My daughter and I just spent about 45 minutes in the front yard trying to figure out how to use our telescope. We finally were able to see one planet, I think. Maybe Venus. We've decided we definitely need some help figuring out how to use our telescope!! Anyway, here's my question. We're in Orem. When we looked east, above Cascade Mountain, we saw a rather bright star-like object. When we looked at it through the binoculars, it appeared to be either yellow or white with flashing green and red lights. We assumed it had to be an airplane, but we continued to watch it for awhile. After 30 minutes, it had only moved slightly higher in the sky. It couldn't possibly have been an airplane, because it didn't get closer to us or move to the right or left. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been? I just looked outside again, and it's still there, if anyone wants to go check it out and give me an opinion. Thanks! Dottie
Hi, J Waterreus wrote:
My daughter and I just spent about 45 minutes in the front yard trying to figure out how to use our telescope.
Star parties are a great way to learn to use telescopes. UVAA does a number of public and private star parties in Utah Valley while SLAs does a bunch in SLC and at their observatory in Stansbury Park ( http://slas.ws/calendar.asp?list=Yes&Year=2004&StarParty=1 ).
Anyway, here's my question. We're in Orem. When we looked east, above Cascade Mountain, we saw a rather bright star-like object. When we looked at it through the binoculars, it appeared to be either yellow or white with flashing green and red lights. We assumed it had to be an airplane, but we continued to watch it for awhile. After 30 minutes, it had only moved slightly higher in the sky. It couldn't possibly have been an airplane, because it didn't get closer to us or move to the right or left. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been? As for what you are seeing in the sky, the brightest star-like object in the east just now is Jupiter.
BTW, right now right under the Moon is Saturn. Really nice to see through a telescope. Patrick
Patrick Thanks for the information. I know that what we saw over Cascade Mountain wasn't Jupiter. This wasn't as bright as Jupiter, and it was closer to the mountain. My husband looked a few minutes ago, and it was still there. It seems like if it was anything man-made, it would have moved. I've never heard of a star that blinked different colors. Dottie Patrick Wiggins wrote:
Hi,
J Waterreus wrote:
My daughter and I just spent about 45 minutes in the front yard trying to figure out how to use our telescope.
Star parties are a great way to learn to use telescopes. UVAA does a number of public and private star parties in Utah Valley while SLAs does a bunch in SLC and at their observatory in Stansbury Park ( http://slas.ws/calendar.asp?list=Yes&Year=2004&StarParty=1 ).
Anyway, here's my question. We're in Orem. When we looked east, above Cascade Mountain, we saw a rather bright star-like object. When we looked at it through the binoculars, it appeared to be either yellow or white with flashing green and red lights. We assumed it had to be an airplane, but we continued to watch it for awhile. After 30 minutes, it had only moved slightly higher in the sky. It couldn't possibly have been an airplane, because it didn't get closer to us or move to the right or left. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been?
As for what you are seeing in the sky, the brightest star-like object in the east just now is Jupiter.
BTW, right now right under the Moon is Saturn. Really nice to see through a telescope.
Patrick
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Actually, I think what you're looking at is Arcturus, the brightest star in the constellation Bootes. It is currently just rising over the mountains to the East. It does appear to twinkle in different colors due to the atmosphere and is easily confused with airplanes. Jupiter is nearly straight overhead with a bright yellowish color, slightly to the east and is the brightest object in that part of the sky. On Sun, 2004-03-28 at 21:25, J Waterreus wrote:
Patrick
Thanks for the information. I know that what we saw over Cascade Mountain wasn't Jupiter. This wasn't as bright as Jupiter, and it was closer to the mountain. My husband looked a few minutes ago, and it was still there. It seems like if it was anything man-made, it would have moved. I've never heard of a star that blinked different colors.
Dottie
Patrick Wiggins wrote:
Hi,
J Waterreus wrote:
My daughter and I just spent about 45 minutes in the front yard trying to figure out how to use our telescope.
Star parties are a great way to learn to use telescopes. UVAA does a number of public and private star parties in Utah Valley while SLAs does a bunch in SLC and at their observatory in Stansbury Park ( http://slas.ws/calendar.asp?list=Yes&Year=2004&StarParty=1 ).
Anyway, here's my question. We're in Orem. When we looked east, above Cascade Mountain, we saw a rather bright star-like object. When we looked at it through the binoculars, it appeared to be either yellow or white with flashing green and red lights. We assumed it had to be an airplane, but we continued to watch it for awhile. After 30 minutes, it had only moved slightly higher in the sky. It couldn't possibly have been an airplane, because it didn't get closer to us or move to the right or left. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been?
As for what you are seeing in the sky, the brightest star-like object in the east just now is Jupiter.
BTW, right now right under the Moon is Saturn. Really nice to see through a telescope.
