I just bought a cheep refractor telescope for 100 dollars yesterday. I spent about 5 hours last night with it from my bedroom window so I am pretty hooked. I'm taking it out in to the country tonight to get away from the city. Any advice you might give to a novice astronomer to help me out?
2007-07-07 11:54:45 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I took astronomy in college and I've been reading astronomy related books for about 4 years but this is my first telescope. I am thinking about going to school for it. Any suggestions?
2007-07-07 11:56:04 · update #1
At your first opportunity join an Astronomy Club, even if it is just over the Internet. Talk with those club members and swap tales about what is cool to look at or look for...new things that are seeable will be flashed back and forth amongst the membership all the time.
A refractor is okay, but you will soon want a large reflector, say 8 Inch or more... Then you will really be looking at neat stuff.
Take a red flashlight with you, not a white light. Red will protect your vision. Also, plan on taking lots of bug spray,
and munchies/drinks. Keep a log book of what you tried to look at, and what you were successful looking at. Make notes about what you saw...even try drawing pictures if you are handy with a pencil and paper.
2007-07-07 12:57:47 · answer #1 · answered by zahbudar 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Start off with the planets. Stars twinkle planets don't.Venus and Saturn in the West (Venus is the brightest object in the night sky after the moon) and Saturn close to it.. In the opposite direction the brightest object is Jupiter. With Jupiter you should see 4 star like objects in its vicinity (the 4 largest moons) and from night to night these will change position as they orbit the planet. The rings of Saturn are amazing and Venus shows phases similar to the moon. From there start with the constellations closest to these planets. There are various planetarium sumulation programmes that can be downloaded as well. Join a local astronomical society or group and you will get to meet like minded people. Congratulations on your chosen hobby as you will continually discover new and exciting things.
2007-07-07 13:19:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Learn to make your own telescope. There are about 30 groups in the US that do it.
2007-07-07 12:13:03 · answer #3 · answered by Mark 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
check out starandtelescope.com at least i think that's the url. they have a nice online sky chart that you can edit to display the sky from your city and time of day.
2007-07-07 13:29:41 · answer #4 · answered by brandon 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