How do I use my telescope correctly?

[mummytait]

We bought a telescope for our son who is only seven but reads endlessly about the stars and solar system. We have (on the odd occasion when the sky has been clear enough) seen the stars and the moon but what we think are planets just look like twinkly dots the same as stars. The instructions on the telescope show jupiter looking a bit blurred but with big red spot clearly visible. What are we doing wrong?and is there a good web site we can use to identify current positions and unusual events we could track?

[Mortartube]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/spaceguide/ skyatnight/
Patrick Moore's finest, the sky at night website & newsletter should help.

[bobclean]

I have a telescope too, and I also find the images a bit disappointing. The moon is the best object for me because the images are so spectacular. Saturn is also ok, you should be able to see the rings, albeit a bit blurred.

[mibn2cweus]

Telescopes can be very 'touchy' instruments to use. Not only do they magnify the image but any movement used to point them as well.
If your telescope has a finder, ( a seperate part to facilitate aiming), make sure it is properly aligned but aiming it at a distant stationary object that you have first identified and centered in the telescope.
It is easier to first locate an object of interest using a lower power. Once you are confident that you have the object centered carefully change to a higher magnification. It helps to know from experience approximately how much of an adjustment of the focus is required from one eyepiece to another.
Jupiter, as you may know, is currently visible in the southern sky at onset of darkness. With a low power you should be able to identify it by the array of several of its moons along a straight line. These will change position somewhat from one night to the next.
It is a big jump from spotting the moon to capturing a planet with a telescope but "practice makes perfect". Try not to let frustration or aggravation set in and ruin what should be an enjoyable experience. Starting with the lowest power available will help insure progress in learning to aim your telescope on small objects.

[furrycheeky]

Too actually see the spot the telescope has to really be at least a 5" lens with the power to magnfy 200x. Anything less and you will just see a hazy grey ball.
If the telescope is powerful enough then this might help locate Jupiter http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/myspace/nig htsky/observingnotes.shtml

The fact that many images of the spot are falsely coloured red doesnt help. The actual spot is salmon pink so is not a big contrasting colour to the surroundings.
Lastly the spot is only visible for a few hours a day, it spends 50% of its time on the far side of Jupiter.