# Any Astromeners



## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

just wanted to know if there were anyone who knew anything about it. i bought my son a telescope becuase he seems to be getting interested in space (what little boy doesnt?)

We we live, we have virtually no light pollution and its very clear. I bought a telescope that has a 50mm lens, as i didnt want to buy anything to fancy in case its just a passing phase.

anyone have any pointers?


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

I seem to recall that Roger has dabbled







or was it rhaythorne


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Have a search on the forum Shaun, like John says, there have been a few topics in the past...


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## unlcky alf (Nov 19, 2006)

I thought about doing this a couple of years ago, I was interested in trying my hand at stellar photography. Fortunately it turned out to be a passing phase or I'd be bankrupt by now







The general advice was to join, or at least visit, a local astronomy club, where you/he will learn more in one night then you would in a month reading the net. I didn't get further than buying a used scope off ebay then spent a few frustrating nights trying to locate identifiable objects, I managed to identify the moon, but that was about it.

There are loads of forums:

http://www.popastro.com/ this one was quite good, and they have a section for absolute beginners


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

mrteatime said:



> anyone have any pointers?


Yes, _up_ is a good start









I do a bit of amatuer stargazing now and then. As for more serious pointers, it's difficult to know where to start!

As you've already bought a telescope, I'd suggest starting out by observing the most obvious astronomical feature in our skies, the moon, as unlcky alf says. Don't observe when the moon is full. For one, it's very bright and you can hurt your eyes (not as dangerous as looking at the sun (a definite







) but too bright to observe comfortably). Secondly, you lose a lot of detail in all that glare. Wait until the moon is around a quarter full and then observe the features around the shadow for the best views.

Next, have a look at the Seven Sisters star cluster (Pleiades, or Messier Object 45 if you want to be flash). This is visible with the naked eye, but probably best viewed with binoculars or with very low powered telescopes. The sheer number of stars visible in the cluster is quite breathtaking.

Next, you could try some planets. Jupiter is a good one to start off with and you'll test the capabilities of your telescope by seeing how many of its moons you can spot. Ganymede, Europa, Io and Callisto are pretty easy, stretched out like a string of beads as they orbit Jupiter. Saturn's rings are an obvious candidate but may stretch the limits of your telescope. Venus and Mars can also be observed quite easily.

Then have a go at the Orion Nebula (Messier Object 42). With dark skies, you might be able to spot it but I've found it to be quite tricky.

Don't be fooled by flashy advertising or photos taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, the objects you'll be able to spot will seem very small and distant (well they _are_ distant after all) and probably a bit "murky" in comparison. When it comes to astronomy, perhaps the most important factor of a telescope's capabilities is its ability to gather light and _not_ the more often advertised magnification. In that respect, a 50mm objective lens is a bit on the small side, but perfectly OK to start off with.

Even with a small telescope, a tripod is essential. You can get flashy scopes and tripods with "goto" mounts that have electronics that determine where your scope is pointing. You can enter in the name of an object you want to observe and the mount whirs away and points the scope in the right direction. I've got one of these but have never used it, prefering to find the object myself.

Bigger telescopes naturally take up more room, sometimes quite a lot of room! In these circumstances, some people switch from the more usual refractor types (what most people think of when they think of a telescope with an objective lens at one end of a long tube and an eyepiece at the other end) and go for a reflector instead. These are shorter, but make up for it by bouncing the light up and down inside the tube instead. There are lots different sub-types of reflector. Some of them, like mine, leave you with a mirror image as the final reflection you observe through the eyepiece. This is fine for astronomical work, but no good if you want the scope to double for daytime/terrestrial duties so that's something to be aware of when upgrading. The great thing about reflectors is that a lot of them are portable so you put them in a padded case, chuck them in the boot of the car and drive somewhere where there's less light pollution or even take them on holiday









I've got a heap of links to various websites which may help you and I'll dig them out a bit later


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

The most useful software / links, or at least the ones I tend to use most often:

The Sky at Night

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/spaceguide/skyatnight/

Heavens-Above

http://www.heavens-above.com/

Home Planet

http://www.fourmilab.ch/homeplanet/

J-Pass

http://science.nasa.gov/Realtime/Jpass/20/

Cartes du Ciel

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

Starry Night

http://www.starrynightstore.com/

Near Earth Object Program

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/welcome.html

Virtual Moon Atlas

http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Some years ago (well it was 'cos the programme was in DOS!) I had a wee real-time/fast time programme that you punched in latitude and longitude of your location, and it showed you night sky in the four directions, EWNS. You could run up to four times speed to predict positions of objects.

