Thursday 5 September 2013

Stargazing

As make our way into the fall, the sky at night gets darker, ideal for stargazing - light pollution permitting - and you don't need anything fancy. A good pair of binoculars is ideal for casual viewing although spending around $130 or more on telescope can pay off.
Although this site is aimed at kids it has some very good basic information to aid you.
Astronomy for Kids

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh wow! You did a story on astronomy!
That is a great website with a lot of useful information for beginners and amateurs. Just because I've been into it most of my life doesn't mean I can remember all the major celestial objects, the constellations or their locations as they're positions change in the night sky. I rely on star maps,a planisphere and basic information like the information in the Astronomy magazine link for kids that you have provided.

Binoculars are a great idea also. I use these for scanning star fields for "fuzzies" and it's amazing how much more you can see with them while giving you a feeling of floating through space.

http://www.hayneedle.com/sale/nikonaculona21110x50binoculars.cfm

They have good quality optics but won't break the bank so you can have more money to save for a telescope or lenses and such.

Unknown said...

This is a great, fun and safe planetarium program for PC's also. The best thing is it's open source (free) with coordinates for thousands of objects. They also provide upgrades and support. A very useful tool during colder months when the atmosphere is generally less hazy and for pre-planning in the warmth and comfort of your home.

http://www.stellarium.org/

Simply find your city or type in the coordinates manually and voila! Your location coordinates (latitude, longitude and altitude) can easily be found with a quick Google search.