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I've been cruising around Dakka for some time now and it has recently dawned on me that I have not yet seen a thread discussing the joys of amateur astronomy! I figure that I cannot be the only Dakkanaught that dabbles in astronomy, so if anyone else out there does, please share your experiences, your equipment, and why you enjoy this hobby!

Right now, I use a 8" Orion SkyQuest Dobsonian equipped with a red dot reflex sight and a 9x50 finder scope, and a dual-speed electronic focuser. I find it's a nice compromise between aperture size and portability; while large, it can moved easily and has almost no setup time so grabbing and heading to the backyard is easy and it is sufficiently powerful enough for excellent deep-sky viewing from a dark site. Since I live on the edge of the 'burbs, the sky isn't as dark as I would like but I have no real problem viewing any of the more prominent deep-sky objects (my house is about a 5 on the Bortle scale). I belong to my regional astronomy club (Northern Virginia Astronomy Club or NOVAC) so I have access to some sites where the sky is a little bit darker. The place I frequent the most is near Mt. Weather and is about a 25 or so minute trip from my house and registers a 4 on the Bortle Scale.

I enjoy observing open clusters and nebulae the most but globular clusters are also fun targets and the brighter galaxies can be amazing as well (Andromeda, Sombrero, Whirlpool, etc.). Planets are always great targets, with Saturn being my favorite followed by Jupiter. I enjoy taking people to observe whenever Saturn is easily visible; I've heard more audible gasps when people view that planet for the first time in the eye piece than with any other object. The older daughter loves to look at the Moon too and I find it be an oft-overlooked target by lots of people. It just has a certain majesty that I never tire of.

I've always been fascinated by science and space since I was a little boy (when I was 10 or so I got a small telescope for Christmas and it was happiest I ever remember being on Christmas!) and luckily I was always encouraged to explore that fascination. Going out on a nice night to observe lets me connect to the universe and is both empowering and humbling at the same time... there really isn't any other feeling like it.

So again, if you share this passion, speak up and tell us!

I like to look at Uranus.

Sorry, someone had to say it.

I'm interested in astronomy but have no idea where to even start. I have just moved from a flat in the city to a house with a garden in the countryside, so I'm going to start looking at buying a telescope when I have the money. Just something basic. I'm much more interested in star clusters and other celestial bodies than planets.

We've got a telescope at home, quite a fancy one - "professional", so not one of those cheap supermarket ones!

I think it uses mirrors and all that. I don't know the name, but on a plate on the tube it says "D=150MM f=750MM" if that says anything to you!

We don't use it a lot, but we did regulary watch stuff with it. I think star clusters and gas clouds are really cool to watch.

I used to work on Astronomy Now magazine, and it's still published by someone I know.

The best way to start astronomy is to buy a couple of magazines and an introductory books, and join a club.

Modern telescopes are self-directing, but you need to know the details of azimuth and right ascension and so on, otherwise you haven't got any real knowledge. There's a lot you can do with a good pair of binoculars and a nice dark sky.

The sky is the difficult bit for most people. I live now in Henley, a small country town, and have a fairly dark sky though it's noticeably better if you go out on the river at night. The sky glow from Reading nearby is noticeable, though, and if you live in a city like London, it's hellish difficult to see much.

I have an old, cheap tube telescope. Probably no better then a good pair of binoculars.

But I have two things that help make up for that: One is a brother who did his undergrad work in astronomy, who lets me know when something cool is going to happen; the other is a father-in-law who lives out in the middle of nowhere on an old dairy farm.

So heads-up on cool stuff + farmland mostly free of light pollution = I occasionally get to see some cool stuff.

Light pollution from Chicago now, and Houston previously, made it difficult to really do any star gazing.

However, I do enjoy going out with my cheapo telescope I bought in college from time to time. Generally, I'll go out when Jupiter, Mars, or Saturn is close enough to see something. On a clear night, my telescope can make out the rings on Saturn and the Galilean satellites on Jupiter.

I get Sky and Telescope each month, but I'm thinking of just letting that subscription go and I'll just pick up the summer magazines at a book store. It's just too fething cold to star gaze in the winter in Lake County, IL!

My scope looks similar to this, but a bit beefier.

 kronk wrote:
Light pollution from Chicago now, and Houston previously, made it difficult to really do any star gazing.

However, I do enjoy going out with my cheapo telescope I bought in college from time to time. Generally, I'll go out when Jupiter, Mars, or Saturn is close enough to see something. On a clear night, my telescope can make out the rings on Saturn and the Galilean satellites on Jupiter.

I get Sky and Telescope each month, but I'm thinking of just letting that subscription go and I'll just pick up the summer magazines at a book store. It's just too fething cold to star gaze in the winter in Lake County, IL!

My scope looks similar to this, but a bit beefier.

Spoiler:

I think I have that telescope. Looks very close to what’s collecting dust in the basement.

IIRC the cold air distorts images less, so you get better views in the winter. Or that’s what I tell myself to remember when I’m out in the middle of a field freezing to death...

 Steve steveson wrote:
I like to look at Uranus.

Sorry, someone had to say it.

That's okay, everyone always does.

