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Your First Steps in Astronomy |
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Your First Steps in Astronomy
By the Editors of Sky & Telescope
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Under the stars. How good an astronomer you become depends less on your instrument than on building your knowledge and skills. Comet Hale-Bopp in twilight, spring 1997; photo by Mark Schroeder. |
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Did you know you can see a galaxy 2½ million light-years away with your unaided eyes? Or that you can see craters on the Moon with binoculars? These and countless other wonders await you every clear night. The first step is simply to look up and ask, "What's that?" When you do, you're taking the first step toward a lifetime of cosmic exploration and enjoyment.
But what, exactly, are the best steps to take after that?
Sky & Telescope editors got together to brainstorm this question. Pooling thoughts from more than 100 years of collective experience answering beginners' phone calls and mail to the magazine, we came up with a number of pointers to help newcomers past the most common pitfalls and onto the best route to success.
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While the library remains a good resource for novice amateur astronomers, the Internet has put a gateway to the global astronomical community on everybody's desktop. Sky & Telescope / Craig Michael Utter |
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1. Read it and reap.
Astronomy is a learning hobby. Its joys come from intellectual discovery and knowledge of the cryptic night sky. But unless you live near an especially large and active astronomy club, you have to make these discoveries, and gain this knowledge, on your own. In other words, you need to become self-taught.
The public library is the beginner's most important astronomical tool. Comb through the astronomy shelf for guides that will teach you about the Moon, planets, and constellations. Look for aids to learning the stars you see in the evening sky. If your library doesn't have enough, cruise your local bookstores (not to mention our own online store!). And check the magazine racks for Sky & Telescope, the hobby's essential monthly magazine. It offers a big evening-sky map for beginners, practical observing tips for observers at all skill levels, news of the amateur astronomy world, and reports on frontline astronomical research.
Of course the Web is a tremendous resource. But the fact is, the Web is a hodgepodge. There are excellent beginner's sites (hey, you found this one!) but what you really need right now is a coherent, well-organized framework into which to put the many bits of knowledge that you will pick up. In other words, you need books.
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Start stargazing with your naked eye; the constellations will be lifelong landmarks for further exploration. Courtesy Akira Fujii. |
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2. Learn the sky with the unaided eye.
Astronomy is an outdoor nature hobby. Go out into the night and learn the starry names and patterns overhead. Use the monthly naked-eye star charts in either Sky & Telescope or its more beginner-oriented sister magazine, Night Sky. Or download our free Getting Started in Astronomy flyer (which has bimonthly maps). Other books and materials will fill in the lore and mythology of the constellations that the maps show, as well as how the stars change through the night and the seasons. Even if you go no further, the ability to look up and say, "There's Polaris!" or "That's Saturn!" will provide pleasure, and perhaps a sense of place in the cosmos, for the rest of your life.
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Even lightweight binoculars will reveal hundreds of cosmic wonders, from lunar craters and double stars to galaxies millions of light-years away. SkyWatch / Chuck Baker |
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3. Start with binoculars.
Binoculars make an ideal "first telescope" — for several reasons. They show you a wide field of view, making it easy to find your way around — whereas a higher-power telescope magnifies only a tiny, hard-to-locate spot of sky. Binoculars give you a view that's right-side up and straight in front of you, making it easy to see where you're pointing. An astronomical telescope's view, by contrast, is often upside down, sometimes mirror-imaged as well, and usually presented at right angles to the direction you're aiming. Binoculars are also relatively inexpensive, widely available, and a breeze to carry and store.
And their performance is surprisingly respectable. Ordinary 7- to 10-power binoculars improve on the unaided-eye view about as much as a good amateur telescope improves on the binoculars — at much less than half the price.
For astronomy, the larger the front lenses are the better. High optical quality is also important, more so than for binoculars used on daytime scenes. Modern image-stabilized binoculars are a tremendous boon for astronomy (though expensive). But any binoculars that are already knocking around the back of your closet are enough to launch your amateur-astronomy career.
