|  | Hi! As secretary of your local astronomical society, I answer lots of queries, particularly about telescopes. Mainly, when to buy one, and what sort? The advice is the same for all budding stargazers - if you’re new to astronomy, its much better to find your way around the sky with the naked eye first - learn basic constellation shapes, and get to understand a little of how it all works. Take a trip to the library and see if you can find a guide to the stars by Patrick Moore - his beginner’s books are excellent. There’s also a magazine available called Astronomy Now, which has a very good monthly sky guide. You may be able to order it from your local newsagent if they don’t already stock it. Later in the year, Worcester Astronomical Society offers a course of meetings especially for beginners – usually followed by an informal observing session, when you can look for the constellations or planets described in the talk. Easier said than done, and usually everyone has fun getting lost - (I still do!), because, at first, we don’t appreciate the vast scale of the sky, and it sure takes some getting used to. Details of the beginners courses can be found on our website nearer the time – usually around September, and you don’t have to be a member to come along and see why we actually look forward to the dark winter nights! When I know my Castor from my Pollox, what next? So, when you’ve learned around the sky for a while and feel ready to move onto more exciting stuff, then’s the time to think about a pair of binoculars or even a telescope – and all becomes clear (excuse the pun) about why it’s best to wait a while before taking the plunge. By now, you’ll know the sort of astronomy that interests you most – do you wonder at pictures of nebulae and deep sky objects, have a penchant for planets, or just enjoy looking around? Might you be inspired to do some serious amateur astronomy, and make regular, recorded observations? Consider all this when buying your first telescope. If you live in a large city, surrounded by light pollution, (as I do), a telescope may not be much use at all, unless you can transport it out to a nice dark site. Try a pair of binoculars first - they’re portable and light. You can see lava seas, ray craters and mountains on the moon, and even the four Galilean satellites of Jupiter. But, be prepared for getting lost all over again! After finding our way around quite happily with just our eyesight, we get lost when first using binoculars, as suddenly, many, many more stars are visible. Why is this then? How can binoculars and telescopes help us to see so much more than with our naked eye? |
