Fun and Affordable Backyard Astronomy

Astronomy! When the nights become comfortable in the summertime, many people look up to the sky and wish they had a telescope. 

Two things about that scenario are interesting to me:

1) You don't need a telescope. Binoculars are actually a better tool for novice astronomers.

2) Viewing conditions are actually usually better with the colder nights of Autumn and a mild Winter. 

I say mild Winter because who wants to freeze themselves and battle fogged up optics? (There are ways to beat even the coldest night for viewing, but that will be a future post.) Except for stormy cold fronts, the colder the air is, the clearer the viewing is. Summer nights are often full of thermal updrafts that can degrade viewing. That's usually only a problem with astrophotography and higher magnifications, tho, not for beginner viewing. So, let's get outside this Summer and Keep Looking Up!

As a beginner in backyard astronomy, you'll want to be comfortable. A nice Summer night can work out well for us. Get a lawn chair, some mosquito repellent, a red filtered flashlight (helps preserve night vision while still being able to find things and read a star chart), a tasty beverage and light snack, and head out into your own backyard.

Yes, in the city or suburbs! Plenty of sky objects can be seen even with modern light pollution. Now, if you have a sodium vapor security lamp, you'll need to turn that off. And find a place in your yard where the neighbour's lights aren't in your view. You need your eyes to adjust to the darkness (or, at least, the darker-ness) to be able to have  real success, a fun and memorable evening.

Notice I said you might do well to start out with some binoculars? A good pair of quality binocs will enhance your viewing ability many times over the naked eye. About those numbers... the first number is a magnification factor, the second is the aperture of the optics in millimeters. Some will look at a 7X50 binoc at Wally World and think "hey! 350 power!" No, it isn't. It's 7 power. Besides, we really don't want a  lot of magnification. We need to be able to comfortably hold our binoculars while viewing, high mag factors make that very difficult.

A lower mag factor, say 10 or less, with a higher number for the aperture such as 50 or greater would work well. I use a Pentax 8X63 for a lot of my viewing. Got them over 20 years ago. Quality lenses are necessary for astronomy, because you don't want soft edges or color fringing. The cheapest binoculars are not going to work. But, we still can be relatively cheap. Around $100 will buy you a quality pair of astronomy capable binocs.

Look at this pair: Meade 9X63 from Adorama.com.

Other quality brands suitable for astronomy use are made by Nikon, Orion, or Celestron.

To get used to your new hobby, viewing The Moon (Earth's natural satellite) will be fun. I would choose a little less than full. Having a little bit of sidelight makes the Lunar features stand out nicely. Other easy targets will be Jupiter, Mars, the Orion nebula, the Pleiades (aka Seven Sisters).  

Sign on to a website like Sky & Telescope to keep up to date with viewing opportunities.

If you really want to start out with a telescope, please don't buy in to the hype that certain lesser brands use. Again, quality and aperture are much more important than magnification factors.

A good beginner scope would be similar to this Orion setup, also around $100.

An advantage to telescopes over binoculars is the ability to change eyepieces for different uses. A disadvantage for many beginners is finding the sky objects with a scope. First time users can get discouraged by the narrow angle of view making it difficult to center objects, especially if the finder is not set up properly. But, don't let that stop you. Get used to your scope, set it up in the daytime, practice. You'll have an enjoyable astronomy viewing experience. 

We want you to enjoy it. That way, you'll keep doing it.

The wonders of the night sky are out there for you to see and share.