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A neat star-chart trick is to make a wire ring the size of your binocular's or finderscope's field of view. Slide it from point to point on the chart, and you'll see the star patterns that will appear in your view as you navigate the sky. Here we're narrowing in on NGC 2392, the Eskimo Nebula in Gemini (green disk), using Sky Atlas 2000.0. (See our star-hopping article to learn more on navigating the sky this way.) Sky & Telescope photo. |
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4. Dive into maps and guidebooks.
Once you have the binoculars, what do you do with them? You can have fun looking at the Moon and sweeping the star fields of the Milky Way, but that will wear thin pretty fast. However, if you've learned the constellations and obtained detailed sky maps, binoculars can keep you happily busy for years.
They'll reveal most of the 109 "M objects," the star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae first cataloged by 18th-century astronomer Charles Messier. Binoculars will show the ever-changing positions of Jupiter's moons and the crescent phases of Venus. You can identify dozens of craters, plains, and mountains on the Moon. You can split scores of interesting double stars and follow the fadings and brightenings of numerous variable stars. If you know what to look for.
A sailor of the seas needs top-notch charts, and so does a sailor of the skies. Fine maps bring the fascination of hunting out faint secrets in hidden sky realms. Many reference books describe what's to be hunted and the nature of the objects that you find. Moreover, the skills you'll develop using binoculars to locate these things are exactly the skills you'll need to put a telescope to good use.
5. Keep an astronomy diary.
This one is optional. But we think you'll find it a fine thing to keep an observing logbook of what you do and see. Keeping a record concentrates the mind — even if it's just a jotting of "November 7th — out with the 10x50 binocs — clear windy night — NGC 457 in Cassiopeia a faint glow next to two brighter stars." Get a spiral-bound notebook and keep it with the rest of your observing gear. Being able to look back on your early experiences and sightings in years to come gives deeper meaning to your activities now.
For some people, anyway. If this isn't your thing or becomes too much of a chore, skip it.
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For good company and free advice, attend a club meeting or a star party like the annual Table Mountain Star Party near Ellensburg, Washington, shown here. Courtesy Tim Hall. |
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6. Seek out other amateurs.
Self-education is fine as far as it goes, but there's nothing like sharing an interest with others. Hundreds of astronomy clubs exist worldwide; see our directory. Call or e-mail a club near you and find out when it holds meetings or nighttime observing sessions — "star parties." These events, some of which draw hundreds of amateurs, can offer a fine opportunity to try out different telescopes, learn what they will and will not do, pick up advice and new skills, and make friends.
Astronomy clubs range from tiny to huge, from moribund to extremely vital. You'll have to check them out yourself. But none would be publicizing themselves in our directory if they weren't hoping you would call.
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Big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones — whatever kind of telescope you choose, don't skimp on quality. A good one will serve you for a lifetime. Sky & Telescope / Craig Michael Utter |
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7. When it's time for a telescope, plunge in deep.
Eventually you'll know you're ready. You'll have spent pleasant evenings poring over the ads and reviews. You'll know the different kinds of telescopes, what you can expect of them, and what you'll do with the one you pick.
This is no time to skimp on quality; shun the flimsy, semi-toy "department store" scopes that may have caught your eye. The telescope you want has two essentials. One is a solid, steady, smoothly working mount. The other is high-quality, "diffraction-limited" optics.
Naturally you'll also want large aperture (size), but don't lose sight of portability and convenience. Remember, the best telescope for you is the one you'll use most. Sometimes gung-ho novices forget this and purchase a huge "white elephant" that is difficult to carry, set up, and take down, so it rarely gets used. How good an astronomer you become depends not on what your instrument is, but on how much you use it. (For more tips on buying, see "Choosing Your First Telescope").
Many new telescopes have built-in computers and motors that can point the scope to celestial objects at the push of a few buttons (after you do some initial setup and alignment). These "Go To" scopes are fun to use and can certainly help you locate sights you might otherwise overlook. But opinions in the amateur-astronomy world are divided about whether "flying on automatic pilot," at least for beginners, keeps you from learning to fly on your own. We think it's important, at least for backup purposes, to be able to use your charts and constellation knowledge to find telescopic objects by yourself — especially if the scope's batteries die after you've driven 50 miles to a dark-sky location!
