Hi Patrick,
The ETX line of scopes are very portable and easy to use(with exception of that stupid little finder scope that forces you to strain your neck and squint). They are made a beginner's scope, and suit that purpose well considering their size. Because of the scopes small aperture of 60mm, faint galaxies and nebula will be hard to find. This size scope does not have the light grasp to see faint objects. More magnification will only make things dimmer, thus it is best to use high magnification on really bright objects like the moon, planets, or globular clusters. On nights when the atmospheric conditions are unstable(unsteady seeing when the stars twinkle fast and vigorously) you are best to stay with your 25mm eyepiece. If images start to look dark and blurry, go to a lower magnification until things clear up. The moon generally can be seen with higher magnifications when everything else is washed out with poor seeing. Lower magnifications can reveal more detail than higher magnifications in smaller scope, everything is just smaller. You need to compensate for lack of light grasp in smaller scopes, thus lower magnifications may help. Reserve your barlow for the moon and bright objects.
Objects like M57(ring nebula), M44(beehive cluster), M104(sombrero galaxy), M13 (globular), M16(eagle nebula), M27 (dumbell nebula), M31 (Andromeda galaxy), and M42(orion nebula) are good targets for a smaller scope. Pick up a good planetarium software like Earth Centred Universe:
http://www.nova-astro.com/ or The Sky(software bisque), or others so you can plan your observing sessions, and generate sky charts. Do not be discouraged as some objects took me a week of nights to find. Once you start to learn your way around the sky you will find objects faster and easier. For more on this go to my Object Finder page:
http://www.absolutebeginnersastronomy.com/objectfind.html
You can see some deep sky objects, but they must be bright enough for your scope to yield decent views. Most galaxies and faint nebula require an 8"-16" scope to see anything more than a grey smudge. Read all you can about the objects you are seeing through your scope, it is this knowledge that turns that grey smudge into a glaxay spanning hundreds of light years, that could be home to millions of planets like ours. The size of the scope cannot make up for a lack of knowlede and imagination. Enjoy your new scope, and the worlds it will open up to you.
Richard Snow
