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kor84

By kor84
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kor84

kor84

Posted
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Hello all.

A week ago while looking at venus and jupiter I thought I'll have a read up and see what I could find about stargazing. Phwoar, some of the pictures and photos I've seen have blown me away!!

I really can't wait to get some gear together and get started, anyone with recommendations on books that would get me on my way would really be great. Thanks!

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. You said you were impressed with the pictures you had seen and that you have made some progress with regards to having already looked at Venus and Jupiter. First off, the images you see are in honesty a little misleading. Any deep sky object (DSO) such as a galaxy or nebula, will at best reveal some structure but certainly not any colour. Orion's belt which contains M42, our nearest and brightest DSO, will only reveal subtle colour if viewed through a scope that has a very large aperture. You will see structure and shape made up from the various dust cloud formation but only in black and white. The same for planets really in that a lot of detail can only be viewed on the occasional night of really good 'seeing'. By this I mean when there is little movement or distortion in the 30 miles of atmosphere that you have to look through to view an object. The planetary image that you see is in fact a composite image which has been constructed from a series of images, each containing a little of the final picture. I don't wish to dampen your enthusiasm and feel that it is right to put before you the truth of what you will ACTUALLY see rather than what books and magazines often promote.

However, if you want to produce your own images that will help you experience the colour, detail and structure that has fired up your initial enthusiasm, then can I recommend getting hold of Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.99) which will tell you all you need to know to get good results. It will tell you what kit you need and why you need it to generate consistent results.

If you haven't done so already, why not attend a couple of public observation evenings that are often organised by your local astro cloub or observing group in order for you to get your 'eye in' on some of the kit that is out there to take a closer look at some of these celestial objects to help guide you as to what you feel you need to get.

Clear skies

James

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Kor and welcome to SGL, if you are talking in terms of a book for general coverage of the subject, a copy of The Backyard Astronomers Guide, Dickinson and Dyer will help you on your way and is highly recommended, TL@O is a first choice when it comes to navigating the night sky :)

John.

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