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A Beginners Guide to Astronomy

t some point in our lives we have all gazed up at the stars in wonder.

To many this wonder has urged them too ask them selves about life, about the universe and where it all come from?

To some of these people this has become their lifes ambition but to others just a pastime.

Today there is alot of information on the internet, so much so that one can be an astronomer without leaving their PC.

I have been interested in astronomy since my father demonstrated how night and day worked when I was very young and can still remember that day.

To some degree every person is an astronomer. Everyone has the general knowledge that they learnt at school and many people often like to hear about new astronomical events and discoveries.

So what if you wish to take it further? Purchasing a constellation guide is a good way to get started.

A pair of binoculars would be next. Never under estimate a pair of binoculars. Sometimes they are better than a telescope. Binoculars are rated by two numbers. An example would be 30x7. The first number indicates the size of the front lens and the second is the multiplier. When looking at the stars you need to capture as much light as possible. One should try to buy binoculars with a high first number. A nice size would be 50x8. The second number is not as important but generally lowwer is better I have found. Basically the higher the power the more light you need.

Next would be a small telescope. Telescopes come in two kinds, Celestial and terrestrial. Terrestrial Telescopes have a rectifying lens in them to make every thing appear right way up and not back to front.

Celestial Telescopes have two lenses and ojects appear up side down and back to front. The rectifying lens is left out because another lens absorbs more light distorts the image that little bit more. Distortion can be a big problem when using telescopes on high power. So everything should be done to reduce distortion. With telescopes you get what you pay for and good telescopes are expensive. Celestial telescopes start in price from around $50 US and there is really no ceiling as to how much you can spend.

Lets work out what kind of telescope you need.

There are two types of celestial telescopes and they are refractor and reflector. This all comes from what they use to focus light. The objective lens is larger than the eye piece and it is the first part of your telescope that the light from the object you are looking at strkes on its way to yur eye.

Refractor telescopes are smaller and cheaper than reflectors and are a good start for a beginner. Refractors use a glass lens as the objective.

Reflector telescopes start at around $200US and they use a curved mirror as the objective. They start in size from around 125mm (5in) and from there.

Telescope mounts are important and they come in two types also. Altazimuth and Equatorial.

Altazimuth I feel is more for terrestrial use as it has adjustment in the horizontal and vertical planes. They are OK when looking at the sky at night but until you actually use one you don,t know how much trouble they can be. When looking at the night sky every thing tends to rotate around a certain point in the sky. These points of which there are two are called the celestial poles. Now with a altazimuth mount on your telescope when you are watching a heavenly object it will move in a arc across the sky. You will find that every 20 seconds to a minute or so you will have to make adjustments and with an altazimuth you will have to make two adjustments, one to the altitude the one to the azimuth.

Equatorial mounts really are set up for astronomy and are designed to make adjustment easy once set up. With an equatorial mount it has the same adjustments as the altazimuth but it has an extra adjustment that tilts the whole mount. This allows the mount to be tilted and lined up with the celestial pole (the point the stars rotate around). The advantage of this is only one adjustment is needed to follow an object once its been found. Also if it slips out of view it can be found because the mount is moving in the same arc as the object.

Now you have your telescope you may wish to look at something,that isn't as easy as it sounds. Telescopes have view finders and they are very useful for aligning your telescope up what you want to look at. But align the view finder first to your telescope during the day. Find a distant object,find it through your telescope.Now align the view finder cross hairs to the same spot. Look between the two until you have it close to centre with both. Now you will find what you are looking for faster.

That should get you on your way. There are many objects out there. Enjoy!
About the Author

P. Graham has studied various areas of astronomy and cosmogy through out his life. Often discussing arm chair theorem with others to provoke thoughts and ideas.