Re: New to backyard astronomy: Celestron SkyScout?

I've seen the Meade MySky. One big difference is that the MySky has a
screen that you look at that shows a map of the sky rather than looking
through it and moving based on what you see.

Another plus for the MySky is that you can get a cable to go between
the MySky and a Meade autostar equipped scope and use that to select
and slew to objects. Kind of like the Vixen Skybook. But cooler.
--
Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Eric wrote:


"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=6487
4&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!
.