how do i see the planets using a telescope?
405723
Most modern telescopes come with a guidance computer. You can just enter the name of the body you're looking for and the telescope will adjust accordingly. \n\nIf you don't have one of those, the best thing to do is follow the course of the sun. Planets are on the same plane, so they will more or less follow the same path that the sun does. \n\nExcept Pluto. He's just nuts.
1134720
Hi, great question.  I got a new telescope a year ago and have found a couple of excellent sites.  First try 'skyandtelescope.com'  this site has several features including a sky chart.  Enter your info, and it gives hour by hour info on whats up there to see, as well as info on upcoming events.  It offers 'how to advice' for telescopes, binocs and  astro photography.\nThe second is 'astromart.com'   this is one of THE BEST and most helpfull sites I have been to.  What a great forum.  Several active members are well known scientists and professors as well as very knowledgeable amature astronomy buffs.  No question is to stupid for them and you won't find a better place to gain advice and knowledge.   Questions posted are answered very quickly, usually in no more then a few hours, sometimes immediately.  Try both of these, I'm sure you will find what you need.    They are both  free of charge, believe it or not!!!\n\nLet me know what you think,  my s/n on astromart is lilkritter!!  Good Luck!
92830
A type of telescope known as "refractor." Telescopes called "reflectors" are most often used to view distant celestial objects.
717490
Stellar navigation is an ancient and fascinating art. It's difficult to tell you how to do it without knowing exactly where you are. In the northern hemisphere, for example, you have the Giant Dipper as a reference point. in the southern hemisphere, there is the Southern Cross. The time of year is also important. At certain times of the year, Venus is the first visible star in the night sky. \nThere are excellent star maps in the library, or if you happen to live near a planetarium, there are wonderful 'virtual night sky' presentations that can guide you through the learning process. \nJust as an experiment, pick a warm summer night, take a blanket and a pillow, and map the major stars you see overhead. Note the time. An hour later, re-do your map, and see how various stars and planets have moved. Repeat an hour later. You'll be amazed at how quickly the night sky changes, but once you establish your reference points, it gets much easier to locate yourself in reference to the stars. \nHave fun out there!
318295
At the nearest celestial observatory.  Y'may have to drive a few hours and walk a ways, but many of them do allow public tours.  Call ahead and ask.  Those connected with Cal Tech used to be particularly happy to have visitors.\n\nWhat'll happen is, they'll show you around the observatory, tell you what projects they're working on and give you an idea of why it's important.  They'll allow you to view whatever their telescopes are looking at during your visit.  Those images will in most cases be displayed on a computer screen.  Some observatories, but not all, will have one or more optical telescopes that they'll let you look through to get a direct look at whatever they're focussed on during your visit.  \n\nAlternatively, some amateur astronomers will let you take a peek through their own telescopes.  A favorite way of getting the public involved is to host a "star party".  That's usually where an astronomy club invites the public to come to a park or the beach where club members bring their instruments to show off to the public.  Some of them will have dozens of instruments you can get a good look at.\n\nThe reason for this is, no matter where on earth you go, you cannot see much more than about ten thousand stars from any vantage point, whereas even a modest telescope can show you many times that number by allowing you to view celestial objects that are too dim or too close together to be seen by the unaided human eye.\n\nGo for it!  It's fun!
491826
Pretty much any telescope will see 'to' Uranus. Occasionally it can even be seen without any optical aid. That said, do not expect to see more than a small blue dot, even with a fairly big scope (one past what you are willing to pay).\n\nGenerally speaking, refractors are better for planetary viewing because they allow a higher magnification (longer focal length). The problem is that they are subject to chromatic abberation (little rainbows around bright objects) unless you spend a lot to correct it with good quality lenses. Reflectors will more often have spherical abberation, which tends to blur out features, so they tend not to be as good for planets.\n\nNext, are you talking about just the telescope or is the $600 for the telescope AND eyepieces? The right eyepieces can make a huge difference, so don't neglect them when shopping. For planets, get a couple of medium to high power Plossl eyepieces.\n\nBelow is a site with some good refractors. Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Orion Telescopes.
