White zone revelation

[Alastair Rae]

If you look at a light pollution map of Britain, I live right in the middle of that big white zone at the bottom right. I've recently bought my first astro scope and have been reading up like mad on all things astronomical.

Now, I was out last night having yet another failed attempt to find the Andromeda Galaxy. I have all the directions, lines from Cassiopeia and Mirach etc but it's just not there. To be honest, even Cassiopeia's pretty hard to find. I was on the point of saying there's no point getting the scope out at home - save it for weekends away and holidays.

Then I had my revelation. There's lots of stuff to learn. First there's the smaller constellations, finding my way around the sky. Even if Lepus doesn't have it's bunny ears, you should still be able to find it. And with a compass and Stellarium on my netbook, I can pick a star to study and see how its neighbours match the map. I can learn about sighting and judging angles, getting used to my equipment.

It's like being a newbie birdwatcher who thinks it's only about Minsmere or Coto Doñana but actually can't tell a female Chaffinch from a House Sparrow. We all want to run before we can walk. There's so much info and kit that we feel we don't have to serve any sort of apprenticeship. I'm only middle aged, I've got plenty of time to learn.

[hemihaggis]

:icon_confused:Thst sounds like a good philosophy