It's true that telescopes can cost thousands of dollars, but it's also true that some good ones can be had for only a few hundred dollars. Can't afford the scope you want? Save up until you can. Another year of using binoculars while building a telescope savings account will be time you'll never regret.
And if you start with a small but high-quality scope, it can always be your traveling companion when the big, more expensive scope that you eventually buy is impractical to bring along.
8. Lose your ego.
Astronomy teaches patience and humility — and you'd better be prepared to learn them. Not everything will work out the first time. You'll hunt for some wonder in the depths and miss it, and hunt again, and miss it again. This is normal. But eventually, with increasing knowledge, you will succeed.
There's nothing you can do about the clouds that move in to block your view of the long-awaited eclipse, or the extreme distance and faintness of the special object of your desire. The universe will not bend to your wishes; you must take it on its own terms.
Most objects that are within the reach of any telescope, large or small, are barely within its reach. So most of the time you'll be hunting for things that appear very dim or very small, or both. If flashy visuals are what you're after, go watch TV. You're here for something better.
9. Relax and have fun.
Part of losing your ego is not getting upset at your telescope because it's less than perfect. Perfection doesn't exist, no matter what you paid. Don't be compulsive about things like cleaning lenses and mirrors or the organization of your observing log. Amateur astronomy should be calming and fun.
Learn to take pleasure in whatever your eyes, binoculars, or telescope can show you. The more you look and examine, the more you will see, and the more you will become at home in the night sky. Set your own pace, and delight in the beauty and mystery of our amazing universe.
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Amateur Astronomers |
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Amateur Astronomy
Amateur astronomy, a subset of astronomy, is a hobby whose participants enjoy studying celestial objects. It is usually associated with viewing the night sky when most celestial objects and events are visible, but sometimes amateur astronomers also operate during the day for events such as sunspots and solar eclipses. Amateur astronomers often look at the sky using nothing more than their eyes, but common tools for amateur astronomy include portable telescopes and binoculars.
People have studied the sky throughout history in an amateur framework, without any formal method of funding. It is only within about the past century, however, that amateur astronomy has become an activity clearly distinguished from professional astronomy, and other related activities.
Amateur astronomy objectives
Collectively, amateur astronomers observe a variety of celestial objects and phenomena. Common targets of amateur astronomers include the Moon, planets, stars, comets, meteor showers, and a variety of deep sky objects such as star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae. Many amateurs like to specialise in observing particular objects, types of objects, or types of events which interest them. One branch of amateur astronomy, amateur astrophotography, involves the taking of photos of the night sky. Astrophotography has become more popular for amateurs in recent times, as relatively sophisticated equipment such as high quality CCD cameras has become more affordable.
Most amateurs work at visible wavelengths, but a small minority experiment with wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. The pioneer of amateur radio astronomy was Karl Jansky who started observing the sky at radio wavelengths in the 1930s, and interest has increased over time. Non-visual amateur astronomy includes the use of infrared filters on conventional telescopes, and also the use of radio telescopes. Some amateur astronomers use home-made radio telescopes, while others use radio telescopes that were originally built for astronomy research but have since been made available for use by amateurs. The One-Mile Telescope is one such example.
Common tools
Amateur astronomers use a range of instruments to study the sky, depending on a combination of their interests and resources. Methods include simply looking at the night sky with the naked eye, using binoculars, using a variety of telescopes of varying power and quality, as well as additional sophisticated equipment, such as cameras, to study light from the sky in both the visual and non-visual spectrum. Commercial telescopes are available and used, but in some places it is also common for amateur astronomers to build (or commission the building of) their own custom telescope. Some people even focus on amateur telescope making as their primary interest within the hobby of amateur astronomy.
