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Hi,

Thanks for the tips on locating Saturn.

It took a couple of tries, but I finally found it low in the horizon
directly east of our house which faces east.

It was pretty magnificent looking, even in this cheap telescope we are
using at the moment!

Before I located Saturn I fixed on a yellowish/redish looking star
that I thought was a planet. This star was north of Orions belt. It
was really bright looking and I thought it looked like a planet in the
scope, but according to a sky chart I looked at there was no planet in
that location last night.

Anyone have a guess what that object may have been?

This scope I got our son for Christmas is really hard to use. Worse
than my Sears telescope I had as a boy. It is also not able to aim
well at obects high in the sky. It seems to only recline to about a
60 degree angle. I had to lower the legs on one side just to get it
to point higher in the sky.

Would appreciate any suggestions for something halfway decent that can
aim high into the sky and is easy to use? Last time I posted on this
topic I was pretty close to trying to find a used orange Celestron C8,
but they are hard to find in good condition. Would appreciate any
suggestions for a decent scope I can buy new for under $500. Just
want something that is stable and easy to use and navigate the sky
with.

Thanks in advance,
Steve


Congratulations on finding Saturn. Now that you now where to find it --
remember -- Saturn rises earlier each day, thus, if you look for it at the
same time each day, you'll have to look higher and higher in the sky.
Eventually, Saturn will disappear from view as the Earth and Saturn move to
opposite sides of the sun.

Here's something you might want to do. Did you notice the moons of Saturn?
Saturn has 19 or so moons:
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/l...urn/moons.html

You should be able to see the 3 - 5 largest moons in your scope -- they look
like little stars near Saturn. Now -- here's what to do:
-- Check out Saturn every night at the same time, or close to the same time.
-- Draw a sketch of what you see -- it doesn't have to be to scale, perfect,
or beautiful. Be certain to note the locations of the little points of
light you see around Saturn -- these are Saturn's moons, they look like tiny
stars. In fact, you may also see stars behind Saturn.
-- As you compare the sketches from day to day, you'll notice that some of
the "stars" around Saturn are in different positions each day -- these are
Saturn's moons. You'll notice that other "stars" don't move from day to
day -- these are stars that are in the scope's field of view. The moons
change position because they orbit around Saturn and what you are seeing ss
the changes in the moon's positions as they move around Saturn.

If you're looking for a better scope, I recommend the Orion XT-6 or XT-8.
These are Dobsonian-mounted reflectors and are very good scopes. They come
with two eyepieces -- you could add a Barlow which would double the number
of eyepieces.
http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...EGORY&itemID=9

If you have a few extra bucks, you might get the Intelliscope feature. In
fact, an XT-8 Intelliscope would be a very good buy.
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...oductID=237857

Go here and check out my experiences with the XT-8 (lost in Hurricane
Katrina) and my XT-12 Intelliscope.
http://www.schlatter.org/Dad/Astronomy/my%20scopes.htm