how to use my telescope?
154590
I bought a field guide that helps you find things with your telescope and basic telescope knowledge. i know you have to know where north/south (which ever is closer to you) and what your latitude is in degrees (how far you are from the equator).
704747
I live in Washington State USA & have the same problem as you trying  to observe the stars in this land of clouds. Here is the best way. Always have your astronomical gear at the ready to transport to your favorite dark sky, higher altitude observing site...a hatchback car is nice & shouldn't call for a larger vehicle. On the spur of the moment when the skies clear, be on your way to observe! You must do it this way in a cloudy clime. If you plan for future days to observe, you will lose 75% of your nights because of clouds. Yes, this means that astronomy observing must be highly prized in your life. Don't worry. It will pay off. You will have viewpoints, emotionally, mentally & literally in your life to develop a powerful philosophy. Get ready to be surprised by the universe & life. As best you can, share the stars with a friend(who also can take off at a moments notice...ha ha ha).
233941
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/skyandtelescope/advancedsearch.html
906664
I would recommend a Meade ETX-90.  That's about the lowest price scope you can buy with good optics.  Don't waste your money on a $49.95 cheap 60mm scope - a good pair of binoculars are much better, you don't have to set anything up, and they go with you in your car's glove compartment.\n\nThe Meade ETX-90 is a Matsukov Cassegrain ("Mak-Cass") telescope.  It comes with Autostar (computer guided "GOTO" feature that lets you view 1000s of celestial objects with the push of a button).  It also comes with a very sturdy tripod, motor drives, and push-button focus.\n\nRetail price about $750.00 with everything included.  As I said, if that's too much money, binoculars are a better option.  A good pair (10 x 25) will run about $60 to $100.  With good binoculars you will be able to see craters on the moon, the Andromeda Galaxy, and star clusters.  You wil also be able to make out Saturn's rings and Jupiter's main moons and equatorial bands.\n\nThe nice thing about a telescope with a motor drive is you can stay focused on an object without constantly having to adjust the telescope.  The art of astronomy is not something you can pick up in a day.  Most people looking into a astronomical telescope for the first time won't be able to make out even one tenth as much as somebody with experience.  So, if you plan to spend some time with your new toy, it's well worth it to get something that will hold your interest.\n\nThe other nice feature about this particular telescope is that it doesn't flip things upside down (like most reflector scopes do), which means you can also look at land objects.  It does flip them horizontally, like a mirror image, but that's not a big deal.\n\nOne last thing:  For astronomy, magnification is the least concern.  You want light gathering ability.  No matter how powerfully you magnify a star, it's not going to get any bigger.  You want to see as big a field of the sky as you can.  Magnifying it just narrows the field to a few stars, which is highly uninteresting.  By the same token, if you view the Moon, magnification helps somewhat, but it just makes things bigger and fuzzier, not any clearer.  A tiny detail in sharp focus is much better than that same detail made large and fuzzy.
738797
Absolutely nothing is better than attending a star party and actually trying out a handful of different scopes.\n\nAnyone who brings one is there to share and would be happy to tell you about their scope and its strengths and weaknesses.\n\nWhen buying something that enables you to see, it is best to go and try them first rather than trying to visualize from a text description in a magazine or website.\n\nGo to your local community college and ask when the next one is or maybe some libraries around would have a community board.
898999
Orion Telescope and Binoculars - http://www.telescope.com - good selection of cheap-to-moderate scopes, decent quality.\nFirst Telescope - http://www.first-telescope.com/ - all scopes under $500.\nAstronomics - http://www.astronomics.com/ - parent of First Telescope, a good full-line telescope dealer.
840527
Of the three you mentioned, I'd favor the Meade, but there may  be better choices depending on your husband's level of interest and knowledge. A couple of good places to shop for telescopes: http://www.telescope.com/ and http://www.first-telescope.com/. \n\nYou can discuss your options  and learn more about telescopes online at the yahoo telescopes group or the cloudynights.com forums.
676446
There are many different levels of building your own scope. THe simplest way is to buy the mirrors from a reputable company and build the mount and cell yourself. \n\nYou can go further and grind your own parabolic mirror. THis takes a fair amount of time. It has been said that if you want an 8 inch mirror it is faster to first make a four inch and then make the 8 inch rather than start with the 8 inch. You learn that much by doing the smaller (and hence easier) mirror. The difficulty here is that you have to get your mirror plated once you are finished, which requires it to be sent off someplace.\n\nMaking a refracting telescope is orders of magnitude harder since the lenses are harder to grind than the mirrors. Also, chromatic aberration is common with refractors.\n\nCheck with your local astronomy club. Also check back issues of Sky&Telescope magazine. THis is a big subject and not one to be dealt with completely in this forum.
