Yes, I understand the basic idea. I was recently given a telescope, I presume a fairly good quality one, at least it seems to have plenty of bits and pieces. Any advice on how to get started using it? It didn’t even have instructions or even how to clean it directions.
Plan an evening when there is no moon in the sky (new moon), or go out after moonset. Get a star chart for that evening for your prospective location printed out from any one of a number of free websites. Find a location as far away as is practical from city lights, and all other things being equal, try to gain as much elevation as you can. And of course, there should be minimal cloud cover.
Set up your telescope. If you’ve gone to an observatory or attended a star party, there will be someone who can help you with that. If you’re by yourself, set up the mount/tripod in a stable location. Now use the star chart to find out what planets you’ll be able to see and where to look for them. Mars is fun, as is Saturn. You might also be able to see Jupiter and two or three of its moons. Next, look for constellations.
On a subsequent trip, go when there’s a full moon, nice and high in the sky (so you aren’t looking through a layer of pollution). You can spend hours identifying landmarks, including Tranquility Base and the moon’s first McDonald’s. Even an inexpensive telescope is great for moongazing.
Busy now. But don’t do ANY cleaning to the optics yet. If they have been dirty for years, another week or so won’t hurt em any more. On the other hand, cleaning them wrong can permanently damage them, so for now just leave em alone till you get some solid info on how to do it right. And, optics can look pretty damn dirty and still work so good you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between dirty and perfectly clean ones.
Stellarium is a good free download program that puts a planetarium on your computer. I use it just to find where all the planets are and if they are out tonight. My little dinky telescope can see the rings of Saturn and even the four Galilean moons going around Jupiter, which was pretty cool as a kid.
If you want to know how to operate your telescope and not what to look for, you’ll have to wait for the experts to chime in. In the mean time, it might help to expand a little on what type of telescope you have, if it has electronics/motors or not, if there is a brand name on it – “plenty of bits and pieces” sounds like more than a simple one, but could mean anything.
Given that we’ve just had a full moon, and that the moon is now really close. I’d suggest going out now and looking at the moon.
One might think so, but actually moon observers prefer the other phases of the moon because the oblique sunlight reveals more detail. Around full moon the light is coming straight down on the surface and the moon looks rather flat.
As for the OP, it does depend on what type and model the telescope is. It’s important to make sure that the finder scope is aligned correctly. Given the narrow field of view of telescopes, it will be very difficult to find anything otherwise. You can’t just wave it around hoping to spot the Crab nebula.
As with cars, giving the make and model will help us help you.
Is it a “pirate” scope where you look through the little end? That’s a refractor.
Is it a big tube with the eyepiece thingy on the side near the front? That’s a reflector.
There are others, of course, but these are the most likely to be gifted to someone.
Spend some time here, and get back to us.
And, like many things, it’s easier when someone shows you how.
Use Youtube, or do a search for astronomy clubs in your area. There’s a [del]geek[/del] amateur astronomer heading out tonight near you, guaranteed.
(bolding mine)
I just downloaded the Stellarium program, and that, is a very cool program/website!
Thanks for posting the link, Kzbre5m! 
Not relevant to the OP, since he already has his, but general advice to anyone looking to get a telescope: Never buy one that lists its magnification prominently on the front of the box. You can get any magnification you want, with the appropriate eyepiece. The relevant question isn’t how big the image is, but how sharp it is: High magnification on a low-quality scope will just turn a small fuzzy blur into a big fuzzy blur. Instead of looking for magnification, you want to look for either a reputable brand (Meade, Celestron, and Orion are the big names), or for the words “Diffraction-limited optics”.
Now, to the question of how to use it once you have it, my biggest recommendation would be to get a reflex sight, such as a Telrad, if it doesn’t already have one. This basically gets you a zero-magnification sighter that projects a crosshairs or sighting circle into your field of view, similarly to a heads-up display. This way, you can still see the constellations you’re familiar with while you’re looking for an object, which lets you use them as a guide for pointing your telescope. They take a little getting used to (but then, doesn’t everything?), but once you do, it makes it so much easier to hunt down objects.
You can always check on what the Stevenses are doing, Mrs. Kravitz.
See? I may not know what “expert questions” to ask, but I do know the experts will ask them!
Full moon telescope viewing involves using sunglasses. It’s bright.
If you flip the telescope so the eyepiece is pointing down, then point it at the sun (DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY!), you can project it onto a white sheet a view of the sun – nice to watch during partial eclipses. Sometimes you have to add a piece of cardboard with a pinhole at the other end. Again – DO NOT USE THE TELESCOPE TO LOOK AT THE SUN! Use the projector method instead.
And how come the underscore isn’t in red?
There is probably an astronomy club or organization in your area (they are more common than you might suppose). I’d be very surprised if the members aren’t very happy to assit you.
I have a couple of telescopes, a ten inch reflector and an 80mm refractor. I would suggest contacting your local astronomy club. Beginning with the Messier List is always a good start if you’re interested in deep sky (nebulae, galaxies, etc.).
The Moon is always fascinating and can be viewed with pretty much any telescope and doesn’t need a particularly dark sky. The view changes from day to day (indeed, even over the course of an evening) as the terminator moves across the surface. The terminator is the division between the illuminated and dark parts. It’s where the shadows are the longest which highlights features such as craters and mountains.
Have reasonable expectations. You are not going to see Hubble like images. Nothing galls me more than when some cheap department store telescope touting 600X magnification and comes in a package splashed with Hubble images.
Go to Astronomy Picture of the Day for deep space photos – usually; today it’s sky pictures, but then they do a string of space pictures.
I think Mrs. Kravitz would just walk up to their window. Less obvious than a telescope?
Any hot neighbors?
Also check the internet for planetariums near you - frex CCSU[central connecticut state university] has[had?] one, and I can pretty much guarantee that the dudes in charge can be of great help to you. They are generally also able to help you by teaching you about your new hobby.
If possible, find out the make and model…I’ll bet you can find an owner’s manual on the web. Download and read.
There’s also Sky Map, if you have an Android device. Useful for getting a general idea of where to look.