i'm getting a telescope

[LibraryLady]

For my 30 year giftie from the city, I chose a tabletop telescope, mainly for the alliteration. I've never had one before and I'm quite pumped. Any suggestions for good Web sites (aside from Bad Astronomy) to help me in my heavenly research?

[Cello Man]

Go to http://www.heavens-above.com, input your coordinates on the world map, and it tells you when orbiting objects will be overhead. That includes nifty stuff like satellites, the ISS, and the space shuttle.

[tkingdoll]

Yeah! Good choice :)

I live near a big city centre so not much in the way of clear skies around here. *envy*

[BenBurch]

Not a web site, but a book;

"A Primer for Stargazers", by Henry M. Neely

I know of no other book as good for the person just learning the sky.

Out of print, but Powell's has one;

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=4-9780517671306-0

[Schneibster]

Another good one, in print: "Nightwatch," by Terence Dickinson.

You'll find planet rise and set times on the weather pages of many newspapers, as well.

Have fun!

[Biscuit]

http://coronadofilters.com/

I am biased though, It was my families company until we sold it a few years ago.:D

[BenBurch]

http://coronadofilters.com/

I am biased though, It was my families company until we sold it a few years ago.:D

Oh! I always wanted to be able to afford your stuff! :)

[BenBurch]

Another thing you want is the January edition of Sky and Telescope. There is a chart in there of the rising and setting times for all the planets for the whole year.

[Trantor]

Check out "Orion" for any additional telescope accessories that you may want to purchase. They offer an excellent selection and good prices. You may also want to get a good pair of binoculars at some point. Binoculars are great for scanning the objects that you plan to observe with your telescope. For astronomy, I would recommend a pair with at least a 50mm aperture.

Here is the link to Orion telescope:

http://www.telescope.com/control/main/

[Capsid]

Astronomy picture of the day (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/) for inspiration.
Calsky (http://calsky.astroinfo.org/). A bit like Heavens above but more.

[LibraryLady]

This is great, thanks for all the advice. I don't think this telescope is going to be all that high powered, but it's free. I'll wait on accessories until I see how good I am at this. I'm thinking my four year old grandnephew, Matt, would like to use it too.

We have the books that have been recommended, so I'm going to be doing some reading.

I have a really good pair of binoculars which I got when a Sunny's Surplus was going out of business. I've been using them for when something interesting is overhead.

[Capsid]

I'd also get some nice star mapping software to run on your PC, I think Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org/)is very good and it's free!

[The Man]

Try www.jackstargazer.com it is a weekly PBS show dealing with naked-eye astronomy. This might help you locate objects of interest to train your telescope upon. It also has some good links.


Good luck and enjoy.

[AgeGap]

Usually a really good pair of binoculars will Pwn a cheap telescope. The price you are getting it for is a really good deal though.

[Dorian Gray]

I thought it was an innuendo.

"Dude, I'm getting a telescope just thinking about her binoculars."

[LibraryLady]

I thought it was an innuendo.

"Dude, I'm getting a telescope just thinking about her binoculars."

:faint:

[Achán hiNidráne]

I got a 6" Dobsonian reflector a couple of December's ago and if you go with a reflector you should have the mirrors collimated as soon as possible. I had to go the science store where I picked up mine, and had some help. Also, if you're going to do any moon observation, you might want to purchase a moon filter that screws onto to eyepiece and knocks back the glare on the lunar surface to REALLY help bring out the detals on craters and mountains.

I really have to pick up some more eyepieces and filters for mine. I'd like to do so much more with mine.

[LibraryLady]

I don't get a choice--it's from the gifts catalogue that they gave me to pick from.

[BenBurch]

How are you liking the Neely book? I know its almost a century old now, but the stars are eternal! :) (nearly)