Hi ppls,

*sigh* Another newsgroup to subscribe to along with gardening, bass
guitar...
It's all good :-)

Anyway, hubby made me very happy this Christmas and gave me a short tube
Newtonian equatorial reflector. Aperture 150mm/6", focal length 750mm.
I've focused and aligned the sighting scope using the 25mm and 6.5mm
eyepieces. Sadly, since receiving it, we have had nothing but cloudy skies
at night, so all I've managed is some daytime viewing. This has allowed me
to experiment with eyepiece combinations and realise that the 1.5X erecting
eyepiece is good for making images the correct way around, but actually
slightly impairs the view. I've also worked out that the 2X Barlow eyepiece
works great with the 25mm, but is not as great with the 6.5mm... a very
small step on the big learning curve.

My question is; as we have a great view of Orion right now, will my scope
spec allow me to see the Orion Nebula or NGC 2024 in any shape, form or
detail? (I can't wait to find out for myself - the forecast says cloud
until probably Monday :-/)

I've been using Starry Night software for a little while and realise that I
should be able to at least get a good peek at Saturn and Pleiades at this
time of year. (Hubby was just looking over my shoulder and said that if
it's still cloudy, I should just aim my scope at my computer screen when
I'm using 'Starry Night', lol!)

As an aside, I'm in Houston and am considering going along to the Johnson
Space Center Astro. Society - any feedback as to if that would be suitable
for a beginner like me, would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading!
--
Lynda