Start by focusing on something a mile away during the daytime. Make
sure the scope can reach focus. The stars and moon will come to focus
at about the same position. Also, check the collimation. You can find
help on that at
http://skytonight.com/howto/diy/3306876.html

Once you have that taken care of, try the moon again, but start with
the 25mm eyepiece.

Try looking at http://skytonight.com/community/organizations to find an
astronomy club near you. Go to one of their public nights and take your
daughter and her telescope. Set up next to someone who has a telescope
which looks similar (eyepiece in the side of the tube near the top) and
ask for some help. You and your daughter will have a good time and
you'll learn a lot more than anyone here can explain. A hands on demo
will help you see how to get your scope to work for you.

Clear Skies!

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/
************************************************** **



On Jan 1, 7:43 am, wrote:
Just received a Meade 114EQ-ASTR (4.5" Equatorial Reflecting
Telescope), not exactly the recommendation on here from what I've seen,
for my daughter and I to start viewing with. Last night I attempted to
view the moon through 25 mm (and 9 mm) eyepieces but could not focus to
get anything other than bright light. Is the moon just too bright (when
full and overhead in this case) for this instrument or am I just too
much of a beginner? :-) I didn't have any problem focusing on various
stars though.

thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments
JRL