HELP ME PLEASE!!! astronomy

Question

I have a Simmons astronomical talescope with a 4mm 15mm and a 23mm eyepiece. I live on the isle of wight, south coast of england. what things can i see in the night sky and how, where and when? maybe could u tell me how to see the mily way. coulddya give me some info. cheers me deers. peace xx

Answer 1

Well, Well, Well, you are indeed advanced and trying very hard to "see" stuff, I don't know much, however, what I do know I'll help ya' with, "k".  However, from where you are, that's gonna' be hard, cause I feel that you aren't gonna' get a clear enough sky to actually "see" much of anything, but the Milky Way.  Unless, of course, you can get high enough to "see" more.  

The Milky Way, by the way, is the easiest thing to see.  Any stars that can be observed, at night, from almost anywhere on Earth, is part of the Milky Way.  It is all around us cause we, and out puny little solar system, is just a small part of the Milky Way.  Ya' can try and "find" the Orian nebula, part of the Constallation of Orian.  Ya' can maybe find the three stars that are in Orian's belt, then the nebula is down from those stars.  In the "sword" of Orian!

However, you may be at an advantage, due to the fact that we are, in fact, located in one of the distant arms of the Milky Way.  Therefore, you may be able to "see" much, much more than expected.  Constallations, can be seen, maybe.  Oh yes and Space is Black, and therefore, you may see only gas and dust and dark spaces, some of these are Constallations, too.  And then there's the Intersteller Mediem that you may be able to be "see", even!        

Answer 2

This is likely a 60mm scope with a 2700mm focal length.  So the 4mm eyepiece gives you 675x, the 15mm gives you 180x, and the 23mm gives you 117x magnifications.

I have a 60mm spotting scope.  I use an eyepiece that gives me 22x.  I also have an eyepiece that gives me 60x, which i never use.  It gives me dimmer views that are grainy.  So, i'm afraid that none of the eyepieces that came with your scope match your scope even a little.  This is quite disappointing, but common with department store scopes. These scopes often have unstable mounts as well.  This can be frustrating.  You get something lined up in the finder, and by the time the instrument stops shaking, the object has drifted out of view.  And so on.  It's enough to turn you off to the hobby.

So use only the 23mm eyepiece. It's the least bad. You can see craters on the Moon.  You can see the moons of Jupiter.  You can see the rings of Saturn.  However, Saturn's rings are approaching edge on - so do it fast, or wait.  Mars will be an orange blob, probably at best.  There are double stars you can see.  Alberio, for example, is far enough apart, and has really nice blue and gold components.  Mizar, in the handle of the big dipper (plow?) can be easily split. Various clusters, like M13 should show more than a fuzz ball - at least some of the dots will resolve.  The double cluster in Perseus is also good.  Both of them.  You may not have the field of view for it in your main scope for both (probably won't).  Maybe your finder scope will be good for this.  The Great Orion nebula, M42 should be visible.  And the Great Andromeda Galaxy, M31 should be visible.

My recommendation is this.  Go to a local astronomy club.  Let them show you how to use your scope, and let them show you want can be seen in a real instrument.  My 10" scope was $800.  But that money would buy me over 26 years of membership in my club.  My club has loaner scopes, an observatory, and even a 22" scope, all well maintained.  And, i get to talk to other people with similar interests.

Answer 3

Lol all the stars you see in the night sky are the milky way (well pretty much) I have a favourite website i always use to know whats in the sky tonight, its  www.earthsky.org/skywatching/    Its great and always updated.

Hope you enjoy the night sky as much as i do!

=)

Answer 4

you need to ask an astronomer , she is a pro at scope help

http://asktheastronomer.blogspot.com

Answer 5

You have omitted the most important part of the information - the aperture and focal lenght of you telescope.

As for what you can see with a small telescope, you can download (for free) a monthly sky map with a list of interesting objects from:

www.skymaps.com

On page of there is a list of "binocular objects".  All these are withing reach of even the most modest telescope.  The items listed as "telescopic objects" will typically required at least 100mm aperture scope.

Answer 6

Hi Jed -

You have not mentioned the size of the scope. I suspect that it is a 60mm refractor. Summer is a good season to see all kinds of things in the northern hemisphere. If tonight is clear, you can start with Jupiter, which looks like a bright star in the south. With sufficient magnification, you should be able to see the 4 Galilean moons circling the planet Jupiter. When the Moon is visible, you can get a pretty good look at that as well.

The Milky Way is nearly overhead once darkness sets in. The center of the galaxy can be seen in the south, toward the constellation Sagittarius. If you can see the Northern Cross, or Cygnus the Swan, flying along the Milky Way with her neck extended to the south, then you can find the star that is at Cygnus' head - at the southern end of the constellation. That star (Albireo) is a beautiful double star, with one star bright blue and other star bright gold.

I hate to go too far, because I suspect that you can see more with a decent set of binoculars than with the telescope that you have, which I am afraid is not a very good one. There are hundreds of objects that you can see once you know where to look.