Patrick
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Thanks, Darren. I think you're right. The star I was asking about isn't as bright as Jupiter. Thanks for the information, as well as the websites. I'm already looking at them! I have been following the newsgroup and hope to attend a star party soon. We were busy last weekend and couldn't participate. I bought a telescope a few years ago from a Discovery Channel Store in Maryland that was going out of business. It didn't have any instructions with it, and we've never been able to do much with it. I think we looked at Venus tonight, but we couldn't see much more than with the binoculars. The telescope came with several different lenses to use, but we don't know how! One of these days we'll figure it out. In the meantime, thanks so much for explaining our twinkling star for us! Dottie darren davis wrote:
Actually, I think what you're looking at is Arcturus, the brightest star in the constellation Bootes. It is currently just rising over the mountains to the East. It does appear to twinkle in different colors due to the atmosphere and is easily confused with airplanes.
Jupiter is nearly straight overhead with a bright yellowish color, slightly to the east and is the brightest object in that part of the sky.
On Sun, 2004-03-28 at 21:25, J Waterreus wrote:
Patrick
Thanks for the information. I know that what we saw over Cascade Mountain wasn't Jupiter. This wasn't as bright as Jupiter, and it was closer to the mountain. My husband looked a few minutes ago, and it was still there. It seems like if it was anything man-made, it would have moved. I've never heard of a star that blinked different colors.
Dottie
Patrick Wiggins wrote:
Hi,
J Waterreus wrote:
My daughter and I just spent about 45 minutes in the front yard trying to figure out how to use our telescope.
Star parties are a great way to learn to use telescopes. UVAA does a number of public and private star parties in Utah Valley while SLAs does a bunch in SLC and at their observatory in Stansbury Park ( http://slas.ws/calendar.asp?list=Yes&Year=2004&StarParty=1 ).
Anyway, here's my question. We're in Orem. When we looked east, above Cascade Mountain, we saw a rather bright star-like object. When we looked at it through the binoculars, it appeared to be either yellow or white with flashing green and red lights. We assumed it had to be an airplane, but we continued to watch it for awhile. After 30 minutes, it had only moved slightly higher in the sky. It couldn't possibly have been an airplane, because it didn't get closer to us or move to the right or left. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been?
As for what you are seeing in the sky, the brightest star-like object in the east just now is Jupiter.
BTW, right now right under the Moon is Saturn. Really nice to see through a telescope.
Patrick
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Hi, Flashing different colors does not sound like a planet (stars twinkle, planets do not). Looking to the east (due east just now), the brightest *star* is Arcturus, currently about 1/3 of the way up the sky. If you can find the Big Dipper, follow the arc of the handle away from the bucket of the dipper. That arc points to Arcturus. Per chance is that what you are seeing? BTW, what brand and model of telescope do you have? Patrick J Waterreus wrote:
Thanks for the information. I know that what we saw over Cascade Mountain wasn't Jupiter. This wasn't as bright as Jupiter, and it was closer to the mountain. My husband looked a few minutes ago, and it was still there. It seems like if it was anything man-made, it would have moved. I've never heard of a star that blinked different colors.
Dotties
Thanks for everyone's help trying to identify what we say last night! Several of you responded with offers to help me learn how to use our telescope. Thanks so much! I definitely plan to take you up on the offer. We've been frustrated by this telescope for 5 years now! Here's what we've got: Saturn by Meade Model 60EQ-D D=60 mm F=900 mm Coated optics These are the extra lenses we have: 3X Barlow H12.5 mm H25 mm F = 4 mm SR 4 mm Hope all that means something to somebody! I don't know what the different lenses are used for. The instructions that came with the telescope were lost in our last move. Dottie
Dottie, A 60mm refractor is what many of us started with (myself many years ago). It's not a lot of aperture, and so you will be limited as to what you can see with this scope. Most likely it will serve as a teaser to get you to buy something with a larger aperture! The H designation on your eyepieces I believe means Huygenian design; common for these starter scopes and unfortunately typically mediocre to poor quality. You can however find most of the Messier objects with even this size scope, but you'll need dark skies away from the city and a lot of patience! I would recommend some better eyepieces - it will make a difference, and I can show you a few in my collection that might give you some ideas of what to look for. -Rich --- J Waterreus <jwaterr@comcast.net> wrote:
Thanks for everyone's help trying to identify what we say last night! Several of you responded with offers to help me learn how to use our telescope. Thanks so much! I definitely plan to take you up on the offer. We've been frustrated by this telescope for 5 years now! Here's what we've got:
Saturn by Meade Model 60EQ-D D=60 mm F=900 mm Coated optics
These are the extra lenses we have: 3X Barlow H12.5 mm H25 mm F = 4 mm SR 4 mm
Hope all that means something to somebody! I don't know what the different lenses are used for. The instructions that came with the telescope were lost in our last move.
