Reddit reviews Sky Atlas for Small Telescopes and Binoculars
We found 2 Reddit comments about Sky Atlas for Small Telescopes and Binoculars. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
David Chandler's Sky Atlas for Small Telescopes is a good start:
http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Atlas-Small-Telescopes-Binoculars/dp/1891938193
Under a decently dark sky you can run the entire Messier catalog in a 70MM no problem. BUT for someone new to the hobby, its better to stick to the showpiece stuff. Off the top of my head:
M44 - this is visible naked eye from a darkish site, it'll look like a cloud off of Cancer. Use the widest FOV eyepiece (the 30MM) you can.
M67 - if you can find M44, its just south of it, a fainter star cluster. Somewhat more compact.
M3 - A globular cluster that's relatively easy to find, the way I find it is drawing a line between Arcturus and Cor Caroli, it's about a 1/3 of the way there.
M94 - a relatively small but bright galaxy, relatively easy to find, make an equilateral triangle between Cor Caroli (Alpha Canes Venatici) and Beta Venatici - M94 will be the star like object. Increase the magnification to star seeing some detail
Leo Triplet - you may not be able to see all 3 in a 70MM, but its about 2 degrees due south of Chertan (Theta Leo) - three galaxies, right there.
Virgo Galaxy Cluster - too many to name, but draw an imaginary line between Vindemiatrix (Epsilon Virgo) and Denobla (Beta Leo). The Virgo Galaxy cluster lies about half way through. Just sweep your widefield eyepiece along and enjoy! You can see them with 10x50 binos in a reasonably dark site, so that should be great for a 70MM or your Dob.
Alcor/Mizar - Mid handle of the big dipper, a good test of your vision/how dark the site is. Also a double star!
Algeiba - In Leo, a pretty double star.
Cor Caroli - my favorite double star, AKA Alpha Canes Venatici
Castor - Another double star in Gemini.
Just be prepared to be unamazed at the views with this scope or really any scope. What you see in pictures are not what you will see with this scope or really any small aperture scope. With that said though you still can enjoy so much with that scope. This is a fast scope which has some plus and minuses. One is that you can definitely get some high powered lenses without the use of a barlow which will help you all around as the barlow does diminish some of the light gathering capabilities when used. barlows are personal choice I rather use a high power high piece to get where I want rather than a barlow but thats just me. Right now you have a 26 and 75x with your eyepieces so if on a budget a 2x barlow maybe in order with a 450mm focal length. I believe they say 50x per inch of aperture for a useful magnification but that would be pristine conditions. Depending on light pollution it is probably more realistically around 25-30x per inch for your highest useful magnification. A 3mm would give you 150x which is probably going to be on that threshold of usefulness in your scope.
Definitely check eyesonthesky.com. Great site with a ton of great info. It definitely helped me when i jumped back into observing after a 20 or so year hiatus.
The biggest thing though is enjoy it. Remember that you are not going to see the things you see in the magazines or the internet but you can truly enjoy that scope with a little knowledge and perseverance. As good as stellarium I also would suggest getting this book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1891938193/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It is really good because it just has stuff that your scope should be able to see. It is great for learning the sky and finding objects that are within the capabilities of your scope for the most part.
Also remember that jupiter and orions nebula are not that far off and those will definitely be in the realm of that scope.
I have not tried the expanse eyepieces but they look nice. Also check out the x-cel eyepieces by celestron they are also nice eyepieces that are moderately priced.