One would assume there must be a Win equivalent, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called. I do recall it came from a Ham radio software collection of some kind. Maybe you might find similar in amongst Ham Radio - or theres' a couple of other Hams (ex-hams?) on the forum that might know.

DUI - Department of Useless Information


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

Hi Shawn, in summertime I strap my telescope onto my motorbike and zap up to the Dales or the North Yorks moors. I enjoy it but probably enjoy the solitude and animal spotting more than the star gazing.









Rich has given you some great links and I think your son would enjoy this book, I had a real problem "understanding ", I still do, but this idiots guide was a great help.

The advice to join a local club is good too, luckily for me there is one nearby at Thackley football club, 2 mins walk away. here's one in York and there are plenty more nearby.


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

cheers guys....i'll check all that out later!


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## blackandgolduk (Apr 25, 2005)

Rich - that's a great post and sounds like it can be a lot of fun. I quite fancy having a go myself, but where do you go? Is it local to you or do you have to get further out of London? I'm thinking that Blackheath may be a good bet...


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## andythebrave (Sep 6, 2005)

Two things that really brought home to me just how damn interesting the sky is through a telescope:

1. The rings of Saturn.

2. Projecting an image of the Sun onto a piece of paper or card and seeing sunspots and _then_ looking again a bit later and noticing that they'd moved. Spooky.

And that was with a cheapo telescope from Charles Frank in Glasgow - as I recall it had around a 2 inch objective lens (so 50mm).

The next thing to do is to get a large objective small magnification pair of binoculars. It's amazing how much detail reveals itself and, in many respects, it's far more comfortable than using a telescope - you can lie down and take your time! Great for star clusters, finding your way round constellations even (if you're lucky) doing some Jupiter moon spotting. No need to go for anything fancy. For instance, go to scopenskies.com for a starter kit at Â£40 inc p&p including the binoculars, star finder book and chart and a red LED torch.

Oh, and it's a lot easier to take away for the weekend or on holiday and binos are pretty handy things to have around too.


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## andythebrave (Sep 6, 2005)

Sorry forgot the clincher.

It also means you can both have a go together.

And swap and stuff like that.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

I agree. I usually remember to take my 7x50 binoculars with me and always miss them when I forget!

blackandgolduk said:



> Rich - that's a great post and sounds like it can be a lot of fun. I quite fancy having a go myself, but where do you go? Is it local to you or do you have to get further out of London? I'm thinking that Blackheath may be a good bet...


It is a lot of fun, although sometimes it can be a bit frustrating if it clouds over, is cold or wet.

London is probably one of the worst places in Europe for light pollution, but on the darkest, clearest nights (usually also the coldest ones







) you can still get some great views. One mistake some people make is to set up the telescope indoors and point it out of an open window. The problem with that is that the warm air billowing out of the window causes a lot of turbulence and distortions so the views you get are rubbish. So yes, Blackheath would be a good bet. Getting out of London altogether is preferable though. I often go to Suffolk. It's flat, affording good all around views and has some of the darkest skies in England. The only downside is that if you're near the coast the fog can roll in off the sea and obscure everything. Win a few, lose a few


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2008)

I know what you mean about the light pollution in London. Only after I moved to a small Wiltshire village did I start to fully appreciate the beauty of the sky at night and learned to spot the odd constellation or 2.

Now that I'm in France (nearest neighbour 1/2 mile away), I often sit out in the garden at night with a glass of Scotch and marvel at home many satellites you can see with the naked eye whizzing around the earth.

Cheers

Lee


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

I envy you. I've been thinking about moving abroad for a while now. I'll pluck up the courage one day


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## blackandgolduk (Apr 25, 2005)

rhaythorne said:


> I envy you. I've been thinking about moving abroad for a while now. I'll pluck up the courage one day


Move from the delights of S.E. London and its night buses? Never!


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Mmmmm, the sights, the sounds...

...the smell!







:lol:


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

and to the forum member who pm'ed me and said have i seen uranus............


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## nursegladys (Aug 4, 2006)

well, since the JWST started sending (and Hubble for that matter) I have wanted to see our solar system for myself. So, after much umming and ahhing I have bought a 2nd hand Newtonian, a Bresser 150/750. We'll see what the optics are like but that may be my next purchase (yes there will be many more, another money pit as my wife calls my interests).


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