Dottie
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I agree that getting new eyepieces will greatly improve your experience. I am also new at this, I bought my first telescope last year. I soon learned that the eyepieces included are not the best. I bought one decent eyepiece to try out. It made a lot of difference, so I have slowly acquired a couple more. I plan to attend the moon party a week from Saturday in Provo, if you want to try my eyepieces on your scope you're welcome. --- Richard Tenney <retenney@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dottie,
A 60mm refractor is what many of us started with (myself many years ago). It's not a lot of aperture, and so you will be limited as to what you can see with this scope. Most likely it will serve as a teaser to get you to buy something with a larger aperture! The H designation on your eyepieces I believe means Huygenian design; common for these starter scopes and unfortunately typically mediocre to poor quality. You can however find most of the Messier objects with even this size scope, but you'll need dark skies away from the city and a lot of patience! I would recommend some better eyepieces - it will make a difference, and I can show you a few in my collection that might give you some ideas of what to look for.
-Rich
--- J Waterreus <jwaterr@comcast.net> wrote:
Thanks for everyone's help trying to identify what we say last night! Several of you responded with offers to help me learn how to use our telescope. Thanks so much! I definitely plan to take you up on the offer. We've been frustrated by this telescope for 5 years now! Here's what we've got:
Saturn by Meade Model 60EQ-D D=60 mm F=900 mm Coated optics
These are the extra lenses we have: 3X Barlow H12.5 mm H25 mm F = 4 mm SR 4 mm
Hope all that means something to somebody! I don't know what the different lenses are used for. The instructions that came with the telescope were lost in our last move.
Dottie
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Hi Dottie, You were definitely looking at Jupiter. It is still towards the East now, but higher. If you look West you will see an extremely bright object, that is Venus. Saturn is also visible now and can be found between the other two planets, near the moon tonight. Depending on what type of scope you have it can be somewhat awkward at first trying to get it to work. Bringing your scope to a star party might be helpful, or there are some decent tutorials available online at www.astronomy.com or www.skyandtelescope.com If you follow this newsgroup, there are star party events planned off and on. On Sun, 2004-03-28 at 20:41, J Waterreus wrote:
My daughter and I just spent about 45 minutes in the front yard trying to figure out how to use our telescope. We finally were able to see one planet, I think. Maybe Venus. We've decided we definitely need some help figuring out how to use our telescope!! Anyway, here's my question. We're in Orem. When we looked east, above Cascade Mountain, we saw a rather bright star-like object. When we looked at it through the binoculars, it appeared to be either yellow or white with flashing green and red lights. We assumed it had to be an airplane, but we continued to watch it for awhile. After 30 minutes, it had only moved slightly higher in the sky. It couldn't possibly have been an airplane, because it didn't get closer to us or move to the right or left. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been? I just looked outside again, and it's still there, if anyone wants to go check it out and give me an opinion. Thanks!
Dottie
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Dottie, I live in Lindon just north of you in Orem and would be happy to help you out with your scope some evening if you want to bring it to my place. I have OK seeing from my back yard, and if you come before dark you can see our new week-old paint filly that's pretty dang cute. Just call ahead to make sure I'm home, 785~4403 and I'll give you directions. Rich --- J Waterreus <jwaterr@comcast.net> wrote:
My daughter and I just spent about 45 minutes in the front yard trying to figure out how to use our telescope. We finally were able to see one planet, I think. Maybe Venus. We've decided we definitely need some help figuring out how to use our telescope!! Anyway, here's my question. We're in Orem. When we looked east, above Cascade Mountain, we saw a rather bright star-like object. When we looked at it through the binoculars, it appeared to be either yellow or white with flashing green and red lights. We assumed it had to be an airplane, but we continued to watch it for awhile. After 30 minutes, it had only moved slightly higher in the sky. It couldn't possibly have been an airplane, because it didn't get closer to us or move to the right or left. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been? I just looked outside again, and it's still there, if anyone wants to go check it out and give me an opinion. Thanks!
Dottie
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Rich, Paints are my favorites....just saw Hidalgo. Would love to see the filly. Dave On Monday, March 29, 2004, at 10:21 AM, Richard Tenney wrote:
Dottie,
I live in Lindon just north of you in Orem and would be happy to help you out with your scope some evening if you want to bring it to my place. I have OK seeing from my back yard, and if you come before dark you can see our new week-old paint filly that's pretty dang cute. Just call ahead to make sure I'm home, 785~4403 and I'll give you directions.
Rich
participants (6)
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darren davis -
David L Bennett -
David Trevino -
J Waterreus -
Patrick Wiggins -
Richard Tenney