Astronomy
Astronomy this section will be a basic out lay of the subject of astronomy there is a more detailed section to come.
Deep sky
Deep sky is Galaxies, Star Clusters, Globular Clusters, Nebula,Comets. Most of these are best seen in large Telescopes. But it is a common mistake to think that you need a large Telescope to see them this is rubbish. There are over 50 that can be seen in a pair of binoculars. There are thousands that can be seen in a modest Telescope which most people can afford. The only thing you will need is a dark sky these are getting hard to find. Astronomy clubs will be able to loan Telescopes may have their own dark sky site which you can go and look at the wonders of the sky with others.Go to deep sky web page.
Luna
Lunar astronomy is one of the most popular starting places for young people or those new to astronomy. There is a lot to see even in very small Telescopes and even Binoculars will show some detail. There are Craters Mountains and shadows that are cast by these objects. You will see the landing sites of the US and USSR moon programs , but you will not see the landers themselves. Avoid looking at the moon when full as the features will be bleed out. Try looking for the Libration of the moon. Libration is a wobble that allows varying amounts of the lunar surface to be seen.Go to luna web page.
Solar
Solar astronomy is observing our nearest star "The Sun".When doing
this area of astronomy some care must be takenor you could be
blinded.For this area of astronomy you do not need a large telescope,as
the Sun produces a lot of light.It is one of the areas were amateurs
can help the professionals,with sunspot numbers and faculae areas,more
advanced observers can see flares and prominence's for more information
go to my solar web page.
Go to Solar web page.
Planetary
Planetary astronomy is one of my favourite types of astronomy and was the most popular many years ago. Again you do not need a telescope to see the moons of Jupiter or the ring of Saturn (10x50 Binoculars) phases of Venus. You will need a good tripod and a good night for some of those things to be seen. To see any features you will need a Telescope. Mars shows markings and polar caps but can be small and there is only a short time to observe mars. But it does have a lot to offer. Jupiter hold the most detail of all the planets the red spot is an easy object to see. There are two main cloud belts to be seen the Galilean moons can also be seen and you may see a Moon cross the face of Jupiter and the shadow of the moon. White spots can be seen as can other features. Saturn the rings are the most spectacular part of the this planet. The disk does not show many features like Jupiter. During the late 80s there was a lot of detail to be seen but that has gone. Some times there are White spots to be seen there was one a few years ago. Neptune and Uranus may show small disks at high power but no detail can be seen. Pluto is a challenge to see you will need a dark sky and a 8inch telescope.Go to the planetary web page.
Astrophotography
Taking pictures of the night sky is easy you need an SLR camera with a manual shutter and a 50mm lens and a cable release cord. You can take star trail by leaving the shutter open for 10 minutes or more. You can take pictures of the constellations. some times conjunctions can make a nice picture. To take the pictures you see in books and magazines you need a telescope I will be doing an page on that soon.
Go to home web page.