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What got you started in astronomy.

kilvil

By kilvil
in The Astro Lounge

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kilvil

kilvil

Posted
Posted

As a newbie with a scope here, how did you come to stargazing.

For me it started with history lessons at school about ancient egypt.

I would walk the dog at night looking up at the stars to find the constellations like orion and such like. It has taken me over 20 years to buy a scope but was blown away by jupiter and its moons so now im hooked. Also a big thanks to all on the forum so much helpful tips and tricks for us newbies.

kilvil

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Tddun

Tddun

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For me it was the Venus, Jupiter and sometimes Moon conjuctions in late 2008, used to wonder what they were (apart from moon obviously) when I saw them, what made me more curious was how bright they were, even when it wasn't that dark.

The BBC Planets documentry also got me interested in Astronomy.

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yeti monster

yeti monster

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Yes, the Apollo missions were certainly an entry into astronomy, as was SkyLab, which we were able to see once while on holiday in Cornwall.

I remember my older brother getting a Prinz Astral (probably a 60mm) refractor one chrimbomas, but I was too young to appreciate what he could.

Many moons later (1999) there was a partial eclipse, which I took my kids out to see, using a welders mask and projecting through a pair of 10x50s. Thence came Mars' closest for 60,000 years (or summink like that) and the purchase of my 1971 (ish) Prinz 86mm Newt (10 or 15 earth quidses, from the local flea market) and a splendid show from Saturn, rings as wide as they get. I can still recall that image, even now.

A long absence from the EP untill last year, 22 July, in WuHan, China, when I saw my first total eclipse. What an event! That threw me right into a very serious astronomological learning curve, which has gained me a further 5 telescopes, a great many EPs and the hankering for yet more scopes and also teetering on the edge of the astro-imaging abiss.

What a fantastic 'specialist interest' (the word 'hobby' just doesn't cover it) this is.

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perrin6

perrin6

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I think it was the ladybird book of the night sky with lovely illustrations of constellations and their associated myths plus main objects visible. The pictures in those old LB books were really good.

Then was given a 40mm refractor which was very awkward to use - no finderscope & poor table-top mount but which amazed me at what I could see of venus, jupiter and esp. saturn. Dont remember using on the moon, strangely. Then lifelong aperture fever broke out !

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russ

russ

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Watching Sky@Night with mum when i was 7 (1977) was the initial spark. But seriously got the bug in the 1983. No special event, i just wanted to see the moon in more detail than binoculars would allow. Plus Sir Patrick kept talking about going out and seeing the planets with your own telescope......i really wanted to do that!

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just looking

just looking

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For me I Was at a party at a friends house in Boston linc's 5yrs ago

came outside for a cig.

it was late Aug about 10pm quite,dark,

and still, with no light pollution whatsoever,

I Looked up and was memorised with all the ******stars

couldn't believe just how many they was :blob10:

From then on it has opened my eyes to thinking

just what is up there,

having never really looked up,only maybe to look at a plane,

or a rainbow.

I Just wanted to stay there all night looking up.

I Was out that long they came out to see where I Was.lol

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John

John

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The Apollo missions sparked it all off for me I guess - I was 9 when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface. I joined the school astronomy club (amazing that it even had one !) at age 11 and looked through my 1st scope then - the 8.5 inch Charles Frank newtonian that the school had - the moon was mind blowing !. Then it was a pair of old binoculars, the Observers Book of the Night Sky, the Sky at Night on TV and so on. Didn't get my own 1st scope until 1981 though - a 1960's Tasco 60mm refractor, which I still have. Great optics, crummy mount and eyepieces but seeing Saturn for the 1st time with my own eyes through that scope cemented my love for the hobby :blob10:

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WayBig

WayBig

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For me it was my then 5 year old getting kids books on stars and planets, and asking me if we could see them in the sky - I realised I'd never (knowingly) seen any of the planets, and also how inexpensive it was to get kit that could see them.

(I didnt realise at the time though quite how easy it was to get hooked and quite how expensive it could turn out to be in the long term!)

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Revs

Revs

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I don't remember it being one particular thing, but I've been intrigued for as long as I can remember. Over the years, films, documentaries, Star Trek and other media have kept me happy until, a few weeks ago, I could finally afford to get myself a decent 'scope.

Now I have no money again.

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Mouse on the Moon

Mouse on the Moon

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I think it was the ladybird book of the night sky with lovely illustrations of constellations and their associated myths plus main objects visible. The pictures in those old LB books were really good.

I remember that book!! - wonderful - so many memories :blob10:

536%20THE%20LB%20BOOK%20OF%20THE%20NIGHT%20SKY.jpg

I remember looking at the night sky out of my bedroom window when I was a kid with my dad's craptastic 8X40 bino's. The thrill of seeing Jupiter with it's moons for the first time has never left me. The fact that it was just a bright blob with teeny tiny pinpricks of light in line with it didn't matter, because I knew what those lights were!

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Hypernova

Hypernova

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I have always liked looking up at the night sky, especially when I went camping in Wales where the skies are generally much darker than in Cheshire. I used to just lie down on top a sand dune and look up at the Milky Way :blob10:

The thing though that got me into astronomy was hearing about the outburst of Comet Holmes in 2007. I spent a couple of nights looking for it with the naked eye but I never did spot it, mainly because I didn't know where it was at the time due to inexperience.

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jaquesnoir

jaquesnoir

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Way back in 1959 when I was four my Mum gave me book about the Stars and Planets and I've been hooked ever since. Later she bought me all the Look and Learn mags which I remember had lots of space age stuff in them. She bought me a 1.5" scope when I was about ten that I still have and I used to project the sun with it. I remember that there was never a time when I was a kid that there were'nt sun-spots in droves. I used to show anyone who turned up at the house for years. Sad.

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boboco

boboco

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For me I Was at a party at a friends house in Boston linc's 5yrs ago

came outside for a cig.

it was late Aug about 10pm quite,dark,

and still, with no light pollution whatsoever,

I Looked up and was memorised with all the ******stars

couldn't believe just how many they was :blob10:

From then on it has opened my eyes to thinking

just what is up there,

having never really looked up,only maybe to look at a plane,

or a rainbow.

I Just wanted to stay there all night looking up.

I Was out that long they came out to see where I Was.lol

Very similar story for me, except it was a pub in deepest Cornwall...

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Worzsel

Worzsel

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Talitha that was lovely :blob10:

I have always been interested in the sky.My dad used to point out the constellations when I was a kid. I didn't realise decent telescopes were within the reach of the interested novice untill Brian Cox spurred me to google just before my 30th birthday so when I was asked what I wanted there was no question !

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