Getting into astronomy - where to start ?

deadl0ck

Hi all,
I'm interested in getting into astronomy, but don't really know where to start. I recently acquired a NexStar 114GT GoTo Telescope (Have alook at it here ), which has 2 eyepieces.

I can look at the moon and I saw Saturn this evening - very small but could just make out the ring around it.

But really - where do I start ????

BTW, I live in Drogheda and have a good view of the sky with from my Balcony, with nearly no light pollution.

Also- I was wondering - where can I get more powerful eyepieces (if I can) for the telescope ?

Thanks !!!

hamster

deadl0ck wrote:

Hi all,
I'm interested in getting into astronomy, but don't really know where to start. I recently acquired a NexStar 114GT GoTo Telescope (Have alook at it here ), which has 2 eyepieces.

I can look at the moon and I saw Saturn this evening - very small but could just make out the ring around it.

But really - where do I start ????

BTW, I live in Drogheda and have a good view of the sky with from my Balcony, with nearly no light pollution.

Also- I was wondering - where can I get more powerful eyepieces (if I can) for the telescope ?

Thanks !!!

Hi deadlock,

I'm pretty new to this myself. A few tips I keep getting is:

1. get to know the constellations... ie the Orion, then the great bear and so on. It really helps! For example you saw Saturn tonight, you saw that just below the "twins" constellation... it looks like a extended C. Saturn is below that for awhile and will be close there until July (looking at starry night). Learning new ones is great fun.

2. Get starmaps. Order some online.

3. Get a nice planetarium program like "Starry Night" or a free one like WinStars or Star Charts. I really really recommend Starry Night. You can get this from PC Pro for free!!!! Back order issue 123. Or buy it for $45 (and cheaper in euro). It helps you to give an overall view of things and how they change over time. ie, saturn example again. The Machholz (Christmas) comet event in the other thread in this forum here is another great example.

4. Have a pair of Binoculars! These are great for quick scans of the sky! For 1 above just use the plain eyes first. I don't have my own telescope yet!

5. Get books and join a club. Actually starry night comes with a grreeat companion book to whet your interest. It makes noting day locations of the sun and the moon interesting. yep.

6. Go to forums and ask questions, ie.
Irish Astronomy boards or Cloudy Night's forums

I would be curious to know how much your telescope cost? Did you get it in Ireland? Did you get any filters?

Hope this helps....

Flukey

I can second all of the above. Look around the threads here for all sorts of hints and tips and what is what. Winter is a good time, with long nights and the best constellations on view. Saturn is very prominent, just below Castor and Pollux. Later in the night Jupiter is visible too and in the coming months you'll be able to see it a bit earlier in the night.

Flukey

I nearly forgot. Check out my little website of astronomy photos and other things.


http://homepage.eircom.net/~flukey/AstronomyPage.htm

hamster

Flukey wrote:

Later in the night Jupiter is visible too and in the coming months you'll be able to see it a bit earlier in the night.

Hmmm.. you are right! It looks very bright! Up around half past midnight starting to the east - se east. Must see.

deadl0ck

Thanks for all the tips guys !

Hamster - the telescope wat just over 300 Euro - I got it new on eBay for this price.
I think it's an excellent price considering if you look on astronomy.ie the same scope is 1,014 Euro!!!

JackieChan

Like deadl0ck I'm new to star viewing. I used a star map last night(starmaps.com) and had my first few of Saturn.
Some of the constellations are so obvious I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen them before(eg the big dipper)
The image of Saturn I got was similar on scale to what you have on your page Flukey.

What did you use to take the photos?
JC

hamster

JackieChan wrote:

Some of the constellations are so obvious I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen them before(eg the big dipper)
JC

I couldn't agree more. It's amazing how famillar they become.

Hey starmaps.com leads me the leading celebs? Do you have the right link? I'd love to check it out!

deadl0ck

Yep - the view of Saturn was about the same as Flukey's for me too.

I used Heavens Above to get a star map last night.

You can select your location and it will give you an Exact star map for your location and the time of night it is. VERY handy.

JackieChan

sorry guys the website was skymaps.com
I must try out the heavens above link.
Cheers

hamster

I am digging through what heavens above can do for me.... wow! Yep, its pretty compehensive! I'm going to try and spot the ISS this evening if weather premits. The chart is zoomable and prints (work printer here I come
The location chart is nice too.

hamster

JackieChan wrote:

sorry guys the website was skymaps.com
I must try out the heavens above link.
Cheers

Thanks Jackie! Another 2 prints for the workplace laser printer They look quite good and packed with stuff to do.

Flukey

Jackie, I used my Olympus c220z Digital camera, held up against the lens of my telescope, which is a Celestron Firstscope 70, for some of those photos. The big one of that half moon was done with it. Others, like the Saturn ones, were taken by using my Canon camcorder and taking stills from footage I took. The Venus photos were done using that too. Saturn is quite small with my telescope, but it is still incredible to see it and see its rings like that. I'd love to get even better views of it, but that would require a new telescope. Jupiter is small too, but some sight.

Flukey

A Planisphere and a good star atlas, I have a Collins one, are good resources to have too.

hamster

Flukey wrote:

Saturn is quite small with my telescope, but it is still incredible to see it and see its rings like that.

Looking at the Skychart for January that Jackie helpfully pointed... I saw this little gem:
Saturn was at opposition (13th Jan at 23h UT) at it's brightest and closest all year. Saturn's rings are a magnificant sight even in a small telescope.

It positively burned my eyes out last night.

Seanie M

An excellent site to delve into is www.irishastronomy.org. Highly recommended.

You should think about going to some astronomical club's night and asking all your questions there. I am secretary of Tullamore Astronomical Society, and we get poeple all the time coming to lectures with their telescopes, asking what to look for, how to use their scope, and what to do etc. You don't have to be a member to ask these kinds of questions!


Seanie.