Dave wrote:
Hey all,

My wife recent bought me a 4.5" reflactor Bushnell telescope and i'm
just curious as what I should expect to be able to see. I looked at
the moon and it was ok, not as impressive as I thought it would be.

Last night, I pointed it what I thought was mars. (15-20degrees east
[to the left ] of the moon. This was about 1am and i'm in Ottawa,
Canada. I used the 20mm lense and honestly couldn't tell if it was
mars or not.

Likely it was. Did it show a disk at least?


Now I know what most of you think about these cheap telescopes, so
please, don't go there. What i'm curious to know, is what should I
expect to be able to see with this telescope. I'm not expecting
hubble like pictures but I thought at least i'd be able to see
something nice.


Mars is a difficult target. You need good conditions for any detail to
show with the best of optics. Early morning (e.g., 0400-0530 local
time) seems to be a good time for me to see Mars now. Even so, it takes
practice to really start to see .. and good, stable atmospheres.

Since the moon is available now, try your scope on its terminator where
the sunlight's shadows highlight craters and such. Jupiter will also be
a good target .. but it is not available now.

Phil