General Familiarisation.

[justlooking]

First off can I say thank you to all the warm and friendly replies to my introductory post.

I am still looking into telescopes, trying to get a good deal, however I have set myself some rigid constraints as it's no use going silly when one is so new to it. Willing to take a little time rather than splurge all at once.

What I aim to do at the start is to take in the easier bright objects eg: the moon for an obvious start. At first before I travel conditions will be quite heavily light polluted so I'm not expecting too much. So the bright objects I am hoping to find with a little trial and error, I suppose what I'm asking is how do I put these into some form of context to begin building myself the wider picture. I could just pick up this or that book but the sheer volume of not only the literature but the volume of objects to observe has me a little bewildered to be truthful and when I look at star charts the multitude of dots just swim before my eyes.

So I dig out the easier objects and with the telescope I will begin with some of the fainter objects will come into view, also thinking about the web cam solution I've seen discussed on here for attempts at astrophotography, that's the idea in principle. Where do I fit these ideas into the wider picture. My experience with astronomy has been to watch the fruits of others efforts but I really want to find some of these objects myself now.

Sorry for the rambling unfocussed question as any suggestions would be welcome

[ronin]

I would say your first aim is the simple one, find out which constellation is which.

In a simple example to find the great cluster in Hercules you first need to find Hercules. (One I have yet to do easily).

You would need The Plough and Casseiopia as these can be used for others.

Ones like Cygnus and Lyra are summer constellations and you simply look for them.

After that it depends on what you want to see or look at.

There are lists of double stars and a nice one of coloured double stars.

There are lists of red stars that are interesting.

For the "general" DSO offerings the normal one is the Messier List, another worth considering is the Cauldwell List.

The Messier list can be sorted into the types of objects, you can extract the galaxies alone or the nebula or clusters and track down those alone.

There is no magic list as in these 12 items will be easy. The nearest to that which I know of is the list of coloured stars, Delaware Astro group and the list is 20 long. It is pretty easy to know if you have found them as there are 2 differently coloured stars in view. Also you are not looking for a faint fuzzy patch but a small point of light.

The big unknown is:- What are you interested in looking at?

Making up a list of "What to look at" is actually a lot more difficult then is expected. The coloured doubles and red stars may seem boring in relation to Messier Galaxies but I suspect they are simpler and less frustrating.

But to me the basics are the constellations, the Leo triplet ? First where is Leo, how do you find Leo (Plough pointers - go the other way).

[idigitize]

I know you say you don't want a tonne of literature, however i think 'Turn left at orion' is a must.

Like you say you want to start with the moon, so does the book, go out with some binoculars or small scope, or just eyes, and follow the book a few pages a night. This book was recommended by many on here as a good way to learn the sky and it was easy to see why after a chapter or 2.

As for the 'photo' side, it's easy to recommend 'make ever photon count'. Again more literature, but will answer pretty much every question on that side.

With those two books, quite easy to follow, not overly huge in size, but cover enough for anyone from start, to years of astronomy/astrophotography to follow.

[jason.p]

As suggested in previous posts, familiarise yourself with the sky and constellations, paying particular attention to the ones you can easily view from your location. Then with the aid of the likes of Stellarium, Turn Left at Orion and perhaps Sky and telescope Pocket Atlas pick an area you can easily recognise and check out objects in and around that area. My first attempts were centered around Vega and Lyra and I found my first double (Albireo) and my first Messier dso (M57 the ring nebula). From there I was hooked! You can then move out and expand that area until you can recognise larger areas of the night sky.

As suggested, check out Qualia's excellent post on what you can realistically expect to see.

All you need is clear skies!!

Good luck and keep us posted how you get on.

Jason

[ronl]

This link will give you all the charts you need http://freestarcharts.com/index.php/messier-catalogue

but you need to learn the constellations and the easiest way

is with bins, if you can borrow a pair you can find targets much

faster, as bins give you a wide field of view, this is the advice

I was given wen I first started, once you learn the night sky, then

you will be ready to get your scope, it takes all the frustration out

of finding what you want to observe, planets are easy, but when you

start on the Messier list then you definitely need to know the Constellations.

[justlooking]

Cheers all, think the idea of simply going out and eyeballing to begin to orientate myself is a fair point and easy enough to begin with and give the turn left... book a high priority. Got the possibility of a few hours clear in the coming week according to the Beeb.

