Astronomy question from my internet pal.. Please help !! ??

Question

I am at Singapore,the south eastern part of the Earth.so it is more harder to spot the planets than it is in Americas,so could you give a few tips?I also do not know how powerful is my (Bluesky)9 inch telescope?

Answer 1

Spotting planets is not harder from Singapore than it is from America. A 9" telescope is a good instrument that will show you plenty of things in the sky.

Try http://www.heavens-above.com and create an account and enter your location and you can get information about planet positions and whatnot.

Answer 2

The planets should be easy to see from Equatorial locations.

Your problem is that you are located in a big city on a small island, and you cannot escape the light pollution.

As for your telescope, I suppose you do mean 9 inch aperture. If so, there would be a lot of jealous aspiring amateurs reading this.

If you don't know the slightest thing about the relationship of your location to the sky and how to find the planets, what the heck are you doing with a 9 inch telescope?

You should learn a lot about the sky before you get an instrument like that, otherwise it will be a complete waste.

My advice, get a pair of 7x50 binoculars. Go to the darkest place you can find with a star map and spend a year learning the sky.

Other than that, get with someone who can instruct you personally. You will not learn to use a 9 inch telescope over the internet.

Answer 3

Yes, you should be able to see the planets even from a large city because ones like Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are bright enough (I've seen them in Chicago, a city of several million). To find them, watch the path the sun or moon makes through the sky. This is called the ecliptic and is approximately the path the planets take. Look for a "star" that is not twinkling (brightening and dimming quickly) and that will be a planet. Venus sets just after the sun sets and is the 3rd brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon. Saturn rises in the east just after the sun sets in the west so watch the eastern horizon for a bright object which will be observable all night. Those are the only 2 planets you will be able to see at this time of the year.

A 9 inch telescope would be good for up to 450x to 500x on a good night. You should also be able to see Uranus as it is a blue dot in a telescope very near Venus.