The Universe is Freaking Awesome!!!

[Pete Hanlin]

As some of you might have guessed from the subject line, I finally purchased my daughter a telescope!

As luck would have it, she's at a friend's house tonight, the scope was already assembled, and its perfectly clear and 41 degrees out in Dallas tonight (I can already tell I'm going to need gloves for this hobby).

So... I take the thing out and try to get the Autostar 497 thing to work. Couldn't quite get it to align, so I decided to look at the moon (easy enough to find). Pretty cool (not quite as magnified as I expected, but there are a LOT of craters on that sucker)!

Anyway, I decided to see if I could focus on this really bright "star" not too far from the moon. When I finally got it centered, it turned out to be a thumbtack-sized round disc with a line of 4 little stars around it. A little focusing and I noticed the "star" had stripes on it- and realized I accidentally found JUPITER! Freaking awesome!

After realigning the Autostar a few times, I got to where it would finally find the moon pretty easily. I'm sure I'll figure out the alignment as time goes on.

Thanks to everyone who offered advice on the scope (Brian, Robert, Steve, etc.)! I'm afraid you'll be disappointed to hear I purchased a used Meade DS-2102 refractor with Autostar 497, and 26mm & 9.7mm eyepieces. However, at only $150 (used lightly by a retired fellow), I figure I can see if Sara is interested in astronomy and purchase a larger scope later (I think I'm already hooked, though - so when bonus time comes, I'm gonna go to an 8" or larger dob- finding stuff in the sky isn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be).

Turns out there are TONS of stars in the sky you don't see with the naked eye. Cool, cool, cool... Get your kids/yourself a telescope for Christmas- astronomy rocks! I can't wait to see Saturn- but it doesn't "rise" till 3am.
[IMG]file:///D:/DOCUME%7E1/PHANLI%7E1.ESS/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG]That's about the size of what I saw...

[FVCCHRIS]

Sounds cool! Wish I could see some of that.

[hcjilson]

Pete, Don't forget.........this week is Space Week on the discovery channel!

BTW Planets show up because of reflected sunlight and tend to stand out as brighter than stars. Many of what you are calling stars may indeed be galaxies! I'm happy for you!

[Striderswife]

A few years ago we got Strider a telescope for Christmas. We were living in rural Wisconsin, and our backyard was perfect for star-gazing! The first night we had it, we set it up in the house and hooked it up to the TV. It was neat how we had to keep adjusting it, to keep the moon on the screen, as it moved through the sky.

Sadly, since we're back in the city, it's been back in the box. It was fun while it lasted. I hope you guys get lots of use of yours!

[gemstone]

Originally Posted by Pete Hanlin

As some of you might have guessed from the subject line, I finally purchased my daughter a telescope!

As luck would have it, she's at a friend's house tonight, the scope was already assembled, and its perfectly clear and 41 degrees out in Dallas tonight (I can already tell I'm going to need gloves for this hobby).

So... I take the thing out and try to get the Autostar 497 thing to work. Couldn't quite get it to align, so I decided to look at the moon (easy enough to find). Pretty cool (not quite as magnified as I expected, but there are a LOT of craters on that sucker)!

Anyway, I decided to see if I could focus on this really bright "star" not too far from the moon. When I finally got it centered, it turned out to be a thumbtack-sized round disc with a line of 4 little stars around it. A little focusing and I noticed the "star" had stripes on it- and realized I accidentally found JUPITER! Freaking awesome!

After realigning the Autostar a few times, I got to where it would finally find the moon pretty easily. I'm sure I'll figure out the alignment as time goes on.

Thanks to everyone who offered advice on the scope (Brian, Robert, Steve, etc.)! I'm afraid you'll be disappointed to hear I purchased a used Meade DS-2102 refractor with Autostar 497, and 26mm & 9.7mm eyepieces. However, at only $150 (used lightly by a retired fellow), I figure I can see if Sara is interested in astronomy and purchase a larger scope later (I think I'm already hooked, though - so when bonus time comes, I'm gonna go to an 8" or larger dob- finding stuff in the sky isn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be).

Turns out there are TONS of stars in the sky you don't see with the naked eye. Cool, cool, cool... Get your kids/yourself a telescope for Christmas- astronomy rocks! I can't wait to see Saturn- but it doesn't "rise" till 3am.
[IMG]file:///D:/DOCUME%7E1/PHANLI%7E1.ESS/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG]That's about the size of what I saw...

Mine is a cheapy , but aligning it is the most difficult. Stars just look like bigger stars on mine. The moon is great to see. You do have to chase it accross the sky though. It will not stay in one place.