Welcome!

     This is a blog for beginning stargazers, both young and old, who don't have a telescope--but who just want to become familiar with the sky. Or, you might have a telescope, but not know what to look at.  From time to time, we'll talk about telescopes, but there is much to learn about the sky even without them. People of ancient times were very knowledgeable about the sky, and they had no telescopes.

      * Star Maps are the first things you need to help you in learning about the sky. On the "Sky Maps" link below, you can scroll down in the middle section (down below the “Donate section”), and find the PDF’s of the Evening Sky Maps. Right under the month (April right now), you will see "download."  Print them out and they are good for the whole month.

     The charts are for the Northern, Southern Hemispheres, and for the Equatorial areas on Earth. Depending on which hemisphere you live in, pick the present month in your hemisphere, download it, and print it out.       Sky Maps Link

     You can take these printouts outside with you, and can begin finding things in the sky. Find the darkest, safest place you can to view the sky. The largest “black dots” on the maps correspond to the brightest stars in the sky. Be sure to pay attention to the north, south, east, west, markings on the star maps—to align yourself with the sky. Jupiter is in the skies these days. Your Star Maps will show you where it is. It's beautiful and bright! With a small telescope, you can see it's four little moons. It is in the constellation: Taurus the Bull. The Bull is up to the right of Orion.

   Starting out, the best things to have are warm clothes, a Star Map, a lounge chair and a little red flash light to help you see your star map. (Red light is the only color light that won't constrict the pupils of your eyes, which messes up "night-vision." If you can't find a red flash light, buy one of those tiny key flash lights, and color the front of it with red marks-a-lot.)          

 

     Orion the Hunter (credit: Yahoo images)

                                         

    Winter is a great time to begin in Astronomy . . . The crisp air helps the sky stay still and clear. The winter constellations are the brightest, and therefore the easiest to learn. Orion, the Hunter, is the easiest winter constellation to recognize. For those of you who have binoculars or scopes, you can see the famous Orion's Nebula, like a cloud, in his sword which hangs down from his belt. His left shoulder is the famous star Betelgeuse (sounds like Beetlejuice. :-)

The first constellations to learn in winter are:

1. Orion the Hunter

2. Canis Major, the Big Dog (left and down from Orion)

3. Canis Minor, the Little Dog (left and up from Orion)

4. Gemini, the Twins (up and slanted left from Orion's upper arm

5. Taurus, the Bull (right and up from Orion)

    *Remember to find the "Pleiades" cluster on the Bull's shoulder [Plee-a-dees]

6. Auriga, the Charioteer (up and off to the right of the Bull's right horn) [Are-eye-ga]

and if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, add:
7. Carina, the Keel of the Ship.
8. Eridanus, the River (begins at Orion's right knee.)
9. Centaurus, the Centaur.
10. Crux, the Southern Cross.
     Learn one or two each night so you won't get overwhelmed.  Most of these are bright constellations and easy to find---and they are a well-known group.  They have all have at least one bright star in them.  Mark them on your Sky Charts before you go out to look at the sky.  The constellations around them are not as bright unless you live where there are very dark skies.                    ______________

 

     If you are able to get some binoculars, most Astronomy books recommend that adult beginners start with binoculars with 10x50 magnification. The first number tells you how much magnification it has, and the second number tells you how wide the front ends are -- which indicates how much light they gather. A beginning pair will cost between $25 - $40 at Wal-mart or a sporting goods store (if you are on a small budget.) Of course, there are better ones that cost much more. Higher prices mean better optics.

But, these are too heavy for a child to hold steady. Small children need some with 8x21 magnification, or a larger child could use one with 10x25 magnification.
     Both adults and children need to practice adjusting the spacing of the two sides of their binoculars. People's eyes are not the same distance apart. Sometimes, you need to spread the two sides of the binoculars out farther--or sometimes move them closer together--until you see a normal circle in your view.  But, even without binoculars, you can STILL "learn the sky."   :-)