Just borrowed a telescope....but i'm a clueless noob!!

120_Minutes

hey, i just borrowed a telescope from my brother in law, who rarely used it. i've always had a passing interest in astronomy, but i have no idea where to start with this. is there a faq, a how to or maybe even an online manual for this telescope? i think its one of the lidl jobs.. anyway here are some pics so that you experts can give your two cents!

thanks in advance.

Flukey

Given that there is a full moon this week and Jupiter is very prominent, those two are as good a place to start as any. IF you are not sure how to do so, get your brother-in-law to help you set it up and give you a few starting tips. Once you set up and start looking anywhere in the night sky, you'll see a lot more than you would with the naked eye. Even if you don't know what exactly it is that you are seeing, it can still be fascinating. The moon is great to look at, although you'll find it can be a bit dazzling when it is full, as your telescope will be gathering more light. Jupiter is a good sight too. Just don't expect to see something like the classical photos you see of Jupiter in newspapers, magazines and on TV. Even so, it is a good sight. What you will see, spread almost in a line around it are it's moons. They'll just look like faint stars, but they are identifiable by the fact that they are always almost straight in line with Jupiter's equator.

There are loads of great astronomy sites out there which will help you to know what you are seeing and what is visible in the current night sky. Just do a search and you'll find loads. The one we always recommend is www.heavens-above.com as it is well worth going to. There are plenty of others too.

If you are going to be keeping the telescope for a long time, it might be worth investing in a good sky atlas, which will give you all sorts of information on the night skies. Any good bookshop will have them. Even just go in and have a browse, if you aren't going to be keeping it. You should also invest in a pair of binoculars, whether you are keeping the telescope or not, but would like to keep up your interest in the night skies. Buy at least a pair of 10 by 50 to get good use out of them. If you do get a pair, then get a sky atlas. There are small sized ones that can be easily carried around. Philip's do good ones, but there are others. Astronomy is a fascinating hobby and one that is very easy to get into. All you have to do is look up.

120_Minutes

thanks for the reply, but my bro in law hardly used the thing, bought it on a whim and is as clueless as me!

i borrowed a beginners book on astronomy from the local library, so thats a good start. the weather has been pretty crappy so far so until it gets better the telescope is staying indoors....oh well.

Flukey

Don't worry, you'll learn and when you do, you'll be glad you did. Once you can get it set up, then you can start. Don't worry too much about the heavy details. Like as if it was a fancy camera that you never use all the facilities of, just point it where you want and off you go. The book you have got will help.

Cloud and rain are our enemies, but there are plenty of nights to go out and enjoy the wonders of the night sky, even with no equipment whatsoever. One great thing about winter is the longer nights and darker skies and the fact that the best constellations of all, with Orion being the most outstanding, will be on view. So while most people look forward to the summer - not that we've had a great one - and the long bright evenings, those of us interested in astronomy love the long dark winter nights too. Keep coming in here, and you'll be kept up to date on what to see. There are some tough threads in here, but most of them are easy enough and you'll get good ideas of what is out there and where to find it. So even if you never master that telescope, keep on looking in here.