Beginners Stargazing Tips & Information
Many people like the idea of start gazing but have no idea where to start - well this article is for you and it should show you just how easy it all is and not expensive to boot, in fact it can be done without spending any money whatsoever. Well, now I have peaked your interest with how little it costs, just what is need to start you off? Fortunately not much but it is very good to have a star chart at hand which can be found in books that show you Star Charts or something referring to the Zodiac. When you find a chart make sure it is easy to read and doesn’t contain too many stars, at least not when you are new to the subject. These are readily available from planetarium or any observatory and you need to get hold of the cheapest one if possible, as the only need you have of it is to locate the brightest star and the rest can be done by yourself.
One valid point to be noted by parents or you if you are buying it, is never to go for a cheap telescope since as a beginner, you would find it impossible to pinpoint a star if you gaze through a cheap instrument. If you manage to find a star to observe, the turning Earth will take it out of sight so quickly that you will have to start looking for it from scratch. This can disappoint you so much that you would land up spending the night with your telescope and ultimately put away the telescope back where it came from.
The easiest way to observe the star gaze in the early days (and the cheapest) is to obtain a pair of binoculars, usually a pair of 10×50 is sufficient for your needs. With this sort of power you will be able to see the moon much more clearly than ever before but you will also find it easy to see whole constellations in their entirety. You are extremely fortunate that the school where you go to as well as the town library should have a good stock of books which deal with stars, star gazing, the universe as well as the solar system and this could throw open a wide vista of knowledge and resources for you to learn more about these things. Look for books that contain star charts, preferably pull-out versions and don’t worry if the book is quite old because the stars won’t have changed. The first thing you do is to find out more details about Orion or the Southern Cross or Scorpio and familiarize yourself with their appearance on paper and then look at the sky and try to find them out. The location of the Southern Cross is the south and as night moves on, you can see the Orion traversing over your head from East to the West. Sometimes it will not be possible to see it especially when it is only visible very late at night or early morning hours.
Although much of watching the night sky does not require a great deal of study, the chances are once you start finding and naming stars and their constellations, you will want to learn more. This you can get in books written for children as this will give you the most elementary information. All you need to begin this adventure called star gazing is a star chart and at least in the early days this should be enough for you to get an idea if it’s something you want to pursue further. Do not buy a decent telescope until you are sure about your interest but once you do it will open up a whole new world for you.
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