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total beginner clare n william


Guest clare louise

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Guest clare louise

hi all totally new to all this. I have a 6yr old son william who is really interested in the planets and stars, my husband and i gave him a basic telescope for christmas; 50mm astronomical telescope from National Geographic has 30-60X magnification. The problem is we have no clue where to begin with it! please can anyone give us an idea where to start?!


 


ive looked at taking him to an observatory near us in nottingham and they have an open eve next weekend. I dont know if it would help at all? but dont want to go and set up then sit and think ok what do i do now? Is there any groups who could help in beginers giude or such like?


 


I did take it out once at christmas to try and look at the moon with my son but found it very hard to focus and find anything and my son came in very dissapointed that mummy could not even get the moon! We only went out the front of the house which i know is not great being around so much light! My sons friend at school has one too and they are just as lost. We thought of going to the local park to try together but not sure it will be in a dark enough place to see either. Ive downloaded some of the free apps for my android fone but im still just as lost! any help and instruction would be great thanks all x


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Guest Tweedledum

Hi Clare,


 


Welcome to EMS, there are a few of us around your area I'm sure one will chip in.


 


Cheers


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Guest CodnorPaul

Hi Clare - welcome to EMS.  I got my daughter one of those scopes for Xmas last year and in the end took it back and got one from Jessops for similar money but the views were better.  The problem with the Nat Geo one is it is not really going to give you the views you would hope as it is a poor design and doesnt have the optics of other telescopes, which for me is a huge shame as they probably put most people off astronomy.  With clear sky's at the moment if you look up you will see a very bright 'star' -that is Jupiter, and with the scope you have you may just be able to make out 2 faint bands which are the equitorial bands, and possibly a few moons.


 


My main advice at the moment would be to get to an EMS meeting, or a local astronomy club meeting, and look through some other peoples scopes - that way you can appease your sons interest and hopefully not lose it, whilst also getting the opportunity to talk to some experienced people about the best way to start.


 


Sorry - probably not what you were hoping to hear?


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Hi Clare, and welcome. I'm still very new to it all myself, but learning lots from this forum.


 


Download the Stellarium software for the PC; it'#s free and it will give you (and William) an idea of what is in the sky. There are apps for smart phones too which can do a similar job but can easily be used outside on a dark and clear night; I use one called puniverse, I think it cost £1.69 but others might be free.


 


Have a look at the resources on the BBCs Star Gazing Live website:


 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8/features/events


 


And there is a Star Gazing Live event in Hucknall next Wednesday:


 


http://www.holgateschool.co.uk/index.php/upcomingevents/stargazinatholgate


 


Good luck and I hope you and WIlliam get as much enjoyment out of it as the rest of us do.


 


James

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Hi Clare and welcome!


 


I once heard a friend say "the best camera for you is the one you have with you". Very wise words and they apply equally to astronomy. Any telescope will get you started, but you'll soon learn which scopes work best for you and you'll be looking to upgrade. It happens to us all with disastrous consequences for our bank balances! :lol:


 


You are not too distant from many of us and our two dark sites, so I would second the suggestion of coming to one of our meets. We all pay £20 a year towards the costs of the dark sites, but the first visit is always free to see if you like us. :) (I don't recall anybody not :lol:)


 


Enjoy the forums and the skies (if they ever clear).


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Hello. Welcome to EMS. Enjoy the forums. Hope you get your scope woes sorted soon.

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Hello Clare and welcome to EMS.


 


Your scope is more then capable of observing the moon and brighter deep space stuff, but if I was you concentrate on the moon first.


 


The first thing you have to do is align the finder so it's looking at the same object as your telescope. Do this by looking at a distant object during the day, lets say a far away chimney pot will surffice. As long as you can see the same chimney pot through both the finder and the eyepiece then it should be aligned.


 


At night when the moons out try and get the moon in your finder this should be quite easy as the finder will have a wide field of view, then if it's aligned correctly you will see a white blob through your scope as well.


 


Now turn the focuser knob very very slowly until the image gets clearer and crisper, it is so easy to go to far and lose the sweet spot so slowly does it.


 


I hope this helps Clare.


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Hi Clare and a warm welcome to EMS :)


 


As mentioned above - you'd be most welcome to join us at a meeting with your scope and someone will be able to help you to set it up and demonstrate how it works. We can also advise on finding your first objects. If you enjoy the session and wish to pursue the hobby further with us we'll give you full details at that time.


 


The Nat Geo scope is a very basic scope with limited abilities - but can be made to work after a fashion. A proper working entry level astronomical instrument will cost around £150 to £200 new, or about half to two thirds of that on the second hand market (depending on age/condition/extras etc).


