newb: Naked Eye StarGazing?

[anaxagoras]

Hi all, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but:

I want to start getting into stargazing, however I know NOTHING about the night sky. I might be able to pick out the Moon on a good day Okay not that bad, but the big dipper is about all i can spot. I'd like to learn the major constellations and planets that may be visible with the naked eye before I invest any money, to make sure I stick with it and that it's something I want to pursue before investing in.

So what can you all recommend that I start with? As far as books/charts go? What's a good starting resource? Most of what I've seen is geared towards telescopes.

If it matters i'm in the US along the east coast, Rhode Island and Virginia.

[John]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

There is a freeware planetarium programme called Stellarium which is very popular and will show you what is "up" at any time or place. Here is a link to it:

Stellarium

Otherwise a good introduction to the night sky such as "Turn Left at Orion" would be a great idea. You can see quite a lot of stuff without a scope / binoculars if you can get under dark skies and have a guide on where to look.

[Nexus 6]

Hi, anaxogoras, John has given some handy advice, would only add a Planisphere may be of some help. Welcome to the forum

[Chris H]

Get yourself a planisphere and a red light torch. The planisphere will show you what is in the sky on any night of the year for your location and you will easily learn the constellations. When I started out like you I could pick out the Big Dipper but that was about all but I soon learnt many more. A pair of binoculars is also pretty useful you don't have to spend $$$ on large or expensive ones and many people have a pair in their homes already that will do just fine. A good book to read is Nightwatch it gives you a lot of info on astronomy, the night sky and also has some great star charts, check it out on amazon.com and read the reviews.