Attn Dr Skywatcher

[Dawn]

Assuming the cloud ever clears from here what might I be able to see from my garden this fine May.

[Skywatcher]

The moon, Saturn beginning to wane the odd galaxy on a moonless night - Mercury was visible at the beginning of the month but that is going now.

Now the summer approaches we have Jupiter to look forward to as well as a host of other lovely things to see.

And he should be most impressive this year - excited about him I am

[Dawn]

Oooh Jupiter is a he.

Will I be able to see the red spot?

[josh.p.]

how much am I looking at for a scope that can see some cool stuff?

[Skywatcher]

Seriously I would get something second hand Josh - if you want I will help you look for stuff - on a clear still night Dawn you will easily be able to see the red spot if it is on show ( it spins around the planet)

[Skywatcher]

... and yes Jupiter is a he - king of planets

[ukwdwnut]

The moon, Saturn beginning to wane the odd galaxy on a moonless night - Mercury was visible at the beginning of the month but that is going now.

Now the summer approaches we have Jupiter to look forward to as well as a host of other lovely things to see.

And he should be most impressive this year - excited about him I am

cant wait to see some photos of him then chris, esp with the new camera

heres hopingfor clear skys when hes about

[Dawn]

Josh we spent less than £200 on our stuff.

[Skywatcher]

£200 if spent right can get you an awful lot of kit but you need to be aware of what you want to use if for and see before you ask me to make suggestions - I am happy spending your money

you will NOT see stuff exactly like the pictures but even modest scopes WILL show you

planets as discs not stars

the rings around Saturn ( as Dawn will testify and that was in a year when it was VERY hard to see the rings)

Bands of storms on jupiter

Moons going around other planets

Craters, rilles , seas fault lines on the moon

milky hazy patches that are deep sky glaxies and nebulas

bright comets

all this can be seen easiy with a 100-200 quid scope but the will be small

and with most things in life the more you pay the more you get

I have had 2 second hand scopes so far and sold 3 - the best bang per buck is a second hand scope - but you ave t decide wha you want to do

Dawns is great as it has a good aperture but it has no motor so Dawn and Adrian have to learn their way around the sky and also things keep drifting out of the eyepiece, also they wont be able to take pics - but in many ways they will be better prepared for the next step - they could have got a less good scope with a computer and motor that would have found everything for them and tracked it but they wouldn't have seen so much.



stop me if I am rambling but I could write a sentence or an essay on this

[Dawn]

Adrian went to a local specialist store and said "this is what we want to do and this is how much money I have" and the man told him what he needed. We're very happy with it. Couple of Skywatcher recommended books and a few texts in the dark and we're well away.