Re: New to backyard astronomy: Celestron SkyScout?


"brucegooglegroups" <brucegooglegroups@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1185203593.566324.229300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi Eric,
I have been doing backyard astronomy for a year. After six months, I
bought a Skyscout, which is an excellent tool, and helped me greatly
with identifying constellations and other sky objects.
If you are going to pursue this hobby, get a good pair of binoculars.
I own Orion Vistas, which are recommended by Terence Dickinson in
Backyard Astronomy, a book you should read in the future. First read
Night Sky by the same author. My 10X50s Vistas are relatively light,
with an excellent clear view.

Terence Dickinson is also editor of Skynews, a Canadian based backyard
astronomy magazine, which is excellent for beginners, and less
complicated and detailed than Sky & Telescope. I subscribe to the
magazine.

Visit their site. There are many good articles on their site. Be sure
to visit http://skynewsmagazine.com/pages/observersguide.html, and
click on the Binocular, an essential tool for backyard Astronomers
http://www.skynewsmagazine.com/PDF/binoculars.pdf

You may also want to purchase the orion beginning stargazers kit
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=64874&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=planisphere
a good deal. It will take a while to learn how to use the planisphere
and maps, but the kit is excellent for a beginner.

Caveat: do not buy a telescope at first. I did, and it was a mistake.
Get to know the night sky, and then buy a telescope.

Bruce

Hi,

Thanks for the wealth of information. (This is also a reply to others as
well. I'm reading everything.)

Yeah, I'm going slowly and starting out by reading, reading, and reading.
As many have suggested, I want to reach a comfortable level before
purchasing a telescope. Definetly will invest in binoculars (along with a
mount) in the relative short term, along with reading material. I've
bookmarked your suggestions.

I'm humble enough to admit that I will probably also order "The Complete
Idiot's Guide to Astronomy" as well. While I have worked in satcom and am
comfortable with using an ephemeris (for communication satellites), have
read a number of books on astronomy (mainly Sagan), etc -- actually pointing
a telescope at something in the sky is much different than just looking at
glossy pictures from the Hubble in a book, I image. :-)

Celestron SkyScout vs Meade MySky. *sigh*. The SkyScout looks like such a
neat and fun toy. Figured it would be something that would always be
useful, so initially I thought I'd have one by now. But, the Meade MySky
tempting to wait a bit and see how the two finally compare out. I figure
there is no rush...

I'll continue reading, reading, and reading. Especially want to get
comfortable with charts...

When the time comes to get a telescope, I don't mind spending extra dollars
for quality. I plan on purchasing from either a reputable dealer online or
even from a local speciality shop. Either way, it will be from an intimate
source.

I'm pretty sure my niche will be planets and moons. Good optics and
quality hardware. I'm not really too interested in the computerized
"automatically take me to X" stuff. Isn't some of the fun finding things
on your own off a chart? I figure, if I get too "lost in space", I'd always
have the SkyScout/MySky to help out, anyway.

Thanks!


.

Quantcast