845520
A 6" Newtonian is an excellent starter scope.  If you can get a clock drive to go with it, you'll have countless hours of entertainment.  That kind of scope has all the power you will need to see some of the more spectacular deep sky objects as well as all of the planets.  You'll be able to see four of the moons of Jupiter and the colored bands and even the great red spot on occasion.  You'll see the rings of Saturn quite well and possibly even the Cassini Division and Titan.\nYou'll be able to see Uranus and Neptune, but I doubt you will see any features.\nFor deep space, start out with the nebula in Orion and M31.  There are some nice open clusters in Cancer (the bee hive) and then you can move on to globulars like M3 and M13.  You'll be able to see binaries like Alberio and Cor Caroli (my personal fav) and even the Ring Nebula in Lyra without any problems whatsoever.  \nGood Choice for a beginner's scope.
348917
I did a google search for this and came up with this site.\n\nNine Planets: http://www.nineplanets.org/intro.html\n\nIf you scroll down the home page on this site, you will find a list of FAQ's with links to other pages. If you continue on you will see a list of links to other astronomy sites. I checked out the Nine Planets for kids link and it looks like what you're after. It is kid friendly and offers several free printouts for teachers. Check it out!\n\nhttp://www.nineplanets.org/index.html\n\nGood luck and happy star watching!
342880
Greetings,\n\nYou should still be able to see Orion, but you may have to content with less than dark skies.\n\nGo out as soon as you begin to see stars and look south and between 45 degrees and 90 degrees up.  Find the three belt stars and go from there.\n\nTo determine how far up is 45 degrees:\n\nHold your fist at arms length towards the sky.  The amount of sky your fist covers is about 10 degrees, regardless of the length of your arm or size of your fist.\n\nFollow this link to the Sky and Telescope magazine website and you can plug in your city name, etc.  A customized interactive star chart will help guide you.\n\nhttp://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/article_1220_1.asp#\n\n-matt
676367
A 5" scope should be more than enough.  There are hobbyists on the net that talk of watching Jovian transits with 4"\n\nThe site link below has an uncrippled shareware program JupSat95 that calculates a lot of info about Jupiter include satellite transit information,\n\n"When a satellite is transiting Jupiter, (passing in front of Jupiter's disk), then it's numerical information is printed in Yellow."\n\nhttp://indigo.ie/~gnugent/JupSat95/
799829
Looks like you need to read the documentation on the website.  Is does say that it's all simulation mode for now, so you're not actually controlling the telescope yet.
920243
Make a Simple Telescope\nYou will need the following: \ntwo magnifying glasses - perhaps 1 - 1.5 inches (2.5-3 cm) diameter (it works best if one is larger than the other) \na cardboard tube - paper towel roll or gift-wrapping paper roll (it helps if it is long) \nduct tape \nscissors \na ruler, yard stick, or tape measure \nsheet of printed paper - newspaper or magazine will do \nTo assemble your telescope, do the following: \nGet the two magnifying glasses and a sheet of printed paper. \nHold one magnifying glass (the bigger one) between you and the paper. The image of the print will look blurry. \nPlace the second magnifying glass between your eye and the first magnifying glass. \nMove the second glass forward or backward until the print comes into sharp focus. You will notice that the print appears larger and upside down. \nHave a friend measure the distance between the two magnifying glasses and write the distance down. \nCut a slot in the cardboard tube near the front opening about an inch (2.5 cm) away. Do not cut all the way through the tube. The slot should be able to hold the large magnifying glass. \nCut a second slot in the tube the same distance from the first slot as your friend wrote down. This is where the second magnifying glass will go. \nPlace the two magnifying glasses in their slots (big one at front, little one at back) and tape them in with the duct tape \nLeave about 0.5 - 1 inch (1 - 2 cm) of tube behind the small magnifying glass and cut off any excess tube remaining. \nCheck to see that it works by looking at the printed page. You may have to play slightly to get the exact distances between the two glasses right so that the image comes to a focus. \nWith your telescope, you should be able to see the moon and some star clusters as well as birds, etc. \n\n+++++++++++++++++++++++\n\nMake a Simple Microscope\nYou can make a simple microscope by using magnifying glasses and paper: \nGet two magnifying glasses and a sheet of printed paper. \nHold one magnifying glass a short distance above the paper. The image of the print will look a little bit larger. \nPlace the second magnifying glass between your eye and the first magnifying glass. \nMove the second glass up or down until the print comes into sharp focus. You will notice that the print appears larger than it does in the first magnifying glass. \n\nI've included two links below for this and other info.\n\nMyst
628131
It depends on what you want to observe. For the planets and moon, you can do very well in the city. If you want to see galaxies and faint nebula, you want the largest aperture you can get.\n\nLet me recommend to resources. First, start monitoring www.astromart.com It the classified section for astronomers. But before you buy anything, go to http://skyandtelescope.com/resources/organizations/ and find your local astro club. Contact them to find out when their next public night is and go. You'll get to look through a lot of different telescopes at a lot of different objects. By the end of an hour or two, you will know what interests you most and what kind of telescope you want. And, you are likely to get a good deal as there are always members looking to upgrade from their first scope.\n\nIf you are intersested in astronomy, try\nhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing \nYou will find a large number of amateur astronomers who are glad to help.\n\nChuck
1005733
Since most people have either accurately or sarcastically answered your question, here is some fun things you can look for while planet gazing.  \n\nThe inner planets (Mercury & Venus) will show you phases the same as the moon has except when they get close to a full "planet" (like a full moon) they will be very close to the other side of their orbit and will be difficult to see due to being close to the sun.  The closer in the orbit crescents are more interesting anyway.  On the outer planets, Mars will be reddish with some darker parts and sometimes you can see the polar "ice" caps (said to be frozen carbon dioxide).  Jupiter (the largest) has the ongoing "red spot" (thought to be a giant storm) that passes around it.  Another interesting Jupiter tidbit is you can clearly and easily see four of its moons (which will change position from night to night) with just a moderately powerful telescope.   Saturn has, of course, it's rings which will be at different angles of view depending on what part of its orbit it's in.  The rest (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) are very, very distant and extremely difficult to see with anything except very expensive equipment. \n\nAnd don't just focus on the planets.  There is a multitude of clusters , galaxys, multiple star systems and nebulae to check out (not to mention the occasional comet and meteor shower that comes now and then)\n\nHope you have fun with it...
454431
u need a software called Google Earth\n\nWith this softeare u can see ur house too...or anybody house around the world!!\n\nFor Description:\nFly from space to your neighborhood. Type in an address and zoom right in\n\nSearch for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions\n\nTilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings.\n\nSave and share your searches and favorites. Even add your own annotations\n\nhttp://earth.google.com/\n\nDownload here:\n\nhttp://dl.google.com/earth/GoogleEarth.exe
494425
You can buy kits at places like Hobby Lobby, but you can do way better on your own. I used the information in the links below to make a scale model where I used a basket ball for the Sun and various pin heads and acorns for the planets. The first link below is an on line calculator that will tell you how big to make the planets and how far apart to place them if you just enter the size you want to make the Sun. I bet you are surprised at how small and far apart the planets really are!
366979
You have two very good eyepieces already. Do you want more power? I don't think buying another eyepiece will help you, a 10mm eyepiece is close to the limit of your telescope performance (I guess its around 900mm focal length?). You will loose a lot of quality image with a shorter focus eyepiece, and you already have Plossls which gives very good quality images. If you want something different maybe an Erfle, but it is wide angle with low power, awesome for milky way. If you expected more, maybe the problem is that it is a small reflector. Also if you want to see deep space objects, the more power the less light you will gather, deep space objects are faint, so your eyepieces in my opinion are just right for your telescope. I think a pleasent experience will depend more in having very dark nights, with no city light contamination. This makes a lot of difference.\nPlanetary and lunar filters never have surprised me very much, I wouldn't spend money on them, but that is only my opinion.\nAnyway there's a lot to see with a 4.5, you will be able to see Jupiter's red spot (very faint), and Saturn's rings, but don't expect to see them big. There are lots, lots of clusters that don't need power, only light gathering. As I say before it is very important to watch in a place with no light contamination.\nYou won't get discourage if you learn what to aim at. Good luck and good dark nights.\n\n---Addition---\nWatching a full moon with a 4.5 hurts a bit, but it won't burn your retina, don't worry. You can cover some of the light entrance of the telescope if you don't have a filter.