Archives for the 'amateur astronomy' Category
Glasses or no glasses?
Published on 27 Nov 2006 at 4:42 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, observing.
I am getting new glasses soon. I need a new prescription, and besides I got the anti-reflective coating on my old pair pretty scratched up (no coatings on the new pair!). But, this raises a question that people always ask at public star parties. Should they take off their glasses to look through the telescope?
Well, […]
Dressing for Winter Astronomy
Published on 18 Nov 2006 at 12:16 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy.
I think that I may have posted something like this last year on my old blog. Well, it bears repeating.
We are having a big star party this weekend. Naturally, this is supposed to be one of the coldest nights of the season. Now, cold weather and astronomy go together. The cold drives a lot of […]
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Amateur Astronomer Observing Programs
Published on 28 May 2006 at 11:18 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under amateur astronomy, skywatching.
In thinking about my next post, I thought that I’d do a follow-up to my last post. So, this is also aimed at amateur astronomers.
Often people will buy a telescope, or get one for Christmas, birthday, or whatever. Then, comes the task of learning how to use it. That is often a […]
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Seeing Red
Published on 26 May 2006 at 7:58 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under amateur astronomy, skywatching.
I don’t recall if I’ve talked about this or not, but here goes. With summer coming on, the weather is nice, and sometimes people have more free time. Often stargazing picks up a bit in the summer. There are often more public star parties through the summer, too. So, a lot […]
Setting Up and Using Your First Telescope
Published on 12 May 2006 at 1:27 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under amateur astronomy, telescopes.
A while back, while at a public star party, someone came up and asked me a question. Well, OK, so that happens at every star party. Well, this question was from someone who had recently purchases a small telescope. I get these all the time. Many people go to the store, […]
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Finder Scopes
Published on 18 Apr 2006 at 6:50 pm.
8 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, telescopes.
Last night was the first decent clear night to set up telescopes with the students in several weeks. We have not had rain, but lots of clouds, haze, etc. So, we set up the telescopes. By this point in the semester, I don’t help them all that much. They should KNOW […]
What telescope should I buy?
Published on 30 Nov 2005 at 7:56 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under amateur astronomy, telescopes.
People think that I should know what is the best telescope that they should buy. The idea is that because I am an astronomer, I know all about telescopes. Well, they got lucky in that I do know a bit about telescopes. That is not always the case with an astronomer. […]
