I have an astromaster 70 and im not really seeing anything interesting, just stars a little closer, i was told i could see jupiters moons but i cant really see anything

67 are known, although some are just big rocks. The ones you see in a telscope are the Galilean moons, Callisto, Europa, Ganymede and Io.

1. Get Stellarium or another fine astronomy program
2. During the day, point the telescope at a part of the landscape about 100 yards away.
3. Use the lowest power eyepiece (highest number) in the focal tube.
4. Center the landscape object in the telescope.
5. Align the finder scope so that it points exactly where the main telescope is.
6. At night, leave the scope out to reach thermal equilibrium (about an hour for small reflectors and refractors)
7. If the scope is on a EQ mount, polar align.
8. Point the finder at the moon. The moon should be in the main scope also.
9. Practice finding the moon before you start on the planets
10. Once you are comfortable with the moon and planets, you can go for the deep sky objects

1. During the day, use the 17mm eyepiece on a object outside (telephone pole, water tower, etc) then align the finder to what you see in the scope.
2. Put in the 7.5mm eyepiece and fine align the red dot finder.
3. At night, point the finder at the moon (less than half moon or the image is too bright without a moon filter) Use the 17mm eyepiece.
4. Once you see the moon, switch to the 7.5mm lens and enjoy.
5. Download Stellarium or any free astronomy software and see what is in your sky tonight. Your scope should be able to see Jupiter and its moons easily.(Saturn, Mars and Venus when the time is right) Open clusters like Pleiades will be nice is this fast scope.
5. If stars are not sharp, you may need to collimate the scope. Look online for general instructions.

Please go through www.celestron.com Than you check Powerseeker 60 or 79AZ or Astromaster 60/70/70.You will find menual & download.

Astronomical telescopes usually show an upside down image. There is a good reason for this- erecting the image needs more bits of glass in the light path, which reduces the amount of light and increases aberrations. Even if this is only slight, astronomers prefer to avoid it, and they don't really care which way up the Moon or Jupiter appear. It is possible to fit an erecting prism or eyepiece to most astronomical telescopes, and some of them come with one, but one wouldn't bother to do this with the small finder scope.

The black dot means you are way out of focus.

In an ETX90 Mars will always be a TINY disk, except under extreme magnification.

Jupiter is also a small disk but a little bit bigger.

Next time you try for Jupiter focus on the MOONS until they are tiny points of light like little stars.

Also certain eyepieces have this as an unwanted trait. Try another eyepiece -- start with the one with the largest number written on it which will be your LOWEST magnification.

I"ve been an amateur astronomer for "over" forty years, started when i was eight. Stars aren't that impressive, most look the same....i spend my telescope time with a cheap $200 21/2 inch "Refractor" and have seen all planets except pluto, i had to use a 41/2 inch refractor just to be able to view Neptune and just barely saw it and yes it was Blue!! Refractors are best for planet viewing. Dont waste your time with viewing Mercury or Venus...not impresive! The best looking (but not in the next few years because of ring alignment) is Saturn...hurry up and you might still get a chance to see the rings a little before they go into what i call hibernation mode, they'll make a straight inclination though the planet which makes for not so impressive views...next most impressive and one i view the most is Jupiter and its for moons Calisto, Ganymede Io, and Europa...you will always see these in different orbits. But i just use a pair or Celestron Binoculars 15 x 70s..i use them to look at the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Comets, overhead comunication Satilites passing bye..and the most awsome of them all the "Orion nebula" colors are outstanding, and if your real good at knowing your constellations you can locate the Andromeda Galaxy. It'll look like a buffy cotton ball with binoculars..dont view the sky ever with a full moon.it makes for poor viewing,but this is where the Reflectors like a 4"Newtonion or lot bigger like at least an eight inch Cassigrain..these telescope are made to view whats called "faint fuzzies", Nebulas, Galaxies, star clusters etc. 40 years ago i cold look up in my local skys and not have to worry about light polution..so i go out to the deserts with just my binoculars...they are so convienient. Start to learn the sky with binoculars...it"ll be well worth it! The one Great thing about binocs is that everything you view is right side up as opposed to telecopes upsidedown. To locate planets they will track within 10 degrees in the path that the sun takes. If you look and see some really bright stars that dont twinkle, chances are that it will be Jupiter, Saturn or Venus..but you will only see Venus in the early mornings or late evenings..Mars is a little trickier, sometimes its small and red and every few years it can be as bright as Jupiter when its at it closest to the earth!
http://www.paulni.co.uk/images/EarthinPerspective.pdf
type in this link i think above i think you enjoy! later.

This is a 60mm refractor, not much bigger than a 10x50mm pair of binoculars. You will be able to see a few of the brighter sky objects like the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, M42, M45 (part of it), you will have a very narrow field of view.

The 10x50mm binoculars would have been better for star gazing. Sorry.

Read my TIPS on my profile page.

Most telescopes do not have a zoom-- they have different numbered eyepieces that give different magnification-- you can buy a zoom eyepiece however.

From what you describe -- put the eyepiece with the LARGEST number written on it into the telescope-- this is the LOWEST magnification. Now focus on the moon and or a distant land object during the day-- once it's in focus -- nice and sharp-- replace the eyepiece with the next LOWER number-- for more magnification. AND-- refocus the telescope for that eyepiece.

What eyepieces sizes have you used?
Try using the largest eyepieces you have (20mm, 25mm or higher) for a wide field of view. If your eyepiece is to small (maybe 15mm or below) you will have too much magnification and the moon will be a blur.