Bright star/planet near the moon tonight...

Hello,

We've just purchased a telescope for my son's 13th birthday and he has
just enjoyed his first night looking at the moon - can you please tell
me what the very bright planet/star is very near to the moon tonight
is? And also what are the best beginner sites for him?

Kind Regards,

Mrs. K.

"Kaplan" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,

We've just purchased a telescope for my son's 13th birthday and he has
just enjoyed his first night looking at the moon - can you please tell
me what the very bright planet/star is very near to the moon tonight
is? And also what are the best beginner sites for him?

Kind Regards,

Mrs. K.


You might want to try the stellarium software, http://www.stellarium.org/
you tell the program your location and the time and it displays what you may
be able to see in the sky. I am just starting out and I find it really
useful.

mark

I find the book:

Night Watch by Terence Dickinson to be a good reference.

"Kaplan" wrote in message
oups.com...

We've just purchased a telescope for my son's 13th birthday and he has
just enjoyed his first night looking at the moon - can you please tell
me what the very bright planet/star is very near to the moon tonight
is? And also what are the best beginner sites for him?

It's Jupiter I recommend pointing the telescope at it too! Should be able
to see the 4 large moons of Jupiter. Depending on it's size you might be
able to see the cloud bands too.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Replace 'nospam' with 'smirnov' to reply by e-mail*

http://www.krysstal.com/sky.html
I've only had a telescope for just over a month myself and this is
quite good for beginners.
You might also like to try the BBC 'Sky at Night website which has lots
of useful info.
Good Luck with the search - Dave B

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I made an educated guess from a
quick look a some websites that it was Jupiter but I
need some sort of expert confirmation! We'll be checking out all the
sites in time.

Saw the four moons easily enough - but I'm not sure the scope is good
enough to pick out the markings of Jupiter - maybe
it's just too close too the moon..?

I have to say though - to see the moon in such detail is really
fantastic - and quite humbling.

Thanks again

"Kaplan" wrote in
oups.com:

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I made an educated guess from a
quick look a some websites that it was Jupiter but I
need some sort of expert confirmation! We'll be checking out all the
sites in time.

Saw the four moons easily enough - but I'm not sure the scope is good
enough to pick out the markings of Jupiter - maybe
it's just too close too the moon..?

I have to say though - to see the moon in such detail is really
fantastic - and quite humbling.

Thanks again



Get yourself some sky charting software. You will find that really helpful.
An excellent freeware program developed by Patrick Chevalley is available
he

http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/index.html

Start with the 15mb 'complete package' download of v 2.76. There are also
plenty of extra star catalogues available if you need them.

Klazmon