Anyone that likes to look at the stars in his free time?

joostvane

Hello,

I recently got interested in watching documentaries about space, etc. Thats why I'm thinking about buying a telescope and do some starspotting at night. I was wondering if there are any of you who enjoy looking at the stars at night, and have some time to explain how, when, etc they do this.

Here are some questions that I would like to start with.
- When would I best perform this. When is the peak time to look at the stars. Does it mather? Eg. does 1AM give you a better view than midnight? Is there some kind of peak?
- Where would I do this? I live in a small city, with a lot of lighting. Would you recommend me to go in the forrest, at an open spot, ... Or could I just do this in my garden?
- What equipment do you use. A telescope ofcourse, but do you use anything special aswell. Talking about tracking software on your PC, etc... Could you explain to me what the difference is between telescopes, is there some kind of how ordering system on how bright the stars must be for that telescope to see them, and a more expensive one would see them faster?
- How much would a telescope cost? I'm not looking for something special and fancy, but ofcourse my budget is limited. Could you provide me a good website where you could buy this, or check the prices?
- Are you in any community that helps you wich tracking and stuff. I understand that some planets are very bright sometimes, also heard about the iridium flares, ... Is there any good website that provides predictions and so on? (I use www.heavens-above.com for prediction of the Iridium satellites flares & ISS passes)

Thank you & sorry for the English Wink

ocalhoun

_AVG_

I saw the sky from Mt Cook in New Zealand.

It was a magnificent view! You could see the red band across the sky ... you could see the Milky Way clearly!

If you use a very powerful telescope, I think that you would see only a certain area of the sky ... not the entire sky as a whole which is visible to the naked eye ... so that would hinder the beauty I guess.

Now, if you want to stargaze for scientific purposes then yes .. a telescope with a high magnification is required.

SO, I suggest you go to some hill station or place with high altitude that is secluded from civilization ... and take a small telescope along (small i.e. not with a very powerful magnification)

And I think around midnight and so on should be dark enough to see the stars. You'll have the best chance when the night is the darkest (of course, it also matters which phase of the moon it is)

About buying telescopes and web sites giving predictions, I'm unsure.

SunD3R

Of course i love looking at the stars! It is just a shame i live smack bang in the middle of the city so the only thing i can see when i look up is the moon and if i'm lucky, a handful of stars. But luckily for me, every now and then i go to a less populated area for holidays where i can see thousands upon thousands of stars and the more i look, the more stars there seems to be.

joostvane

I went on holiday to Poland. One evening we went up pretty high in the mountains, and I saw loads of stars! Much greater view than I ever had in Belgium!

Cliffer

i sometimes look at stars at night if the sky is clear.i like stars.

Ophois

This makes me miss Arizona so much. My birth town of Yuma is in the middle of a huge desert, and there is a place nearby called the Kofa Game Range, home of the Kofa mountain range, and one of the most beautiful places on earth, to me. The sky gets so clear at night, and if there are no clouds, the view is amazing, as seen in this first photo.

These are the Kofa mountains and sky at night(no PhotoShop or other effects added, just a straight camera shot)

These below are just day pictures of the Kofa mountains, desert, and canyons. My personal paradise.
This is looking back into the Kofa Queen canyon.

This is Signal Peak.

Not sure exactly where this is, but it's in the same general area, during sunrise.

And finally, the vast expanse of the Kofa desert.

supernova1987a

I want to point out one thing: You don't really need a telescope if you are just a beginner. Binoculars will be a great choice however because the telescope will zoom into a small patch of sky and you will not be able to see much if you don't point to the right direction. Another thing is the motion. Any object you point will be off your view in a few seconds because of the motion of the Earth. The telescope will only help you detect this motion. Although learning to use a telescope is a great idea but not for starters. For starters binoculars are the best choice. Use sky charts to locate stars and planets and then nebulas, etc from the binoculars. Then use the telescope. I learnt all this from my friends and I can use a telescope now, but I still love my binoculars.
Wink

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