Although specialised and experienced amateur astronomers tend to acquire more specialised and more powerful equipment, it's not unusual for relatively simple equipment to be preferred for certain tasks. Binoculars, for instance, although generally lower power than the majority of telescopes, also tend to provide a wider field of view, which is preferable for looking at some objects in the night sky.
Amateur astronomers also use maps that, depending on experience and intentions, may range from simple planispheres through to detailed maps of very specific areas of the night sky. A range of astronomy software is available and used by amateur astronomers, including software that generates maps of the sky, software to assist with astrophotography, and software to perform various calculations pertaining to astronomical phenomena.
Amateur astronomers often like to keep records of their observations, which may take the form of an observing log. Observing logs typically record details about which objects were observed and when, as well as describing the details that were seen. Sketching is sometimes used within logs, and photographic records of observations have also been used in recent times.
Common techniques
Many methods are used in amateur astronomy to locate items in the sky, but most are variations of a few specific techniques.
Star hopping is a method often used by amateur astronomers with low-tech equipment such as binoculars or a manually driven telescope. It involves the use of maps (or memory) to locate known landmark stars, and "hopping" between them. Because of its simplicity, star hopping is a very common method for finding objects that are close to naked-eye stars.
More advanced methods of locating objects in the sky include setting circles, which assist with pointing telescopes to positions in the sky that are known to contain objects of interest, and GOTO telescopes, which are fully automated telescopes that are capable of locating objects on demand (having first been calibrated).
Setting circles are angular measurement scales that can be placed on the two main rotation axes of some telescopes. Since the widespread adoption of digital setting circles, classical engraved setting circles are now specifically identified as "analog setting circles." By knowing the coordinates of an object (usually given as equatorial coordinates), the telescope user can use the setting circles to align the telescope in the appropriate direction before looking through its eyepiece. Computerized setting circles are called "digital setting circles." Although digital setting circles can be used to display a telescope's RA and Dec coordinates, they are not simply a digital read out of what can be seen on the telescope's analog setting circles. As with go-to telescopes, digital setting circle computers (commercial names include Argo Navis, Sky Commander, and NGC Max) actually contain databases of tens of thousands of celestial objects and projections of planet positions. To find an object, such as globular cluster NGC 6712, one does not need to look up the RA and Dec coordinates in a book, and then move the telescope to those numerical readings. Rather, the object is chosen from the database and arrow markers appear in the display which indicate the direction to move the telescope. The telescope is moved until the distance value reaches zero. When both the RA and Dec axes are thus "zeroed out," the object should be in the eyepiece. The user therefore does not have to go back and forth from some other database (such as a book or laptop) to match the desired object's listed coordinates to the coordinates on the telescope. However, many dscs, and also go-to systems, can work in conjunction with laptop sky programs. Computerized systems provide the further advantage of computing coordinate precession. Whereas printed sources are, by tradition, updated only every fifty years (J1900, J1950, J2000, etc.) computerized sources will calculate the right ascension and declination of the "epoch of date"--literally to the day (J2005, J2007, etc.).
GOTO telescopes have become more popular in recent times as technology has improved and prices have reduced. With these computer-driven telescopes, the user typically enters the name of the item of interest and the mechanics of the telescope point the telescope towards that item automatically. They have several notable advantages for amateur astronomers intent on research. For example, GOTO telescopes tend to be faster for locating items of interest than star hopping, allowing more time for studying of the object. On the other hand, the necessary complex electronics and mounting systems add an element of cost that could otherwise be utilized for higher quality optics.
Arguably, the increased affordability of GOTO telescopes has also resulted in a new type of beginning amateur astronomer, because GOTO telescopes offer a form of instant gratification, sometimes allowing difficult objects to be found quickly without requiring the experience of learning to find them. About ten years ago there was some debate, usually light-hearted, within the amateur astronomy community about which method is superior. Some astronomers argued that beginning with the lower end of technology and using star hopping techniques is an excellent method of learning the sky, and that a good knowledge of the night sky can be advantageous for people who prefer simpler equipment with less calibration and setup time, and is therefore more versatile. Star hopping involves the use of printed media that is dependent on computer generated sources. The user prints out star maps at home or uses books, atlases, and magazine articles that have computer generated graphics in them to aid in the quest to find an object.
