Any suggestions for some good web sites with planet maps, so that I can find planets with my new telescope.?

stellarium.org has some sky charts, but you have to downlaod the software. i think it's still a free download.

googling "your sky" will come up with some as well, (i believe the website begins with "formulab" or something like that) but i don't like those as much.

i think heavens-above.com still has some too.

be sure to enter in your location too. all three of these have that feature.

Yes, www,heavens-above.com is a free site with planetary data. You can also download a free planetarium program to your PC called Stellarium. I've included the link below.

http://www.stellarium.org/

This is great freeware that you can download. Tell it where you are and it will tell you what you see. Ask it where something is and it will show you.

You're going to need some star charts to find your way around, so get some. Pocket Sky Atlas is excellent.

Sky & Telescope publish an annual thing with star charts for each month. Grab a copy. They also have a online star chart thingy on their web site.

I can reinforce the recommendation for stellarium.org. It is a free download and it works nicely. I use it all the time.

There is another free download called Cartes du Ciel at

http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/

This software is not as graphically pretty nor as mouse-intuitive as stellarium, but it is pretty useful for creating star charts to help find your way while star-hopping. It has features like superimposed eyepiece images, inverted / flipped images (like what you really see in the eyepiece or the finder), and plenty of info on any object you can think of observing. I also use it all the time, usually to create / print / laminate my own charts before going out.

Try stellarium.org,Its very helpful.

Wally