I have been interested in the stars and planets since my very young years but its only in recent years that I have been able to afford equipment. I currently own two telescopes. The first one I purchased was an eight inch reflector, its big and heavy, not very portable so I decided on a second scope that I could take with me to more favourable sites. I live in the city and as always in such locations, I have a lot of light pollution. I purchased a four inch refractor, its light weight and easy to set up and use as it has a ‘goto’ mount. From my short experience I would recommend a refractor scope, I see just as much as I do with the reflector and because of its ease of use I get to use it more often.
The best time of year to look at the night sky is during winter. You have to be prepared for freezing cold nights standing gazing into a scope. I found this not so bad as during prevous years I had been interested in Winter sea fishing so if you have patience to stand in the freezing cold waiting for a ‘bite’ then being in similar conditions looking at stars is not so bad. Plenty of layers of warm clothes and find a shady location and if the sky is clear you do not notice the cold.
‘To start this hobby all you require is a decent pair of binoculars’ most books on the subject make this statement and it is true. If you have a pair of 8×50 glasses you will be amazed at what you can see on a dark and clear night. Planets like Jupiter and some of its moons can be seen late in the year. You can pick out Mars and see its redness but not much more detail. Many constellations can be identified if you have a map of the night sky. Maps for this purpose are not expensive to buy or you can even download them from sites on the internet. Just looking at our moon is easy with bino’s and gives a lot of pleasure. Give it a try and If you don’t ‘take’ to the hobby at least you have not spent a lot of money and your bino’s can be used for something else.
This coming winter 2015 I intend to do some more star gazing. I have not had the motivation until recently I will then report what I find of interest on this my web site. bye for now