GOTO telescopes, on the other hand, do make the hobby more accessible. They may be preferred by people who are more serious about studying objects, because less time and effort is required for finding objects when well prepared. But digital setting circle or go-to systems also provide touring functions whereby the user can set parameters such as magnitude and class of object, and, for example, view a series of planetary nebulae in Cygnus. A user who has discovered that his list of close double stars is impossible to view because of the seeing conditions can select an alternative viewing program within minutes. Many middle aged and older amateur astronomers discovered that electronic pointing systems were not only convenient but spared them the difficult postures and associated aches and pains that go with pointing a telescope at zenith (with the common straight-through finder) or near to the horizon (on elevated mounts the finder can be out of reach). The explosion of astrophotography, in which a web cam or ccd camera is mounted on a telescope and downloads data to a nearby laptop, further enhanced demand for robotic systems that would point the telescope while the operator could stay seated and set imaging parameters.
All told the market for amateur equipment has moved decisively in the direction of some form of computerized finding assistance. This includes inexpensive digital setting circles for introductory level telescopes ($300 to $1,000), where pointing assistance only is provided, to more sophisticated systems that not only aim the telescope but provide tracking. In the popular Dobson style Newtonian reflectors object tracking is made possible by computers that can keep an object placed in the field of view by calculating the gear motions required in both the altitude and azimuth axes. The advantage of being able to view a planet at high power without having to keep moving the telescope manually to keep it in view has seduced many telescope owners into accepting the additional set up time and equipment complexity required for computerized systems.
Nonetheless, the unalloyed pleasure and simplicity of a non-computerized telescope continues to have its appeal, and many observers take pleasure in surveying the heavens without electronic guidance.
Scientific research
Scientific research is most often not the main goal for many amateur astronomers, unlike professional astronomy. Work of scientific merit is possible, however, and many amateurs successfully contribute to the knowledge base of professional astronomers. Astronomy is sometimes promoted as one of the few remaining sciences for which amateurs can still contribute useful data. To recognise this, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific annually gives Amateur Achievement Awards for significant contributions to astronomy by amateurs.
The majority of scientific contributions by amateur astronomers are in the area of data collection. In particular, this applies where large numbers of amateur astronomers with small telescopes are more effective than the relatively small number of large telescopes that are available to professional astronomers. Several organisations, such as the Center for Backyard Astrophysics [1], exist to help coordinate these contributions.
Amateur astronomers often contribute toward activities such as monitoring the changes in brightness of variable stars, helping to track asteroids, and observing occultations to determine both the shape of asteroids and the shape of the terrain on the apparent edge of the Moon as seen from Earth. With more advanced equipment, but still cheap in comparison to professional setups, amateur astronomers can measure the light spectrum emitted from astronomical objects, which can yield high-quality scientific data if the measurements are performed with due care. A relatively recent for amateur astronomers is searching for overlooked phenomena (e.g. Kreutz Sungrazers) in the vast libraries of digital images and other data captured by Earth and space based observatories, much of which is available over the Internet.
In the past and present, amateur astronomers have played a major role in discovering new comets. Recently however, funding of projects such as the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research and Near Earth Asteroid Tracking projects has meant that most comets are now discovered by automated systems, long before it is possible for amateurs to see them.
Societies
There are a large number of amateur astronomical societies around the world that serve as a meeting point for those interested in amateur astronomy, whether they be people who are actively interested in observing or "armchair astronomers" who may be simply interested in the topic. Societies range widely in their goals, depending on a variety of factors such as geographic spread, local circumstances, size and membership. For instance, a local society in the middle of a large city may have regular meetings with speakers, focusing less on observing the night sky if the membership is less able to observe due to factors such as light pollution.
It is common for local societies to hold regular meetings, which may include activities such as star parties or presentations. Societies are also a meeting point for people with particular interests, such as amateur telescope making.
Famous amateur astronomers
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