Beginner after advice

[PatBoySlim]

I'm after some advice , my daughters have started asking me questions regarding star gazing after a camping trip and I must admit having a deep seated fascination when I was a child.

I saw something on TV last year about a weekend (in Shropshire ?) where established astronomers helped newbies with advice on equipment and star gazing etc which looked really interesting

Anyone help ?

With live in north East Birmingham

[floppygoose]

Advice is available in bucketfuls on this forum, it really depends on what your interests are and what your budget is. What equipment to get depends on a number of things, for example if you want to concentrate on planetary observing, where you may wish to look for a refractor telescope, whether you want to look into astro-photography, where you may need to invest more in a mount that will track objects across the sky, or whether you are happy just observing, and are looking for a good all-rounder, in which case you may wish to consider a dobsonian mounted (manually adjusted) Newtonian reflector telescope, such as the 200P - This is the most popular telescope on the market, and can be used for both planetary and for deep-space objects. Why not look for a local astro club and check out what kit is available, I'm sure you will get help.

Welcome to SGL

Phil

[Twiggles]

Welcome mate. There are local astronomy groups in your area that will be able to give you advice as well, well worth paying them a visit and most will meet up once a month or so. This is a great way to see different things through a variety of telescopes and binoculars and decide where you would like to start. There are plenty of different groups in the midlands area, so if you are prepared to travel you can try each different group and decide which one you prefer.

If you are looking for something for the beginner (and again are prepared to travel!) then the Shropshire Astro Society are holding a Stargazing Live follow up event on the 25th January:

http://www.shropshire-astro.com/main/year-list/eventdetail/121/-/rodington-stargazing-live-2014

I think it's free, but you could drop them an email to confirm. Hope this helps, and as Phil said, these very forums are a wealth of information too!

[ronin]

You can check on clubs that are local to you via the fedastro web site.

Click on Members and have a look through.

One may have a beginner course arranged, there is one, I think, at Sidmouth but that is way too far away. Also look for public observing evenings given. I say this as on one the club is expecting people and so more likely to answer questions.

A club night will often be a talk and observing.

Will say to check what any course covers, looking up at the constellations, stars, clusters and nebula is not what astronomy entails.

There is the Astronomy Centre at Todmorden but again a fair distance and you would have to enquire if they have anything planned and suitable.

Cannot think of anything else that could be directly relevant at this time.

[jnb]

http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/observatory/astronomyinthecity.php

could be of interest to you. It's in Birmingham and combines both professional astronomers and equipment and enthusiastic amateurs.

[Charic]

I'm after some advice , my daughters have started asking me questions regarding star gazing after a camping trip and I must admit having a deep seated fascination when I was a child.

I saw something on TV last year about a weekend (in Shropshire ?) where established astronomers helped newbies with advice on equipment and star gazing etc which looked really interesting

Anyone help ?

With live in north East Birmingham

PatBoySlim........Hi, If you regularly, camp telescopes may be a bit too big and awkward , but binoculars, maybe a few so you don't have to share is another great option. Many folk start with binoculars, and maintain binoculars with their scopes, for the best wide angle views.   Your daughters (sound young under 20 ) would benefit from a pair of 7x50 binoculars because of the wider exit pupils the binoculars offer. (divide the Aperture/Objective 50mm into the magnification 7 gives a good exit pupil of 7.14. mm. Their younger eyes would  dark adapt to that size giving them nice bright images, getting maximum use from their binocular.. Any higher with the magnification, has side effects. The field of view will decrease, as magnification increases,  and the image gets slighter darker, although many binoculars can be  manufactured as wide or super-wide views, by the construction of their eyepieces. Next would be a 10x50 for your self maybe. Higher mags as previously mentioned can also produce jumpy images if your not able to hold the binocular steady. The advice already given about a club visit or try before you buy is possibly the best options. I chose my telescope, solely by the recommendations on here. I don't think anyone would try to put you in the wrong direction. Binoculars are also very good for the daytime too if camping in the wilderness.

[astronymonkey]

Hi Pat,

the sort of weekend you are talking about is possibly a starcamp / starparty which was happening and there are quite a few of these dotted around the country throughout the year.

There is an astroevents section of the forum which show these and they can be anything from a small gathering of 10-20 tents upto some of the bigger weekends with a few hundred tents.

Kids are always welcome and its a good way to have a chat with other astronomers and see various scopes in use.

Cheers