Can anyone help me locate planets with my telescope?

Question

hi,i got a telescope recently and im kinda sick of looking at the moon can you give me some tips on how to see some planets with it?im in ireland if that matters.

Answer 1

asfasfafs

Answer 2

This'll help you:

http://www.astroviewer.com/

Answer 3

not much to see at the moment. jupiter is hard to miss. you're sol on just about everything else. uranus and neptune are visible, but are not very exciting.

try the star chart sky thingy on sky & telescope's web page.

try some other sights, like m13, m27, m57, albireo and epsilon lyrae. there is more to teh night sky than planets...

Answer 4

saturn can be seen from earth u can even see it's rings i mean holy craap how can u not see it? it's almost the size of jupiter! and it is relatively close..well there are many times u can see it try looking for it every night u might get lucky

Answer 5

http://www.stellarium.org/

This is the best freeware interactive beginner star chart available.  Download it.  Then tell it where you are and it will tell you exactly what you see.  This can be used anywhere on the planet Earth.  It gives you real time images.  It can give you future and past images too.  This will answer so many questions for you.  Enjoy!  

Answer 6

The problem is that most of the bright planets are currently grouped closely together, but that grouping is very close to the Sun. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn are all visible right after sunset in the western sky, but set right after the Sun. That leaves Jupiter in splendid solitude in the southern sky most of the night, though it won't be very high from your latitude. It's the brightest object in the sky, after the Sun, Moon, and Venus, so easy to spot.

Later in the night Neptune and Uranus rise, but they really aren't much to see in a small telescope. So I'd concentrate on Jupiter for now, looking for its four bright moons and dusky cloud belts. Good luck!

Answer 7

I recently had a post on YA that showed how to predict the Right Ascension and Declination of Jupiter on any date. Yahoo Answers staff deleted it and sent me a Violation Notice Email. When I appealed their decision, they just wrote back and said that my content did indeed violate either the Yahoo Answers Guidelines or the Terms of Service, and that the answer would remain removed.

You can see my entire answer at

http://jenab6.livejournal.com/15453.html

If you want to make an ephemeris calculation for one of the other planets, instead of Jupiter, then you'll find the elements for all the solar system's planets at

http://jenab6.livejournal.com/3160.html

Answer 8

Captain -

Saturn is so close to the Sun tonight that it's probably not a good idea to look for it for a few weeks anyway (ADDED: and then it will be visible only in the morning hours until after Christmas). Venus and Mars can probably be found shortly after sunset. Jupiter is currently a great target, and is the brightest object in the sky, seen in the south all evening long. You should be able to see the four Galilean Moons and the bands of storms flying around it's equator. A good guide can be found using the free download at stellarium.org. Good Luck and Clear Skies!

Answer 9

There are some great Web sites available now that can tell you which planets are visible at any given time from your area, and show you how to find them.  I use the one below.  You can create an account there, during which the site will determine your location, and it can tell you exactly when planets and other heavenly bodies rise and set, and can show you a starmap of exactly what the night sky looks like for you at any given time.