re: getting started in astronomy

Blog visitors interested in All Things Astronomical sweep across a spectrum from beginners to advanced amateurs. My focus today is providing information for folks who are interested in getting started -- but are uncertain as step one.

Here's a fact that anyone considering "getting into astronomy" should know. Most telescopes wind up in a dark closet or corner of the garage, seldom if ever used. Why? Generally because people have "leaped" before "looking." For example, too many folks believe that they'll see images through their telescope that look like Hubble Space Telescope photographs. Uh...not! Or they believe that a super duper K-Mart special 500x magnification scope is just what they need, rather than a little bitty 100 power magnification. Uh...not! Or they go out at night and are immediately lost in the night sky. (See the previous post for a solution to that issue.)

When it comes to astronomy caveat emptor (buyer beware) rules! So an informational "jump start" that's not the purchase plunge is the place to begin.

Two websites come immediately mind, both constructed by friends of mine. While the two sites are different, they offer sound advice.

Let me begin with Bill Ferris's "Cosmic Voyage" pages. http://members.aol.com/billferris/beginners.html
Bill is a highly accomplished life-time observer who's actually worked in astronomy in a professional capacity. Be sure to check out his "Telescope Buyers' Guide" as a first step.
(Note: Bill's pages are on AOL Hometown, and are thus slow to load. Be patient.)

The second featured site is Eric Jacob's "Cheapskate Astrophotography." http://www.cheapskate-astro.net/index.html
Eric's webpages will introduce you to the next step in astronomy beyond eyepiece views: making your own astrophotos using equipment that will not break the bank.

So, enjoy your visits to Bill and Eric's pages. And make sure to surf the links that they provide. By the time you finish you'll be in a place to make a reasonably informed decision about your own prospective purchases.
Cheers.

re: the web and astronomy, part 2

Picking up where I left off, the web is literally a treasure trove of astronomically relevant free software! Here's the sample du jour: Cartes du Ciel.

Every heavenly observer needs a star atlas. And the information revolution has brought us the digitized star atlas. A really nice one is Cartes du Ciel at: http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/

Rod Mollise -- an "astro-guru" who's answered many a question for me -- notes in his review that "I reviewed the previous major release for this program in these pages about a year ago (v2.61), but for those who’ve not yet heard of CdC, the bottom line is that Cartes is a FREEWARE planetarium/deep sky program of surprising power. It’ll do what most other astronomy programs will do—present an onscreen "planetarium" sky for the date and time of your choosing. But what’s amazing is how it combines this basic planetarium functionality with the features of a real, computerized and star atlas." Source: http://skywatch.brainiac.com/sw0102.pdf

Rod, btw, is the author of many useful astronomically relevant books. You can find out more about Rod on his home page. http://members.aol.com/rmollise/

Must go for today.
Cheers.

re: the web and astronomy

The Web has changed everything, hasn't it? And it has certainly democratized access to the knowledge of all things astronomical. I've bookmarked hundreds of sites. And I regularly visit about a half dozen of them.

Rather than provide a list of links without explanation, let me discuss four of my favorites, beginning with Cloudy Nights. http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/index.php?Cat=0

If you're not a member, and you love astronomy, CN is a goldmine of information. The articles and reviews are useful. And the forums are the best! There's a forum to suit every interest you have.

A second must see is Astromart. http://www.astromart.com/

Do you want to buy or sell used astronomy equipment of virtually any sort. Astromart is the place! High quality astronomy goods typically retain 70 to 75% of their original value. If a deal is too good to be true, it likely is!

A third "you gotta see this to believe it" is Yahoo Groups. http://groups.yahoo.com/

Type a useful search string into the "Find a Yahoo Group" box and you'll be amazed. For example "astrophotgraphy" yields 97 hits. Too many, for sure. But a generic category is often the place to begin.

Last but not least is Google. http://www.google.com/

Of course I don't need to tell you this, eh? But Google will put you on the fast track to the information you want.

Enough again already.

Cheers.

Source for the image above: http://www.irtc.org/ftp/pub/old-competition/competition-Mar-95/sjg-internet.jpg

re: links of the day

"Eyeball observers" know all too well the frustrations of the urban life: light pollution kills the dim fuzzies that lie at the heart of our passion. The image at right (source: Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute) illustrates the problem.

So how much light pollution do you suffer from? There are any number of useful sites on the web. Here's a link to the main page for the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute:

http://www.rei.com/?cm_mmc=ps_google_reibrand-_-REI_Brand-_-REI-_-r.e.i.

And here's a link to the global map. Scroll down the page to find your continent. If you download the large maps (100 mb plus), you can pretty much see your own neighborhood. http://www.lightpollution.it/worldatlas/pages/fig1.htm

What can you do about the problem of ever increasing light pollution? How about joining the IDSA? http://www.darksky.org/ The IDSA site contains a wealth of information.

As it turns out, local groups (cities, like Flagstaff, AZ) and regional have made strides in fighting light pollution. Here's a link to the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition: http://www.flagstaffdarkskies.org/

FYI, the IDSA has a slide show that you can use for a presentation to the "poobahs" who run your city or county. http://www.darksky.org/resources/protecting-our-night-environment

Enough already. But check out the web on light pollution.

Cheers.

Why a blog? I guess cuz it's been way too cloudy and/or snowy to pursue my passion at night. We've had close to 90" of the white stuff to date. Great for snowshoeing. Bad for observing. The snapshot is yours truly (aka, Nanook) at work.

My home is at 7254', give or take a few inches. I have dark skies to the south and east, with the glare of Albuquerque on the other side of the Sandias to the west. As a "refugee from the city" and a dark skies advocate, my location is...well...heavenly. You can find more information about the IDSA at: http://www.darksky.org/

Today is the first day (Feb. 8, 2007) of the blog. I'll add posts and photos over the next few weeks. Right now "all things astronomical" is just a speck in the ocean of blogs. In other words, pretty much like the solar system in relation to the Milky Way Galaxy or the Milky Way in relation to the cosmos. More on all that later.

Reader responses and posts are quite welcome, within the guidelines of all things astronomical.

Cheers.