Beginner Questions

[samsam]

Dear all, i am a newbie to astronomy and have the following basic questions. Hope someone can provide some advice.

Background is that i would like to view stars / planets from my apartment's balcony at the 10th floor in Singapore (south facing with probably 30 degree view of east & west). I can observe some stars with my naked eyes and would like to see them in greater details. As i am just taking the first step in astronomy, it will just be purely viewing what is available in the night sky on my balcony (no stars tracking / identification system).

I am hoping to get a telescope that is not bulky, easy to install for beginners (plug and play) and provides decent view. Budget is between S$500-1k; open to buying online or offline as long as it is new piece. It should be higher than the glass panel on my balcony or can be place on a small outdoor table. Can someone please recommend some suitable models and places where i can secure them?

Also, i would like to know if given the current facing of my balcony, would i be able to see the moon (haven't seen it for a week) and/or the easy sightable planets (e.g. jupiter)?

Thanks!

[bornfree]

it is the new moon period. marked by the start of the 7th month and hari raya.
from observation, window facing south will be hard to get the view of moon n planets. planets rises from the east n sets in the west, although we are near thr equator, the moon n planets tend to rise east, or east north east.

i would suggest take a few weeks to observe the moon. since u get to span from east to west, tonigh's crecent will set @ about 9pm, and each day from now, it will set later and later by approximately 50 mins. planets wont stray too far from the path the moon takes.

[Hardwarezone]

Download and install a free computer software Stellarium
http://www.stellarium.org/

It can help you predict which direction and angle the Moon and Planets will rise on a specific date and time.


This Saturday night
Note how far the Moon's red track is away from South.


About bulkiness, you need to consider the dry storage for prevention of fungus on optical glass.
These storage cabinet or boxes will take up more space and part of your overall budget.

[antares2063]

Hi samsam,

theres a ton of observing sessions going on in various parts of sg for the month of August. starting off with friday August 1st.Try to join one and see what works for u.

You wont see Moon in the waning phase (i.e a few nights past the full moon and the moon surface starts to shrink more and more) unless if u wake up at 2 am , 3am, 4am consecutively.

[samsam]

Download and install a free computer software Stellarium
http://www.stellarium.org/

It can help you predict which direction and angle the Moon and Planets will rise on a specific date and time.



This Saturday night
Note how far the Moon's red track is away from South.


About bulkiness, you need to consider the dry storage for prevention of fungus on optical glass.
These storage cabinet or boxes will take up more space and part of your overall budget.

All, thanks for the helpful responses. I will definitely check out the public star gazing events. But i thought i should doing some reading on the relevant telescope so as to have a more fruitful discussion live with the experts. So if any of you can suggest suitable telescopes based on some of the criterias below and where i can read user reviews on them, that would be great.

Hardwarezone: if the moon path is east-west, does it mean even if full moon, i can never get to see it from my south-facing balcony? Does this track changes over the course of the year so that it moves south?

Thanks!

[Hardwarezone]

Google search on the specific model name, first few results will be websites in USA & UK selling these equipment and you can browse the short user reviews.

More info are available in astro forums
Cloudynights
Stargazers Lounge
astronomyforum , registration required
iceinspace

The Moon's path across our sky at this latitude is roughly the same throughout the year.

[alexaung]

Hi

I am a newbie in astronomy and i just got my new telescope which is on EQ mount... i been reading up a lot, but i have one question.. .since we are on equator and our latitude is 1° 22' 0" N, how can we do polar alignment of our telescope? please advise... thank you so much for your time...