Archives for the 'amateur astronomy' Category
The Celestron SkyScout
Published on 17 May 2007 at 2:34 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, skywatching.
We recently got a handful of new things for our astronomy classes. And, I got together with a friend and she and I were able to test one of the new arrivals last night. So, I thought that I might share some of my observations. The item is Celestron’s new SkyScout.
The SkyScout […]
After the Rain
Published on 27 Mar 2007 at 4:05 pm.
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Filed under amateur astronomy.
We just had a very nice rain here. It hasn’t rained in some time, and the air was full of dust and pollen. The rain cleared all that out. The ground had been dry, too, and the rain has helped a bit with the drought. After the storms, it is cooler […]
Eyepiece Filters
Published on 31 Dec 2006 at 8:54 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, telescopes.
Once you get comfortable with your telescope, you might want to consider buying filters for your eyepieces. As I said in my eyepiece post a couple of days ago, telescope eyepieces come in standard diameters. For at least half a century, they have also had standard thread in them, allowing threaded filters to […]
Your first telescope — what should you point it at?
Published on 30 Dec 2006 at 10:27 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under amateur astronomy.
So, you have a new telescope. You get it all set up. Now what? What do you point it at? You look in magazines and see wonderful photos of all sorts of heavenly bodies. That’s what you want to see. Well, the bad news is that they don’t look […]
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Your first telescope - Part 2 (eyepieces)
Published on 29 Dec 2006 at 11:58 pm.
7 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, telescopes.
An important part of a telescope is the eyepiece. Often novices to telescopes don’t realize this. The objective (lens or mirror) focuses the light, but the eyepiece is the lens that you look through to put the light back into a form that your eye can use. Since this is the part […]
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Your first telescope — Part One
Published on 27 Dec 2006 at 8:20 pm.
6 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, telescopes.
Every year, after Christmas or after a birthday, people ask me for help with their new telescope. It is wonderful and exciting to get a telescope as a gift, but if it’s your first telescope, then you often don’t have any idea how to use it. Any instruction manual that comes with it […]
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An Occultation of Saturn
Published on 6 Dec 2006 at 8:22 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, observing.
The Moon moves around the sky, taking about a month to complete one circuit. Along the way, it passes by various other objects. When the Moon passes something, we call that a conjunction. But, occasionally, in its motion the Moon passes right in front of another body. This we call an occultation. This weekend, the […]
