Steve wrote:
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!

I never doubted you for a 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 isn't really a guess. It was Betelgeuse, a star that got its name
from an unfortunate misreading of the Arabic yed-ul-jawz, rhymes with
"bed'l how's."

You would do well to visit http://skytonight.com/howto/basics. At the
same time, you should buy a planisphere, perhaps something like this
http://www.shopatsky.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=100
or something that you find at your telescope store -- the one staffed
by experts and that sells only telescopes and related gear. If you
don't know where that is, search the web and ask someone in your local
astronomy club, or call Company Seven http://www.company7.com. Every
club that I know of welcomes beginners. After you've mastered the
planisphere (which you should do because it will teach you just about
everything you need to know about celestial mechanics) you need to get
and learn to use a sky atlas. These
http://www.shopatsky.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=35
are widely admired. Learn to use it well to navigate your way around
the sky. /Then/ , as a graduation present, give yourself a planetarium
program. There are a zillion of them around for Linux, Mac OS, Unix,
and Windows, and many of them are free or inexpensive.

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.

You should base your purchase decision on what interests you in the
sky. Deep sky? Moon? Planets? All of those? If the latter then a
Schmidt Cassegrain telescope of modest size (8-10") would be a good and
/relatively/ inexpensive place to start. Again consult your local
telescope store or contact Company 7 http://www.company7.com, which
is one of the best in the business.

Once you are started, need I say that the sky's the limit?

Davoud

I am not affiliated with "Sky and Telescope" or "Company Seven."

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com