Starting in Astronomy

Hi, I thought i would give some links and some tips on starting into the great hobby of astronomy. This is a great hobby that is all year long with new things to see each night, and each time it will blow you away. And is for all ages! Young and old!

Before you Get a telescope you need to do some research alot of reading. and you need to get familiar with the night sky. Buy a book on Astronomy. Like "The Night Sky Observer's Guide" and "Turn Left at Orion" . Also you should get a Star chart. Star chart are very helpful. You can download one off the internet or buy one. Here is one from Amazon.

There are also many Computer programs to help you navigate your away across the night sky. Some are free and some cost some money. One really nice Program is called Stellarium it is a Free star program. It shows you the night sky in real time. Just put in your information and it will show whats in the sky at that time and in the future. so if you have a laptop you can use that to see whats up and where it is. it is a very useful program. Another great program is "Starry night" There are many different Starry night programs they have basic programs and more advanced. You can read more about that Here. I have the Basic Starry night Program that came with my Orion telescope. Each night i'm out i use it.

You might want to get some Binoculars before you get a telescope to get use to the night sky. use your star charts to help guide you across the sky. You will want to get a pair that you can hold, so you don't have to get a tripod. Like a 10x40. You can see all different brands here. Orion, Celestron, and Meade have some really nice Binoculars, That are perfect for just starting out.

Before you buy a telescope. You need to know what kind of objects you will be wanting to look at. Planetary object, DSO ( Deep sky objects) or the moon. Many different objects out there and many different telescope out there. Here is a great place that gives you reviews of all different kinds of Equipment. Another good place to get reviews is cloudy nights. I started out with a small Mak. It was a Orion 90mm Mak-cass with a table top mount. It had some great views. It was great for Planetary use and for some brighter DSO. I did do alot of research before i chose this telescope.

One thing i didn't do was join a astronomy club. You should join a local one or a online one. A very good online astronomy community is Cloudynight . This place is jammed packed with information. Very Useful, join to Ask questions. It free to join and you will be glad you did. You can check your local area for a astronomy club, there are many out there.

And for choosing a good telescopes for just starting out i will send you to Tom Trusock. He wrote the most helpful article every written. I will give you all three parts. He will tell you about the different telescope and what they are good for. It is very helpful. It covers alot of what i have said here but goes in, in much more detail.

Here is Part One, Part Two, Part three. all written by Tom Trusock.

Remember keep looking up have a great time under the stars.

I also have some great links to some really nice Astronomy Programs in my Software section of the blog. Those are all programs i use. From Navigating the night sky to capturing the sky. I hope you have enjoyed reading this, and hope you join the great Hobby of Astronomy!

Clear Skies!