 


The weather is limiting our meetings at the moment, but a local member may offer to arrange with you to pop round and help. I hope you enjoy the forum and please feel free to ask any questions you have in the Beginners Section - someone will be along with an answer soon. :)


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Doc, getting the scope to work in day light is really good advice. James

 

There's nothing worse the fiddling about in the dark when you don't know what you are doing. All scopes especially refractors work pretty good during the day so there's no reason not to set it up during the day, just NEVER look at the sun Clare and make sure William doesn't either. 

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Hi Clare and a warm welcome to EMS :)

 

As mentioned above - you'd be most welcome to join us at a meeting with your scope and someone will be able to help you to set it up and demonstrate how it works. We can also advise on finding your first objects. If you enjoy the session and wish to pursue the hobby further with us we'll give you full details at that time.

 

The Nat Geo scope is a very basic scope with limited abilities - but can be made to work after a fashion. A proper working entry level astronomical instrument will cost around £150 to £200 new, or about half to two thirds of that on the second hand market (depending on age/condition/extras etc).

 

The weather is limiting our meetings at the moment, but a local member may offer to arrange with you to pop round and help. I hope you enjoy the forum and please feel free to ask any questions you have in the Beginners Section - someone will be along with an answer soon. :)

Agree with this, a better start would be Binoculars.

Welcome to the forum.

Edited by andyboy1970
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Hi to you both.

I see you live in Hucknall, so do I.

I would be more than willing to pop round (or you can come to me) one day (or evening) which ever suits.

I would be happy to show you how to set up your scope and give you some basic pointers to get you started.

Let me know what you think and we can get something arranged.

Welcome to EMS and I hope you enjoy the forum.

:)

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Welcome to EMS Clare and William.


 


You have definitely come to the right place to get any help you need with stargazing.

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Hi Claire & William, welcome to EMS.


Iam round the corner in Watnall, there's a few of us locally.


I suspect it won't be long before you upgrade, to get better views more than anything. 


 


Enjoy the forum.  :)


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Welcome to EMS :) don't look through Daz's 200P or Baz's 300P or you will go home dreaming of amazing views of night sky objects and reaching for your credit card ;)

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Guest Wraith01mg

Hi there and welcome, I'm new to astronomy as well, so well understand you difficulties.

I was put off for years due to a bad scope bought when I was 10.

However, that was mostly ignorance on my part and no one else knowing either,

Everything else has already been said by far more knowledgeable peeps than myself

Load stelarium it's really good and free

And put it on your smart phone too.

Some half decent binos so you can see at the same time as your son.

And play about with focusing and finderscope aligning in daylight. No looky at sun though.

I still muck around with my set up in daylight too so I kind of know what I'm doing when it gets dark.

Again, big big welcome everyone here are dad nice.

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Guest devil74

Hi Clare n William


 


Welcome to EMS. You couldn't have come to a better place to start with stargazing. I am new to this also and the guys n gals on here are so helpful. Your in good hands.


Enjoy the forums.


 


Damian


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Hi Claire welcome to the madness :blink:   just joking welcome let hope we have a few clear nights soon :D


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Guest clare louise

ty soo much for all your help and support. sorry only just got back to you all my pc needed fixing .


 


it would be great to meet up at one of your get togethers. I know the scope weve got is very basic and limiting, but we thought a start to see if it continues to peak Williams interest, and with him only being 6 if he decided to be sillys as kids do and use it as a sword or it takes a fall its not a huge loss or hard to replace.


 


were going to mablethorpe in the easter hols camping and were going to take it with us to have a go. it would be nice to get William to see through a better scope too and to see what can be seen with his properly. when is your next meet?


 


we have downloaded some phone apps for android it would be good to be shown how to make sence of it all. Wills desperate to see the space station but ive been told different things. some folk say you can see it on a good night in hucknall others have said its not easily found from here.


 


Glad im back online, will check to find your next meet, hope its not on a school night though.


 


thanks again


 


clare and william


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Hi Clare,


The ISS is one of the brightest objects up there most of the time, and should be easy to see, providing you can see the western side of the sky. (Where the sun sets)


 


Here's a great site that lets you know where all sorts of satellites and other objects, not only are, but where they are coming from, and at what time.


It's best to register with the site, which is free, as you get some info that isn't available if you don't.


 


http://www.heavens-above.com/


 


Hope that helps.


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Once you know what to look for and where it's coming from - the ISS is the most obvious thing in the sky for up to 6 or 7 mins. It's like a very bright pin ball hurtling across the sky faster and higher than anything else. :)


 


(My missus waves to it lol)


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Hi Claire. I have seen the ISS from my back garden, like mentioned above, it's very bright.

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Once you know what to look for and where it's coming from - the ISS is the most obvious thing in the sky for up to 6 or 7 mins. It's like a very bright pin ball hurtling across the sky faster and higher than anything else. :)

 

(My missus waves to it lol)

So does Krys. Iam not even going to say anything. :D

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