I'm interested in astronomy but have no idea where to even start. I have just moved from a flat in the city to a house with a garden in the countryside, so I'm going to start looking at buying a telescope when I have the money. Just something basic. I'm much more interested in star clusters and other celestial bodies than planets.

The best way to start is to go outside at night and look up. Seriously. Quite a bit of amateur astronomy can be done without the aide of a telescope because when you think about, for almost the entirety of human history that's exactly how it was done; telescopes are a "modern" invention but your unaided eye will always be your number one tool. Meteor watching, constellation identifying, and satellite watching can all be done without a telescope. Like Kilkrazy said, it's good to get a couple of magazines and books to get started and of course there is always the internet.

As far as telescopes for beginners go, I recommend a Dobsonian reflector. They offer the best aperture-to-cost ratio, the mount is incredibly sturdy, and are easy to set up and use. This is a Dobsonian telescope:


I also recommend not getting a motorized (or "go-to") mounted telescope. The better ones can be very expensive but I know the allure is there because they seem easy to use, and they can be once you are familiar with the night sky, but the best thing to do when starting out is an old-fashioned "push-to" scope and a star chart. I believe it is best to learn how to navigate the sky on your own before moving up to a more expensive and complex mount.

Two of the more popular brands out there are Orion and Celestron but Meade also makes a some good scopes. Be warned, they also make lower quality telescopes (especially Meade) like the ones you buy in toy stores or department stores. Avoid buying a scope that brags about magnification, it's a ploy to convince the consumer that they should buy it. A good rule of thumb is don't pay less than $150. Typically, the more it cost the better the optics are and always, always read reviews online first. My 8" Orion cost around $350 and is a fantastic price for an aperture of that size. I bought my nephew a small "travel" telescope (it came with a backpack carrying case) for Christmas a couple years ago and I think I paid a little less than $150 for it and while not the greatest thing in the world, it is certainly a capable piece of equipment.

Cool. I got my dad's 8 inch dobsonian reflector and took it out a few years ago with some work mates. We went first to an area inland about 30 minutes to go watch the Leonids, but it was so amazingly warm at 11pm that we didnt stay too long. We did look at the mountain peaks on the moon with that thing though, which are clearly visible. We took it out again near a highway I've driven a bunch, and looked at quite a bit. My coworker even bought a dslr and started to do deep field exposures, but we haven't gone back yet. I need to collimate the reflector though as it is out of alignment and causes objects to get the 4 points.

Eventually I'd like to build a tracking alt/azimuth mount for it using raspberry pi, and would interface with some smartphone program like Google SkyMap or SkEye to track objects.

We got as far as binoculars, a pair of 50x that a bloke in a planetarium suggested. There's a planisphere sitting around there house somewhere. Google Sky is about as much effort as we put in, unless its the ISS going over.

The Missus wanted to take a course from the Open University, but has other stuff to distract her at present.

The local councils around here have mentioned turning their street lights off after midnight, to save money, which would be fine with us.

I still remember the first time I saw the rings of Saturn through a telescope.

BTW does everyone know there are rings around Uranus?

Aren't they sideways, or is that Neptune?

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I still remember the first time I saw the rings of Saturn through a telescope.

BTW does everyone know there are rings around Uranus?

I saw a show on the Science channel about that!

 kronk wrote:
Light pollution from Chicago now, and Houston previously, made it difficult to really do any star gazing.

However, I do enjoy going out with my cheapo telescope I bought in college from time to time. Generally, I'll go out when Jupiter, Mars, or Saturn is close enough to see something. On a clear night, my telescope can make out the rings on Saturn and the Galilean satellites on Jupiter.

I get Sky and Telescope each month, but I'm thinking of just letting that subscription go and I'll just pick up the summer magazines at a book store. It's just too fething cold to star gaze in the winter in Lake County, IL!

My scope looks similar to this, but a bit beefier.

Spoiler:

Chicago has one of the highest homicide rates in the USA (you probably know this) and your biggest complaint about the place is light pollution!

America, what have they done to you?

I live out in the 'burbs. Statistically, I'm more likely to be killed by a comet or my fiance than shot in a drive by or mugging while looking at stars in my backyard!

I have an 8" Dobsonian SkyWatcher. I have a wide range of eyepieces, and my collimation skills are epic.

I opted for the manual scope so that I would learn how to navigate the stars without the crutch of a computer. Nowadays I can spot stuff with my naked eye if I'm in a dark enough area.

By the way, this is a GREAT date to take girls on. If you're fast at DSO/planet location, you can put on a great show for them and they are just blown away by your originality and intelligence. You are showing them something they've truly never seen firsthand before. I've done it a couple of times and things always go how you hope . . . just make sure you pack important supplies like a blanket, chairs for them, and hot drinks/snacks. They will love it, I assure you.

edit - One time I was all alone in the middle of God's nowhere, pitch black, completely bare horizon all around me as I was in a field. I'm doing some great lunar viewing, and all of a frikkin' sudden, AN ENORMOUS OBJECT ZIPS ACROSS MY FIELD OF VISION. I jumped ten feet into the air I swear. A god damn air plane just happened to pass through my vision and it shocked the hell out of me because it was dead silent, and who the hell is expecting something to suddenly show up on the moon?