What can I see in the sky with a meade 114mm reflector?

Question

I have a meade 114 mm newtonian reflector telescope, and I have just gotten interested in astronomy. This is my telescope: http://www.opticsplanet.net/meade-114eq-ast-model-45-f-88-equatorial-telescope-04056.html.

I am just curious about what I might be able to see with it. I am not about to buy a ccd camera, I just want to know which astronomical objects I might be able to view with it.

Answer 1

http://www.stellarium.org/

This is a great freeware site that you can download.  It is an interactive star chart.  Just tell it where you are and it will tell you what you see...and where to look.  

Among other scopes, I have a little 114 Nexstar GT and I can see a lot better if I put better eyepieces in it than what came with it.  

I would like to suggest that you join a local astronomy club or Astronomical Society.  You will be able to join them at their star parties and help you to get the very most out of your scope plus help teach you where and what to see in your skies.  They are really nice people and you will get a lot out of your membership.  I promise.  

Dont try to learn everything all at once.  Patience is the key with Astronomy.  I try to learn one new thing each time that I go out.  That way, I retain what I learned from night to night.  If you try to learn it all at once, you get overwhelmed and forget it all then get frustrated and leave it all behind.  Dont let that happen.  Stick with it and be patient.

Answer 2

...couldn't follow your reference, but generally a 114 mm scope is not going to show a lot...rings of Saturn, moons of Jupiter, some of the larger and brighter deep space objects (M13, M42, some of the M4 types in Scorpio perhaps), and some beautiful double stars--the trick is finding the darn things!

Also, most smaller scopes are so lightweight as to be difficult to keep them steady on an object.

Not to discourage you, just looking at the moon can be quite an experience in a small scope!  I'd suggest looking at the moon at a phase other than full, btw....it won't hurt the eyes, but at full moon there are no shadows, so there's not a lot to see.

I'd suggest looking at the Meade LightBridge series of "Dobsonian" scopes...a LOT more mirror for the price.  btw, you posted at about 3 a.m. here in the eastern U.S., so you might repost , hitting us at about 8 pm for more answers....

Answer 3

The first telescope through which I observed was a 114 mm (a.k.a. "four-and-a-half-inch") reflector -- Newtonian.

It was not mine, but I remember spending hours with my friend (who, much later, became president of an astronomical society).  At the time, it was his second telescope; he had started with a 60 mm reflector.

That was mumblety-mumble years ago...

You will easily see some bands on Jupiter, the Galilean moons around Jupiter, Saturn with its ring and at least one satellite (Titan).

The most interesting things might me star clusters and nebulae.  Get a list of "Messier Objects" and start tracking them down one by one (there are 110 -- my first time around took me 8 months to catch them all).  Some will be at the limit of what you can see with a 114 mm.

The idea will be to "train" your eyes.  This takes time (like weeks or months).  The fifth time you look at Jupiter, you will see details that you could not see the first time.  The twentieth time, even more.

Keep a log.  Do drawings.

Now that I am retired, I have a cumbersome 250 mm and, for casual observing, a recently purchased  80 mm... and I have purchased a small CCD for it.  Definitely not the same quality as a 30-inch university telescope, but still lots of fun.