Astronomy programs for beginners

[keithbrown80]

Hi all, 

Ive finally took the plunge into stargazing and bought a telescope, i wanted a one i could use in the back garden which is south facing and also one i could take away when i go camping in the lake district so ive opted for a used but great condition Meade etx 70at with autostar computer, its small enough to take away and small enough that my wife cant yell too much that its in the conservatory. I am starting from scratch with this hobby so dont know anything about it at the min, ive ordered Astronomy for dummys book from amazon which sounds right up my street but i was wondering if anyone could recommend a dvd or youtube program i could take a look at to keep my interest up while the weather outside is too poor to venture out.

Any help or advise would be most welcome 

Keith

[Astro Imp]

Hi Keith and welcome to the forum.

Have a look at Astronomy Shed, lots of  'how to' videos to keep you occupied. http://www.astronomyshed.co.uk/

On a slightly different tack Stellarium is a great free planetarium program to help you find your way around the night sky:- http://www.stellarium.org/

Have fun and good luck.

[ardbeg74]

Hi Keith,

Welcome to the forum. "Eyes on the sky" have a series of tutorials which you may find interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/user/eyesontheskyDOTcom/search?query=Stargazing+basics

Also I have found some of the videos from "Astronomy and Nature TV" to be helpful

http://www.youtube.com/user/AstronomyAndNatureTV/videos

All the best and clear skies

Mark

[Skipper Billy]

I was recommended 'Turn Left at Orion' and it is fascinating !!!

£20 well spent.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-Orion-Hundreds-Telescope/dp/0521153972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388259882&sr=8-1&keywords=left+turn+at+orion

[NoSiriusly]

All these answers are spot on. The astronomyshed vids are really good and detailed. Stellarium is excellent, downloaded it ages ago for free and learned loads from it. I also got the book Turn Left At Orion which breaks down observing into interesting areas of the sky. You could follow the book and find the objects in Stellarium for a virtual observing session.