope you enjoy your new telescope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckstar Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hi James, welcome aboard. If you can make it there is an event in Long eaton on the 20th of Jan. The details are on here somewhere. Some of the local societies will be there as well as some some ems members. Pop along if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hi James and a warm welcome to EMS Feel free to ask any questions and someone will be along with an answer soon. Just start a thread in the appropriate section. We were all beginners once - so always remember the daftest question is the one you didn't ask lol. Enjoy the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hello and welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) Hi James & Son, a warm welcome to EMS. To be able to use your scope to it's best, you will need to find Polaris, and take it outside. Get wrapped up and find a dark spot in the garden. Follow the instructions to align the mount, or if they were written in a undiscovered language, have a look on youtube, there are loads of videos showing you in a common sense manner how to set up. This makes life more comfortable, if you have it aligned, just by moving one of the adjusters slowly will keep the object in view, and if it does drift out, then you can catch it up and get it back in view without problem. You will find that the view improves no end when the scope is outside and allowed to cool down to the same temperature as the air. By looking out the window, warm air will be flowing out by you and causing the view to wobble. Your scope should be capable of showing some of the banding on Jupiter and it's four moons. The eyepieces that come with the scope may also be stopping you getting the best out of it. If we get to meet up with you have a try with some of mine, you don't need to break the bank to get some decent ones which will improve the view. A decent affordable Star Atlas that a lot of us have found useful is the Sky and Telescope Pocket Star Atlas. This will help you find your way round. There are others, but this is my go to one in the field. http://www.bookdepository.com/Sky--Telescope-Pocket-Atlas-Roger-W-Sinnott/9781931559317 Have you got Stellarium? this is a really good free planetarium program which allows you to find objects, and plan what you will be able to see in the sky. http://www.stellarium.org/ Here's some user instructions. http://www.stellarium.org/wiki/index.php/Stellarium_User_Guide Here's some objects to have a look for at a time that is sensible for your lad. M42, the Great Orion Nebula, easy to find and is visible in binoculars. M45, The Pleiades, a star cluster in Taurus, naked eye even from my back yard and really nice at low power and in binoculars. The Hyades, a more dispersed naked eye star cluster in the same area as M45. Again low power and in Bino's. The constellation Orion, Have a look at the different colours of the stars, they range from the White/Blue of Rigel bottom right to a lovely red of Betelgeuse top left. This is a truly massive star and if it was in our solar system it would extend beyond Jupiter and half way to Saturn. We would be toast! The Constellations of Perseus and Cassiopeia. The Double Cluster sits between the two good in low power and in Bino's, the whole area sits in the Milky Way. There are just masses of stars in that area, if you get to a dark spot, just spend some time looking round at a low power, it looks like talcum powder behind the brighter stars, just oodles of stars. I hope you get some clear skies soon. Ask any questions you might have and enjoy the forum. Edited January 10, 2016 by BAZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Hi James and son, welcome to EMS. Hope you both get to see some amazing sights and enjoy the forum. You will get many opportunities to see the moon as it changes its phases, meteor showers are great fun to share with a youngster and they give you an opportunity to study the stars and learn the constellations etc. At present the Orion Nebula (Mesier 42, M42) in Orion's 'belt' is a great object to see, it's an amazing sight and you can see it in the south in the late evening ? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Welcome to EMS James and mini James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 A warm welcome to the EMS James Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazz Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Welcome to EMS James and son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Welcome to EMS both of you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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