[QUOTE=cmyk]
I’d start with a nice pair of binoculars first. With as big objective lenses (the ones at the end) as you can afford. There’s nothing like binocular vision for looking at the solar system, and binoculars are far more portable and easier to wield. Of course, get a nice tripod (or at lease a mono-pod for 'em).
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I can some powerful enough binocs so that I can see the planets, as people have discussed in this thread?
It doesn’t really take all that much (assuming you mean “see details of the planets”, like Saturn’s rings or Venus’ phases: The planets themselves are very easy to see with the naked eye). Anything above the opera-glass level will probably be enough.
[QUOTE=erie774]
I use Stellarium. You can get a great layout of the night sky and even set your laptop screen to red so it won’t hurt your night vision as much.
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Another vote for Stellarium…it’s very useful for the occasional “hey, what was that”. Or when you see predictions for satellite passes or Iridium flares (from a place like Heavens Above), and need to know what the altitude/azimuth coordinates translate to, Stellarium makes it easy to say “ahh, it’s gonna go right past Vega”
Not that other programs can’t do that…but Stellarium is so pretty and easy to use.