Part
one: Introduction My first rule as a beginner is to always go for the easiest things to view, like the Moon or the planets to start with and then move on to the stars and galaxies around the night sky. My second rule is always do some research before you go out and decide what you want to look for before you go, say a particular crater on the Moon, or a particular planet and its moons. There is usually plenty visible but you need to know what you are looking for to start with! |
My third recommendation is to keep a diary of what you have seen and to do drawings where necessary so that you check what you have seen later. The fourth recommendation, of course, is to wrap up warm and take some hot drinks or soup with you, as the best stargazing is done in the winter months and it can be pretty cold. THe fifth and final recommendation is to not to go alone, for your own personal security, and besides, it's not so much fun!
Part two: start with the Moon or the planets By far the easiest things to look at in the night sky is our own Moon or a planet. One of the most fascinating planets to look at is Jupiter and its four Galilean moons, in a low power eyepiece Jupiter looks like a bright small disc and its moons small pinpricks of bright light, relative sizes to Jupiter and its moons illustrated as follows (Courtesy of Wikipedia): The moons from top to bottom are Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto. when stargazing you will not see Jupiter and its moons as clear as the above illustration, but its good to know what you are looking at (research, research before you go out!) Other planets have moons and following is a list of some of these, probably the next best ones to look out for are Saturn's moons, when you have overcome the 'Wow' factor of seeing its rings for the first time through a telescope, Titan is easy to spot on a good clear night: Illustration Courtesy of Wikipedia Our own Moon is a great object to look at through a telescope or binoculars, for more information about the moon, go HERE Also download the Virtual Moon Atlas HERE Again with the Moon, decide what you want to look out for before you go. you might want to look at the seas (the 'Mares') or perhaps a particular crater like Tyco or Copernicus. THe best time to look at the Moon is when the 'Terminator' is present, that is the line between the light side of the moon and the side that is in shadow. So a half Moon night is always a good bet as is a quarter Moon. So with this you are now doing practical stargazing. Always try and go out with someone more experienced than you, we all started somewhere, and we all have a lot to learn!
Part
three: start looking for some of the more difficult objects Start by identifying Orion and it's brightest star Betelgeuse in the top left hand corner. Then identify The Plough and then Casseopeia, the 'W' shape high in the night sky. Perhaps the next
easiest object to look for (in winter) is the Orion Nebula which is
situated in the sword part below Orion's belt, a bright luminous cloud
which looks amazing through a telescope or binoculars, this is also
known as M42 (in the Messier catalogue of 110 objects), check this out
HERE
Here
is a map of the Pleiades star cluster courtesy of Wikipedia:
The Hyades were sisters of the Pleiades, and these can be seen near the bright star Aldebaran, just to the right, so don't confuse them. Part four: Galaxies are harder to find The
one object that many people want to see is the Andromeda Galaxy, part
of what is known as our local group, also known as M31, it is quite
difficult to find if you are not used to looking for galaxies, but bare
in mind that when you find it, it will look like a feint smudge in the
night sky, here is guide to finding it. Always best to lead off from
Pegasus. M33 (the Triangulam Galaxy) is a smaller galaxy to the south
and very difficult to spot: The best way to see the stars and planets is to join a local astronomy group and learn from other people if you can. Study the Moon and learn the seas (Mare) first Why not use the annotated image of the full Moon to learn the locations of the Moon's Mare. You can see some of them with your unaided eye and binoculars will enable you to spot them all.
Please note that the best time to observe is during the winter months and consequently the above notes reflect the objects found in the night sky during the autumn and winter months. |