[Umbraldot]

The idea at first is just to have fun.  The Monthly Sky Guide by Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion is a nice simple guide to the monthly highlights and what to see as the year progresses.  Pick a constellation, find out about the main objects to see and then learn to star hop around and find what you want to see.  That will take long enough with the telescope seeming to operate in the opposite direction to that in which you want to go!  Eventually you'll get the hang of it.

Once you've been exploring, who knows how long you may want to do that, you will get an idea of what you really like to look at and what kind of observing you want to do.  Then you can specialise.  If you do specialise in an object or discipline, join a local astro society or become a member of a national observing group such as the BAA or SPA where you can fellow nuts.

[Umbraldot]

That should read "find fellow nuts" just in case you are scratching your head about that one!

[jason.p]

Just a further thought. Just my opinion, but don't get too hung up on trying to complete the Messier lists etc. I found I was spending a lot of time trying to chase down another dso to add to the list, and probably wasting a lot of valuable (and limited) time when there is plenty more to see which may not be on the list (doubles etc). Completing lists can come later.

As I said, this is just my opinion, I know a lot of people find completing lists to be a challenge which gives "structure" to their observing.

[justlooking]

Just a further thought. Just my opinion, but don't get too hung up on trying to complete the Messier lists etc. I found I was spending a lot of time trying to chase down another dso to add to the list, and probably wasting a lot of valuable (and limited) time when there is plenty more to see which may not be on the list (doubles etc). Completing lists can come later.

As I said, this is just my opinion, I know a lot of people find completing lists to be a challenge which gives "structure" to their observing.

Yes I can understand that as I am looking for a little structure but not too much, more an overall structure to fit some of these things in, but I have the Messier lists saved as they will be useful eventually. Saw a comment as I've been digging round to the effect that even though it is not going to be anything like the images we can drag of the net it's going to be 'real' so to speak, and that is just how I feel. A physical presence at the time one is observing no matter how faintly defined, or in the case of some of the brighter objects how well defined.

[ronin]

For a little structure try the Astro League Astroleague.

At the top select Observe then Programs from the drop down list.

They run a series of "badges" and have sets of things to observe for the badges - so a list of items already made.

They are US based, but if you dig out the binocular ones and possibly others you may find something.

No idea what Sky Puppy one is, less idea what the Analemma Program even means and you are too late for the 2012 Venus transit. :grin:

[hazegood]

Before you buy a scope, go along to one of the several astronomy clubs that are in West Yorkshire, and ask for a look at the scopes, get an idea of what you want,  you could even go up to The Astronomy Centre at Todmorden,  all  are friendly helpful people

[Owmuchonomy]

If you do nothing else beg, buy or borrow Turn Left at Orion. It's written exactly for your situation.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[justlooking]

There was a reason I asked about orientation but didn't make myself clear enough, sorry about that. What the problem is is an old head injury and until I checked I wasn't able to explain fully what the problem is. It occurs within spatial awareness. Near too in the immediate spatial area I am fine just about all of the time although things occasionally drop out of the internal picture, however as soon as I push the envelope to the greater picture I have a problem. What happens is that I lose part of the right forward spatial quadrant internally, it's just a patch but of course it damages the 'overall image' in astro speak one could say. Then of course if I do a half turn to the left then the damage to the outer reaches of spatial awareness damages what was my left quadrant image.

So it's a little confusing that's why the question was a little vague but seemed to be the questions you've been asked a thousand times but it was actually a little different but until I'd consulted I didn't quite understand the problem but understood there was one. The only real problem it gives me is with the overall map of the sky, with it been within the wide spatial the earthbound is rarely if ever a problem.

What I've done is purchased a planisphere as a too hand aid, don't know what the members think of this but I'm hoping having that to hand will help make up for the blank patches. May have to have it to hand always but I don't mind. So you have to be gentle in correcting me if I misplace objects or have them slightly wrong but I'm hoping that familiarity will train the brain's picture eventually. If you can think of anything else your thoughts would be welcome.

Got my starter scope too but I'll put that in the correct forum.

[justlooking]

OOps, no edit button. With the earthbound being within the narrow spatial was the intended meaning.