Beginners Links

Welcome to the beginners corner of my website. I have based a lot of the following information on my personal experiences, and from the input of fellow amateur astronomers. I am a backyard amateur astronomer residing in Oregon. My first experience with a telescope was at the age of 11 years old. I have been captivated every since! I have learned some things the hard way. It is my hope that this web site will be helpful to you as a guide to the world of astronomy.

What is astronomy? It is the scientific study and observation of our Universe and beyond. The average person often confuses Astronomy with Astrology! Sorry, no horoscopes here on this web site! Human kind has been observing and inquiring in to the nature of the heavens since the beginning of time. We humans are a very inquisitive species. With today's modern technology, our awareness and knowledge is increasing at a tremendous pace. One can only imagine what lies ahead for the human race living on this small blue dot of a planet.

If you are just getting started in astronomy take your time! Please don't rush out and buy a telescope without getting a basic understanding of the different types of telescopes. It is very important to understand that magnification or power is a misleading idea. Beware of a manufacturer touting a "700 X Power" telescope! A telescope's aperture (size of the mirror or lenses) determines it's ability to gather light, not the magnification. The larger the telescope aperture the more light gathering you will have. You should decide what type of observing you are interested in. Some amateurs like to study and view deep sky objects, while others favor lunar and planetary viewing. As you develop your observing skills you may want to try your hand at astrophotography.

First Telescope basics. There are three types of telescopes, Reflectors, Refractors, and Catadioptric (Schmitt-Cassegrain and Maksutov) telescopes. A reflecting telescope uses a combination of mirrors to reflect and focus light on a converged point. The image in a reflector is inverted. Refractors use lenses to focus light. There are two types of refracting telescopes, achromatic refractors, and apochromatic refractors. Refractors are more expensive than reflecting telescopes. Catadioptric telescopes use a combination of mirrors and lenses. These are generally more expensive than a reflector. Many amateurs start out with a reflector telescope as they are very economical.
Many of the new telescopes now offer GoTo capability. This is made possible by the use of software incorporated into a hand controller sold as a feature to the novice. Basically this allows you to locate and track objects without a lot of extensive knowledge of the night skies. This feature has created a lot of debate among amateur astronomers. You still need to know basics about navigating the sky, as these telescopes require set up and alignment procedures. Many astronomers believe that it is much more important to learn how to read and use star charts to navigate the night skies rather than rely on computer software.
Telescope mounts are another part of observing that you need to understand. Mounts are placed on a tripod or base and then the telescope tube or OTA (optical tube assembly) is attached usually with tube rings. A mount can be either an altazimuth or an equatorial mount. The Dobsonian telescope most commonly uses a type of altazimuth mount, but most large Newtonian reflectors can also be adapted for use with an equatorial mount. An equatorial mount is a little more complicated and requires polar alignment. For astrophotography most amateur astronomers use an equatorial mount in order to track objects that they want to capture using film, digital camera, or a CCD (charge-coupled device).
Second I would strongly recommend that you start by finding a local astronomy club in your area. This can be an invaluable resource for you to become familiar with amateur astronomy. Another wonderful resource is to visit some of the online amateur astronomy groups, Yahoo, MSN, and Google have several very good clubs. You might also try to find an astronomy class at your local community college. Try to attend a star party. These are held throughout the year all over the world. At a star party amateur astronomers gather at a dark sky location and observe the night skies. This gives you a terrific opportunity to see and try out the many various types of telescopes and other equipment. I have met many wonderful folks at star parties and most are very happy to let you try out their telescopes. They love to answer questions and are very happy to have a new friend join them in this exciting hobby. This will help you to better decide what type of telescope will fit your needs!
Third, Learn about the sky! It will be very frustrating for you if you get a new telescope. Then, go outside to find something to look at without some basic understanding of navigating the night sky. There are many wonderful web sites, magazines, and books that can get you started in learning about the constellations and how to find your way around the night sky. One of my first and still favorite books is “Nightwatch” by Terence Dickinson. It is easy to use, in a large spiral bound format for field use, and includes wonderful seasonal sky charts with drawings and finder charts for the major constellations. It also gives a nice overview of astronomy and our Solar System, and a good background in telescopes, equipment and observing.
Fourth, One of my favorite ways to view the night sky is with a pair of binoculars! There are many economical binoculars available today. You will be amazed the first time you look up at the night sky with a pair of binoculars. Stars and planets will suddenly become so much more noticeable. The naked eye is only capable of viewing a small portion of the stars that are a part of our night skies. For excellent lunar & planetary detail I use a pair of 10 X 50 binoculars.

So before you go out and buy that “cool” looking telescope you saw at the mall or department store, please do some basic research first! I have heard over and over from people complaining that they bought a telescope a few years ago and it ended up sitting in the back of a closet collecting nothing more than dust! They perhaps had unrealistic expectations or ideas. Our society has become so accustomed to seeing images from space, in the media and on television that they think there must be something wrong with the telescope they bought! You will never be able to look through an amateur telescope and see images such as those provided by the Hubble space telescope. Remember that the images you see in books and magazines and on the Internet have been greatly enhanced with imaging software. Our universe is incredibly vast and the objects that we observe are very far from our little blue planet !

Let's get started! Below I have listed an assortment of links to get you on track .