915694
That would be an OK telescope for the price. But it wil be dissapointing. It is an OK beginers scope but for 50 or 60 more you could get a better Reflector (note: not a refractor). What you have would be OK for viewing the planets and the Moon. To really get your moneys worth I would suggest getting better eye pieces. But these would cost quite a bit ($30-$130 or more) so I would just get another telescope.\n\nIf you want to view stars and nebulae and galaxies I would go for a Reflector. The bigger the aperature (the diameter) the better, and more expensive. I would say that what you got is OK but not great. \n\nIf your boyfriend finds he likes astronomy and wants something a bit better but not break the bank then I would suggest geting a Meade ETX-125 ($500 on Ebay) or ETX-90. They have an auto guide (they follow the stars) and a computer that lets you select what you want to see from a menu and it just goes there (some set up required). And a bunch of other stuff.\n\nIf he wants  the good stuff I would suggest the Meade LX90GPS or the LX200R. These are big and expensive but very nice!\n\nI think what you got was OK for your boyfriend to try and find out if he likes it. But a relector would have been better and not much more expensive. Look on ebay for a reflector. You should beable to find a basic one for 150-200. \n\nI would suggest that if your boyfriend wants bigger telescope to do research on what would be best.
1032045
Download and run the program Stellarium from sourceforge.\n\nIts open source, and if you give it your location and the date/time it will show you the night sky for you locally and identify all of the constellations.
1097369
My personal reccomendation for a beginner with limited funds would be to get reflector on a dobsonian mount.  That is the type You move yourself.  Motorized mounts are very nice but they are costly.  Of most importance make sure the tripod and mount are sturdy.  Since a telescope is used to magnify - it will magnify the slightest movement and make the image blurry.  Incidently a Telescope does not magnify.  it only collects light to make the image brighter.  it is the function of the eyepiece to magnify.  I would suggest that you go to the website www.Astronomics.com.  They have been in business a long time and are very dependable and helpful.  They stand behind what they sell.  I have purchased scopes, eyepieces and filters from them over the years and am completly satisfied.  They have a site "how to choose a telescope"  Which you can download.  If You have further questions You can call them toll free and talk to someone who can help You.  Astronomy is a facinating hobby or even a lifetime occupation and the sooner You begin the better.  Also if there is an astronomy club in your area they are usually quite happy to share their knowledge with others.  They usually have "star parties"or viewing sessions and are glad to have visitors.   This would give You a chance to look through different types of scopes before investing in one.
901312
b) is the correct answer, as others have said. You know, telescopes are a lot easier to understand if you look at a diagram.\n\nYou can find some here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflector_telescope
850965
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keck_telescope
1039215
Download Stellarium from Sourceforge. You can have the night sky as it looks from your home on your PC then.
676921
You have to align the mount with the celstial equator.  Essentially, point the axis of the mount up at the North celestial pole.  rather than try that rather difficult stunt directly, find out your latitude.  The North celestial pole will be due north and have an altitude of your latitude above the northern horizon.  If the mount has dec and RA markings, there ought to be some sort of angle measuring device so you can measure the altitude of the axis of the equitorial mount when the mount is level.\n\nYou will also need built in levels or a plumb bob to make sure your telescope is not tilted when you do this.  Finally, you might want to devise some trick to make sure the north south orientation is correct, like lay out a long string that is aligned properly.  You can't just use a compass to do this either, since the north magnetic pole is not at the geographic north pole. The proper GPS device can help with this. Look up "magnetic declination" for more information on finding true north with a magnetic compass.\n\nBest of luck!  Finally, one word of warning:  a good refractor costs a fortune!  You probably should stick to fairly bright objects, or you might be dissappointed.  Also, look for a local astronomy club or local star parties in the newspaper.  Those guys can help you with learning telescope observing a great deal.
994052
I am not exactly certain what you are looking for.  There are binoculars especially make for atronomy.   Binoculars made for astronomical observation are met to be used with a sturdy tripod. They are too powerful to be hand held and too heavy.  They have very large objective lenses to gather as much light as possible. \n\nCelestron specialized in astronomical binoculars and they are reasonably priced.  A pair of 20x80 binoculars are about $169.00.  You will also need to spend quite a bit on a tripod. \n\nYou will find that there is a problem attempting to use heavy binoculars that have straight through viewing.  That is that you can not look at objects overhead.  You really require a 90 degree offset in the eyepiece.  Apogee makes a pair of that type that are somewhat more expensive, but if your are serious, you might very well be happier with that type.  They cost about $699.00.  That however is a whole lot less expensive than a similar pair made by Oberwerk--$1,300.\n\nIf you are interested in a pair of binoculars that you can use to look at the stars, then a pair of 10x50 is a good bet but they can be difficult to hold steady.  8x40 are much easier to hold steady.  7x50 give a very bright image because the gather a lot of light. \n\nGet a pair of good 8x40 binoculars and they will be great for looking at birds too. If you wear glasses get a pair with a long eye relief.  Celestron makes a pair of 8x42 Outland for $66.00 with 19 mm eye relief.  Frankly, I do not know how they sell them that cheaply. \n\nIf you seriously wish to do astronomical observation, you would be better advised to consider a telescope. \n\nCelestron makes a 90mm telescope called the C90.  I have one which I use for birding.  It is not the greatest in the world but it is not expensive $159.  And you can purchase additional eyepieces to increase the magnification. \n\nI am enclosing a link of a site that sell all of these and more.
375192
doood..... use google earth pro. its simply awsome !\nhappy viewing! try this ... if u have a laptop.... locate ur home and then walk out into an open area and see if u can see youself in the realtime satalite pic ! funy huh !?