So you have spent a brief evening looking at the night sky; perhaps gazed at the Moon and pondered the idea of buying a telescope? Or you have flicked through the pages of an astronomy book or magazine and thought it would be good to see some of those brightly coloured nebulae and rich starfields for yourself in your own telescope? You then have been bitten by the amateur astronomy bug.

 

But before you rush out and buy the first shiny telescope you see in a local shop window, or place an order over the internet, take the time to read these pages I've compiled for the enthusiastic beginner like yourself who is thinking about buying their first telescope. You may of course, just jump ahead at any stage and go off and buy a scope with the advice I've outlined in the later section, it's entirely up to you. Also I have put together an FAQ page to answer some of those common questions.

Chapter 1: Learning the Sky

Chapter 2: Binocular Astronomy

Chapter 3: Buying your first Telescope

If you are a complete novice when it comes to the night sky, the best place to start is the obvious: the very beginning. But don't despair because as we go through the following steps each step will become a building block of knowledge and experience for the next.

 

Okay, you're just itching to buy your first telescope, and my recommendation is? Don't! Start of small and learn and understand the night sky first, and there are some very inexpensive items you can buy to give your knowledge of the night sky a big boost. Firstly, buy a planisphere and a basic star atlas. The third item you already own: your own eyes! Let's look at the first two items in more detail.


Planisphere

A planisphere is a simple device made from rigid cardboard or plastic, measuring about 20-30cm in diameter. In the centre is a round disc with the night sky printed on it with the brightest stars and constellations. This inner disc rotates around a pivot point and calender dates are marked around the rim of the top window. The purpose of the planisphere is to align the current time of day with the current day and month of the year. This is done by rotating the inner start chart. Once this is achieved, the chart will clearly show what stars and constellations are visible at that particular time.

 

An important thing to remember about planispheres is that when you are purchasing one, it must be suitable for your latitude on Earth and planispheres can be purchased for many different latitude ranges. For example, if you live in Australia, you can purchase a planisphere designed for a latitude of 35 degrees South. This is quite adequate for most locations in Australia.

 

A good planisphere will cost you about $20 - any planisphere will do but I like the plastic Phillips Planisphere as they are a bit more durable than the rest. A planisphere will serve two very important purposes.

 

When you are starting out in amateur astronomy, the first hurdle to overcome is understanding what I call the 'mechanics' of the sky - how and why the stars rotate, and in which direction. You will begin to appreciate the movements of the constellations across the sky from night to night, and the differences in the sky at different times of the year.

 

There is another hidden skill which you will learn in the course of using our planisphere. You will quickly learn how to translate a star chart from printed material (or in this case, on the front of the planisphere), to the sky and vise versa.

 

Don't underestimate the importance of owning a planisphere. This is a valuable tool and a worthwhile investment for very little outlay which you will use for many years to come.

 

Note that a "fixed" version of a planisphere can also be found in the centre pages of many popular astronomy magazines, and there are many others on the internet to print out yourself.


Star Atlas

An extension of the planisphere is a more detailed version in the form of a star atlas. There are many publications available, but my favorites are Norton's Star Atlas and Atlas of the Southern Night Sky, the latter having extra references for southern observers. Both of these books are not only ideal for the beginner, but will be valuable additions to your library from day one. Even the most experienced amateur astronomer uses these more basic books from time to time.

 

The bonus with these type of books is that they contain an abundance of interesting topics including lists of interesting objects to observe, brightest stars, abbreviations and other reference information.

 

 

Joining an astronomical club

One of the most beneficial ways to increase your knowledge of amateur astronomy is to join a local astronomical association. By meeting up with other amateur astronomers you will draw from many years experience across a broad range of individuals. The wealth of information you will discover will guide you as you experience the learning curve of this wonderful hobby.

 

 

Exploring the night sky with a planisphere and a star atlas will keep you going for many nights, but you may find it it time to progress to the next step. Still impatient for that telescope? Why not try a pair of binoculars.
 

Purchasing a good pair of binoculars has to be the easiest way to increase your viewing limits of the night sky, and they have everything going for them, with virtually no disadvantages. Binoculars are lightweight, compact, easy to hold and easy to transport. Not only can be used for astronomy, they are just as handy for daytime pursuits. A good pair of binoculars will last you a lifetime!
 

Types of Binoculars
 

Binoculars are really just two identical miniature telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point accurately in the same direction, allowing the user to use both eyes. There are several different type of optical systems for binoculars, which I will not delve into here, but essentially, they all have an arrangement of glass prisms to angle and correct the image entering from the objective lens (the large lens at the front), to the eyepiece at the rear (where you place your eye to view).

 

Their size and magnification is defined in a simple nomenclature of two numbers. for example, if we refer to a pair of  "8x50 binoculars", we are simply saying that their magnification power is 8 times (8x) and the objective lens are 50mm in diameter.
 
