![]() You can also email us your questions at We can’t recommend any specific telescope brands, but we are happy to give general advice. You can find an astronomy club, get sky maps, and find other resources on NASA’s Night Sky Network page. An astronomy guide, star map, or smartphone app can help you find what to hunt for next. We recommend Stellarium, a free planetarium software that lets you see what's in the sky from any location on any date, label the constellations, and much more. More advanced targets include the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades Star Cluster, the Andromeda Galaxy, and binary stars like Albireo. The moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn are an incredible sight. Next, try the brighter planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Mars. Once you are comfortable setting up your telescope, what will you observe with it? The Moon is a great first target, especially when it’s a crescent or half full. It can be helpful to have an experienced person walk you through that step. When you bring it outside, check that the spotting scope is properly aligned with your main telescope, otherwise finding anything in the sky will be frustrating. That will allow you to gather all the pieces, read the directions, and solve any problems in a warm and well-lit environment. When you have your new telescope, the first time you set it up should be indoors during the day. We recommend starting with a hand-adjusted mount and possibly upgrading later when you have a better sense of what you want. Electronic mounts can aid you in finding and following objects across the sky, but they are also very expensive. Make sure you find a solid mount to avoid shaky views.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |