Beginners Guide for Getting Started With Astronomy

The night sky offers a vast and wonderful canvas of stars, planets, and the moon. If you want to get started with Astronomy, there are some easy ways to do it.

The galaxy you can see on a clear night is extremely far away, so far in fact that you could never fathom just how far those beams of lights originate from. The sky can change from season to season, from place to place, and offers up a never-ending array of wonderment. Her are some great ways for you to get started with your sky exploration.

Start by Viewing the Sky with Naked Eyes

To get started with this hobby you don’t need any equipment, just your eyeballs. Before you begin to map things out, take it seriously, and do any research, you should go out and allow the sky to amaze you. There are planets and stars up there that you can admire every night. Even if others tell you that your city is too light-polluted, there’s still plenty to see when you go out on a clear night and look up at the stars.

Let Binoculars be Your First Telescope

You don’t need to set up a telescope right away to see the stars and planets above you. All you need for a bit more in-depth stargazing is a set of binoculars. This could be the best way to begin your dive into Astronomy. You can see a wide field of view through binoculars, and they show a view that’s right-side up and in front of you. You’ll also realize just how affordable a good set of binoculars can be compared to a high-powered telescope.

Start Checking Out the Maps and Guidebooks

You might be happy looking at the moon’s craters for a few days or exploring the star fields of the Milky Way with your binoculars, but you’ll want something to keep your attention night after night. One of the best ways to do this is to grab some star maps and guidebooks to see if you can identify some of the stars and constellations above you. This could be an activity you enjoy for many years.

Head to the Library for In-Depth Knowledge

Where did Jupiter get its name? What are the constellations and why to they have the names given to them? What are the histories of some of the starts you see every night? To expand your enjoyment of Astronomy, you want to know more about the stars and the origin of the names and positions in the sky. There are many books you’ll find at the public library to help you identify the constellations and offer the historical references you’ll want to enjoy.

A Diary of Your Views Could Help You

When you go to the library, you might want to remember some of what you saw the night before. A simple spiral notebook could serve as a diary for your nighttime sky viewings. This is also a great place to put some of the notes you get at the library for the next night of stargazing. This will keep your mind occupied on what you’re seeing when you point your binoculars or telescope up at the stars.

Share Your Interests With Others

Astronomy is one of the oldest hobbies in the world and its one in which people have had lengthy, sometimes heated, discussions for years. Find out of there are any clubs in your area that you can join so that you can learn from more experienced stargazers or share your knowledge with them. This would be a great way to get some questions answered that you might have. Its also good to know that others in your area share your interests and look up at the stars every night in wonder.

Buy the Best Telescope You Can Afford

There’s no way you’ll come close to the resolution from the Hubble Telescope, but you can buy a really strong model that can show you much more than what you see with your naked eye or a set of binoculars. Make sure your telescope is portable, but also has a large lens to give you the views you’re looking for. Keep your binoculars handy to help position the telescope where you desire. Some of the newer and better telescopes have built-in computers to help you see what you want to see in the sky.

Be Patient and Be Ready to be Wrong

You can’t simply take five minutes to look at the sky and call it practicing Astronomy. Similarly, you might see something in your telescope view and think it’s a discovery to find out the lens had a bit of dirt on it. These things happen. You don’t control the clouds and the fact that its raining in the one night you have to practice your hobby this week. Be patient, you’ll have lots of times to look up at the stars and enjoy the night sky.

Your Stargazing Hobby is Supposed to Be Fun

It’s not fun if you get mad at your telescope or throw your binoculars in frustration. This hobby is supposed to be calming and fun, let it be so. Nothing is going to be perfect, but you will have some perfect nights where it feels like the stars have come out to play and you’re the entire audience. Let the amazing wonders of the universe take you on a journey to the stars on those perfect nights.

Let Astronomy Be a Shared/Passed-Down Activity

As you get older, you might find your children and grandchildren gazing at the stars or wondering why you spend so much time in the backyard with your telescope. Invite your family to join you. This could be a real bonding time for you and when you’re no longer around, your offspring could continue to watch the night sky and think back fondly with memories of the nights spend gazing upward with you.

Are you ready to begin your Astronomy hobby? Use these tips as a way to get started on a lifetime of enjoyment with the canvas of the night sky spread out in front of you every night.