Hi
A few weeks ago a departing neighour kindly gave me one of his old telescopes as a farewell gift. I haven't a clue what type of telescope it was as my knowledge of astronomy/telescopes is virtually non existent, although it could have been an early version the Meade DS-2070AT 70mm Refractor??
Anyway, I gratefully acceepted his gift, clambered on to my roof (a flat one towards the rear of the house thankfully), set the beast up and was hooked. To be honest I didn't get much further than finding the moon but I was having a ball.
Then disaster struck. A freak DIY accident left my new gift smashed on the balcony and me staring at the pieces of my new found hobby. Before I knew it I found myself in my local telescope shop parting with my hard earned cash. In return I walked out with a shiny new ETCX 70 and home to the slightly bemused look of my long suffering girl friend.
I would really appreciate any advice from the seasoned astronomy pros out in forum land as to how best to get started with my wonderful new hobby. What should I be looking for? What's even out there? What are the capabilities of my new 'scope and what can I realistically expect to see?
I have realy struggled with the Easy Align option - I have a sneaky feelin that I'm pointing it at the 'wrong' north i.e. Magnetic north and not Polar north (if thats the coreect terminology?)
Does anyone have examples of the type of photography that is possible with my type of telescope? Or is it a no go? And should I get a Barlow?
So many questions, s many stars to look at it....all feedback gratefull received
Cheers
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