Telescope Basics and Choosing Your First Scope. A Beginners Guide.
This episode talks about telescope basics and choosing your first telescope. Features advise about reflectors vs refractors, AZ vs EQ mounts, and eyepieces. We review the Skywatcher Mercury and Explorer beginner telescopes.
These days people are not really used to looking up for the stars and in many places, due to man-made light pollution, the night sky looks pretty empty anyway. For many, navigating the night sky can be overwhelming at first, particularly from dark locations.
Traditionally, star charts and planispheres were the tools of reference to help amateur astronomers to orient themself during their stargazing sessions. But they also were an invaluable tool for sailors, enabling them to navigate at sea by night.
Today, planispheres are a popular gadget among amateur astronomers: you can buy one for a few bucks or get one for free when subscribing to an astronomy magazine. Or, you can even print one by yourself.
But star charts, and planispheres, in particular, can be a bit off-putting if you have never used them before.
So, let’s learn how to use it.
Are Star Charts Useful?
They sure were, for astronomers as well as for sailors sailing through the night. In today’s digital world, though, many outstanding astronomy apps are just one tap away on your smartphone.
Nonetheless, a planisphere is still a nice educational instrument for learning about the sky. It gives you a quick overview of the stars and constellations in the entire night sky, horizon to horizon, as visible for your location.
What Are The Limitations Of Star Charts And Planisphere?
Planispheres and star charts do have some limitations.
While star charts and planispheres pack a lot of info, apps such as Stellarium and SkySafari provide a ton more information. With those apps, you can get detailed info on stars, planets and deep sky objects, simulate the exact field of view of your instrument, easily move back and forward in time, and even control your mount.
Astronomy apps for smartphones are also much easier to use: simply point your phone at the sky to see on screen what is in the part of the sky you are framing.
Because of the small font often used in star charts and planispheres, they could prove rather hard to read at night. Continue Reading → Click Here.
Best Binoculars For Astronomy & Stargazing
Using a pair of binoculars for astronomy is ideal when you first start out on your stargazing adventure. They’re smaller than telescopes, normally cheaper, and much easier to use, but is there any place in serious astronomy for binoculars?
Once you have bought a decent pair of star-watching binoculars, you’ll probably never want to stop using them. Like many avid astronomers, no matter how large your hoard of telescopes gets, you will always want to keep a pair of binoculars at the ready.
For the best experience, you will need to choose a pair of binoculars actually designed for astronomy, just like the Orion Mini Giant astronomy binoculars. Below are our picks for the best binoculars for astronomy and stargazing. We also have a buyer’s guide if you want to choose for yourself to help you decide what you should be looking for.
Continue Reading. → Click Here.
Finding deep sky objects (faint fuzzies) can be quite a challenge at times, especially if you haven’t got a Go-To type telescope. With this easy but effective method, you will be finding those elusive targets in no time.
Your friendly neighborhood astrophysicist. I’m Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford. I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don’t know. If you’ve ever wondered about something in space and couldn’t find an answer online – you can ask me!
I have also written a few books. My latest, “A Brief History of Black Holes”, is available in hardback, e-book, and audio which I narrated myself.
My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
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Telescopes – 700x90mm AZ Astronomical Professional Refractor Telescope.
Brand FREE SOLDIER
Optical Tube Length 700 Millimeters
Eye Piece Lens Description Barlow
Objective Lens Diameter 90 Millimeters
Telescope Mount Description Altazimuth Mount
Focus Type Manual Focus
Power Source Battery Powered
Finderscope Reflex
Compatible Devices iPhone, Android
Number of Batteries 1 Unknown batteries required. (included)
About this item
★【28X-233X Powerful Telescope】 This refractor telescope is equipped with a long focal length of 700mm. Comes with K9mm and K25mm eyepieces(Better than H series eyepiece), 3x barlow lens, and it can achieve magnification of an astonishing 28 to 234 times. The 5×20 finder scope makes locating objects easily and precisely. The best beginner telescope for stargazing, viewing planets and the moon. If you would lie to see more details of the moon and planets, choose this one!
★【Astronomical Telescope with Superior Optics】The refractor telescope features a 700mm focal length and 90mm aperture. 90mm objective lens collects more light than 60mm, 70mm, 80mm telescope, so the image appears brighter in the eyepiece.Coated with multiple layers ensures high light transmission, to make the image more realistic and clearer.
★【Adjustable Tripod & 360° Rotating Zenith Lens】Provides a stable and upgraded adjustable tripod, allowing a variety of different viewing positions, bringing you an excellent observation experience. The features that make the 80mm telescope stand out are patented 360° Rotating Zenith Lens, allowing adults and kids to watch more comfortably.
★【Capture Amazing Moment】The beginner telescope for adults comes with universal phone adapter and wireless remote, which is a good helper for taking pictures, videos, and recording. When we oberserved the craters of the moon, wildlife in nature, we can capture and share with our family and friends.
★【Easy to Setup & Warranty】Detailed instructions provided will guide how to install and user-friendly for kids and adults. Quality warranty is offered. If you have any questions or suggestions about the astronomy telescope, you can contact us at any time, we are happy to solve any problems for you.
This is an exciting time to become an amateur astronomer. Never before have novice stargazers been presented with such a vast array of telescopes and accessories to pursue their hobby. Naturally, this brings the burden of choice: the bewildering variety makes it hard for an uninformed consumer to make the right decision on what type of telescope to buy.
Whether you’re seriously considering buying your first telescope or just daydreaming about it, this guide will help you narrow your options. We’ll start by exploring the basic features common to all telescopes, and then look at some specific designs. We’ll also look at the tradeoffs because every instrument has its advantages and disadvantages.
Before you buy anything, you must determine what’s important to you. What do you most want to look at? How dark is your sky? How experienced an observer are you? How much are you prepared to spend? Where will you store your telescope, and how much weight are you willing to carry? Answer these key questions, familiarize yourself with what’s on the market, and you’ll be well on your way to choosing a telescope that will satisfy you for many years to come.
This guide concentrates on visual observing, as opposed to astrophotography. It’s easy to take snapshots of the Moon through any telescope, but long-exposure photos of galaxies and nebulae require lots of time, patience, and specialized equipment. If you’re new to astronomy, it’s smart to gain a thorough grounding in visual astronomy before you contemplate astrophotography. It’s often cheaper to buy one telescope that’s specialized for visual observing and a separate scope for astrophotography than to buy a single scope that is suitable for both jobs.
Before examining the different telescopes available, it’s worth knowing the basics of how they work. → Continue Reading.
Exoplanets → Click here.
We’ve discovered 5,235 planets beyond our solar system. They are strange new worlds. Meet some of our favorites. → Click here.
