Amateur Astronomy

[Khrissetti]

I've been interested for a while, but watching the Perseids last night has inspired me to get into astronomy a little more seriously than being able to identify Orion and the Plough. Do any other amateur astronomers have any suggestions for a relatively cheap starter telescope and some general tips for the hobby?

[HAL9000-2001]

Hi khrissetti, it's good to see other ksp players interesting in exploring space for real, even if we do it from the ground. As far as a beginner telescope I recommend getting yourself a decent pair of binoculars to start, check out models made by celestron. Once you are comfortable with finding stars,constelations, and nebulas at low power. The minimum scope I would recommend, and the one I own, is an 8 inch dobsonian reflecting telescope made by Orion telescopes. It's a great scope for a little over 300 American dollars. Don't by anything less or you will just have to a better and bigger telescope in the future.

P.s. Buy the book nightwatch by Terence Dickinson, it's what got me into astronomy.

I'm happy to answer any other questions...

Hal9000

[Khrissetti]

Cheers, Hal.

I'm currently looking at this http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/celestron-astromaster-130eq.html telescope which I've seen for approximately $200 which is within my price range, plus a couple of filters/ lenses/ etc. Portability's fairly impotant to me, as I live in a high-rise in the centre of a fairly large city and my car is parked a distance away, so whenever I want to do anything apart from viewing the Moon plus the half a dozen other bright objects visible through the light pollution, I'll have to lug the equipment across town and drive out to the hills.

I'll have to check out Nightwatch.

[HAL9000-2001]

Given your situation, short of buying a apocromatic refractor which are easily $500+, I think you made a great choice, I've always been happy with my celestron products. I'd also recommend checking out the forum on cloudynights.com...

It's filled with people much more expirencd with astronomy then I will ever be and those guys can answer any question.

Just one warning, once you see the rings of Saturn and storms on Jupiter for the first time, you'll never be content with looking at pictures on the Internet.

Good luck and happy observing,

Hal9000