News1 min ago
astronomy beginner
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HI
I am looking to get into astonomy/star gazing as a hobby. Any reccomendations on books for beginners and the typs of telescope to start and progress with?? any advice would be great thanks
I am looking to get into astonomy/star gazing as a hobby. Any reccomendations on books for beginners and the typs of telescope to start and progress with?? any advice would be great thanks
Answers
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Blimey, I've just started the very same thing, bought my first telescope on Friday night.
I bought a book yesterday, which is brilliant because the author assumes that the reader knows nothing (which is true in my case) and talks the reader through what each part of the scope does, tells us about the different strengths of the eyepiece and what we can expect to see.
Can I remember the name of it? Nope. Wait until I get home and I'll be able to tell you exactly what it's called and who it's by.
I bought a book yesterday, which is brilliant because the author assumes that the reader knows nothing (which is true in my case) and talks the reader through what each part of the scope does, tells us about the different strengths of the eyepiece and what we can expect to see.
Can I remember the name of it? Nope. Wait until I get home and I'll be able to tell you exactly what it's called and who it's by.
I'm an absolute beginner too, maybe we can learn about it together?
Near the end of the book gives us some information about what to look for and where (though I haven't read that sections yet, just flicked through)
There was a map of the stars in the telescope I got, so I'm hoping, as a beginner, I can use that and the book combined to start me off. I don't want to overload my head with too much info at the moment.
Near the end of the book gives us some information about what to look for and where (though I haven't read that sections yet, just flicked through)
There was a map of the stars in the telescope I got, so I'm hoping, as a beginner, I can use that and the book combined to start me off. I don't want to overload my head with too much info at the moment.
Firstly you need to make sure you have a reasonable expectation of what you will be able to see.
Those pictures of blightly coloured nebula and planets are taken with really long exposure times with professional research grade telescopes.
All the planets will appear as tiny disks with pretty much no discernable detail, nebula and galaxies as faint smudges.
Having said that there are some fabulous sights, the craters and mountains on the moon stand out sharp and clear and the first time you see Saturn's rings can be fabulous.
You can watch the moons of Jupiter orbit it from night to night as Galileo did and Romer used them to get the first calculation of the speed of light.
Steer well clear of anything that promises "see a hundred miles" you see a quarter of a million when you look at the moon with the naked eye!
Similarly don't worry about magnification, you set that depending on what eyepiece you use. Take the focal length of the telescope divide by the focal length of the eyepiece and you get the magnification.
the more magnification the dimmer the image.
A good rule of thumb, the bigger the aperture the better. It's what captures the light. So generally speaking you probably want a reflecting telescope as they tend to have a bigger aperture.
If you ever may want to take photographs you'll wand an equatorial mount. This is more complicated to set up but allows the telescope to track the object as the Earth rotates.
Those pictures of blightly coloured nebula and planets are taken with really long exposure times with professional research grade telescopes.
All the planets will appear as tiny disks with pretty much no discernable detail, nebula and galaxies as faint smudges.
Having said that there are some fabulous sights, the craters and mountains on the moon stand out sharp and clear and the first time you see Saturn's rings can be fabulous.
You can watch the moons of Jupiter orbit it from night to night as Galileo did and Romer used them to get the first calculation of the speed of light.
Steer well clear of anything that promises "see a hundred miles" you see a quarter of a million when you look at the moon with the naked eye!
Similarly don't worry about magnification, you set that depending on what eyepiece you use. Take the focal length of the telescope divide by the focal length of the eyepiece and you get the magnification.
the more magnification the dimmer the image.
A good rule of thumb, the bigger the aperture the better. It's what captures the light. So generally speaking you probably want a reflecting telescope as they tend to have a bigger aperture.
If you ever may want to take photographs you'll wand an equatorial mount. This is more complicated to set up but allows the telescope to track the object as the Earth rotates.
Hello again,
The book I got is called 'Stargazing with a telescope' by Robin Scagell.
It covers what Jake has kindly answered plus some:
Chapter 1 - Star Party
C2 - What's available
C3 - Choosing your telescope
C4 - Steps toward the first light
C5 - Finding your way
C6 - What to observe, and how
C7 - Buying more: a guide to accessories
Appendix 1 - Using the sky maps
A2 - Interesting objects to observe
The book I got is called 'Stargazing with a telescope' by Robin Scagell.
It covers what Jake has kindly answered plus some:
Chapter 1 - Star Party
C2 - What's available
C3 - Choosing your telescope
C4 - Steps toward the first light
C5 - Finding your way
C6 - What to observe, and how
C7 - Buying more: a guide to accessories
Appendix 1 - Using the sky maps
A2 - Interesting objects to observe
The ideal instrument to begin observing is a pair of binoculars, 7 X 50 or 10 X 50 are ideal. The first number is the magnification followed by the diameter of the objective lenses in millimeters. Both sizes give bright images with a good field of view and are ideal for finding your way around the sky.
Try to observe the sky as far away from street lights as possible.
Try to observe the sky as far away from street lights as possible.
One thing that you can do with a telescope or binoculars is project an image of the sun onto a wall or piece of card.
This is very important. DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WITH THE NAKED EYE OR A MAGNIFICATION DEVICE LIKE A TELESCOPE.
Simply point the telescope towards the sun and place a piece of card a little way behind the eyepiece until it is in focus or project it onto a wall.
Hopefully you will be lucky enough to see black specks, these are sunspots. If you are very lucky, you may see a solar flare or prominence. This is a great way to watch partial eclipses too.
The only difficulty with the whole process is actually finding a day when the sun isn't obscured by cloud.
One piece of advice for night time viewing is to make sure that you go out into the garden before dark and move trip hazards (there's nothing like tripping over a garden gnome at 3am in the pitch black, to make the language colourful), also ensure that ponds are covered etc. You may know where everything is, but your new found astronomical friend that you have invited over for the first time doesn't.
There are a number of meteor showers throughout the year that can be fun to view too.
If you need to make notes then cover a torch with some red plastic film so your eyes adjust more quickly back to the dark conditions. White light can upset your viewing for quite a while.
Happy stargazing.
This is very important. DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WITH THE NAKED EYE OR A MAGNIFICATION DEVICE LIKE A TELESCOPE.
Simply point the telescope towards the sun and place a piece of card a little way behind the eyepiece until it is in focus or project it onto a wall.
Hopefully you will be lucky enough to see black specks, these are sunspots. If you are very lucky, you may see a solar flare or prominence. This is a great way to watch partial eclipses too.
The only difficulty with the whole process is actually finding a day when the sun isn't obscured by cloud.
One piece of advice for night time viewing is to make sure that you go out into the garden before dark and move trip hazards (there's nothing like tripping over a garden gnome at 3am in the pitch black, to make the language colourful), also ensure that ponds are covered etc. You may know where everything is, but your new found astronomical friend that you have invited over for the first time doesn't.
There are a number of meteor showers throughout the year that can be fun to view too.
If you need to make notes then cover a torch with some red plastic film so your eyes adjust more quickly back to the dark conditions. White light can upset your viewing for quite a while.
Happy stargazing.
I forgot to add, the Sky at Night website is a valuable asset and the newsletter often tells you what you can see and where in the sky.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/skyatnight/ index.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/skyatnight/ index.shtml
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