A word of warning! Getting the biggest size binoculars doesn't always mean they are the most suited to your needs. With a large size pair, say 12x60 or 11x70, two problems arise. Firstly they become increasingly heavy which will make your arms ache in no time, trust me! A pair this big will need a nice sturdy tripod, or at least a solid structure to lean them against, such as a fence. Secondly you will need to hold them extra still to reduce vibration and when you are holding them up looking at the night sky.  After about a minute your arms and shoulders will be aching, you won't be able to keep them still to get an adequate view of the sky.

For a good all-rounder pair, I'd recommend a pair of 8x50 binoculars.

 

 

What will I see with a pair of Binoculars?

 

More than you realise. First there's the Moon, our closest celestial neighbour. The Moon is covered with craters, mountain ranges, valleys and unlimited array of features. What make the Moon even more interesting is that as our only stellar satellite travels around the Earth in its orbit, its phase changes, giving the observer many different views.

Although will not see much surface detail, the planets are easily located. In an average size pair of binoculars Jupiter will appear as a small disk and four of its inner moons can be seen.

Binoculars are perfect for wide angle observation and rich star fields like the Milky Way, open clusters and many bright deep sky objects (DSO's) are great to observe. If you are far enough south in latitude you will be able to view the magnificent Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC), two large cloud-looking objects in the sky which are actually neighbouring galaxies to our on Milky Way galaxy.

 

When you buy binoculars, they will further enhance your knowledge, you will learn what about actual field of view - i.e. how much sky you are actually seeing in the view of the binoculars. Again, this you can translate into what you read on star charts, and this knowledge goes towards a fundamental skill which I think everyone should be able to grasp: "star hopping".

 

By now, you will be able to locate the constellation in the sky, and have a basic knowledge of when and where to find them, and even know where some of the brighter 'interesting' objects are - and find them in your binoculars. You can spend weeks, months or years doing this - the decision and the pace is purely up to you.

 

You have found yourself at this section, either by stepping through the previous three sections, or you took a leap of faith and jumped straight to the serious end of the discussion: buying your first telescope.

Types of Telescopes

Like cars or computers, there are literally hundreds of different types and configurations of telescopes on the market to chose from. We will look at the most common available to beginners and compare the advantages and disadvantage, and their approximate costs. 

 

 

Bang for Your Buck

 

Your will hear this term a lot in amateur astronomy. What does it mean? The most important aspect in buying a telescope is to try buy the biggest aperture you can afford (aperture simply means the size or diameter of the primary mirror or lens), for the most affordable price.

 

 

Type 1: The Dobsonian Telescopes

We have to begin with the one of the most popular telescopes in the last 30 years. It's name refers to its design and construction methods popularised by famous amateur astronomer John Dobson. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of references to the history of John Dobson and his concepts on the internet and in books and magazines so I won't go into great detail here, but suffice to say that he built many telescopes with basic parts and materials which were inexpensive and easy to acquire, and although the early Dobsonain designs look a bit rough and rudimentary, they worked extremely well for very little outlay. And best of all, almost anyone can build one.

In recent times big telescope manufacturers have cottoned on to this market and began producing their own inexpensive Dobsonian telescopes, thus making them affordable to the amateur astronomer, particularly the beginner.

 

Their construction is simple: a thin metal rolled tube, with a primary mirror at one end and a secondary mirror and focuser at the other. The optical arrangement is called a Newtonian Reflector, named after Sir Isaac Newton. It is one of the most simplest optical configurations and requires little maintenance. The base and mount is also very basic; a timber construction, often delivered in a 'flat pack' style which needs some assembling.

 

ADVANTAGES

One of the major advantages with the Dobsonian telescope is that term explained above "bang for your buck". Because Dobsonian telescopes are cheap and easy to make, they are by far the most affordable on the market when you are considering large aperture.

 

DISADVANTAGES

 

Although they disassemble into two main pieces, the mount and the optical tube assemble (OTA), the larger Dobsonians like the 10" and 12"  will take up a considerable amount of space in the average sedan. So transporting them can be an issue.

 

Also the mount is an Alt-azimuth type, which means they will not follow the objects across the sky automatically. Most basic Dobsonians do not come with any electronics to find objects and track them automatically, however manufacturers are increasing adding electronic drive systems and GOTO systems to locate objects in the sky from a built-in computer database.

 

PRICES

 

The four most common sizes for a Dobsonian are a 6", 8", 10" and 12". For a 6" Dobsonian expect to pay AUD$300-400 (USD$240-320), an 8" Dobsonian AUD$550-600 (USD$440-480), a 10" AUD$800-900 (USD$640-720) and a 12" AUD$1100-1200 (USD$880-950). This equates to excellent value for money.

 

 

Can I do photography (imaging) on a Dobsonian Telescope?

 

The general consensus is not really, BUT there are ways to take some basic images objects like the Moon and the brighter planets and many amateurs have been successful at this.

 

 Type 2: The Newtonian Reflector

 

I will continue this article in the coming weeks....