If you missed my facebook live talk on Buying Your First Telescope you can watch it above on my Youtube feed.
In this talk I discuss binocular observing, portability and make recommendations for some good beginner telescopes. There’s also a guide to What’s Up in December skies.
This talk is part of the Merkinch Nature Reserve Astronomy Programme and was organisation in partnership with Go Stargazing.
Join me on Facebook live on Sunday 29th November at 7pm for a talk and presentation on choosing and buying your first telescope.
Buying a telescope can be daunting and you’ll want to make the best choice possible for your budget and needs.
During the talk I’ll aim to answer several common questions, including:
1. How much should I spend?
2. How large is practical for my requirements?
3. What can I expect to see through different sizes of scope?
4. Can you recommend a good starter kit & some good telescopes to choose from?
PLUS an introduction to Stargazing, Binocular Observing and a What’s Up guide for December skies, including Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and more..
This talk is hosted as part of the the Inverness Nature Reserve Astronomy evenings but is open to all. We would kindly ask you to purchase an online ticket from Eventbrite by way of a donation to the astronomy programme and the Nature Reserve. I’m sure you’ll understand that times are tough for outreach at the moment so your help will be greatly appreciated. Please purchase your ticket in advance here.
If you live in mid northern latitudes there’s an undeniable familiarity to your night skies when facing north. One of the most prominent constellations is Ursa Major with its bright asterism known as The Plough, or Big Dipper. I call this collection of stars the Swiss Army Knife for stargazers, and for good reason. Please watch to find out why.
Music used with permission from Rising Galaxy (Cosmicleaf records, Greece)
A short video guide produced on Friday 6th November but valid for most of November. Covering Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Milky Way and the bright asterism known as the Summer Triangle.
Nature Reserve Astronomy evenings will resume online this year, starting end of November with an Introduction to Buying a Telescope + short talk on the planet Mars.
Please follow this page for event links going up over the winter. Some of these events could be broadcast live if weather permits so please keep your page notifications on.
There will also be an Abriachan Forest event on the winter solstice, promoted separately.
Jupiter and Saturn can be seen setting low in the SW during early evenings and you might have noticed they’ve been steadily appearing closer together in the sky. This will continue in the weeks ahead, culminating in a great conjunction in the run up to Christmas.
On December 21st, at their closest, they’ll be just 0.1 degrees apart. That’s only 1/5 of a full moon diameter! With the gas giants appearing this close together you’ll be able to view them under high magnification in the same field of view with your telescope.
One of the most frequent questions I receive is which apps to use for stargazing and astronomy. Here’s my top 8 most used apps with a brief description of what I use them for.
SkySafari 6 – My main planetarium app that lets me see what’s up on a particular evening and plan my excursions under the stars. It also comes with useful telescope control functionality.
Dark Sky Map – Let’s me see areas of light pollution in my local area and further afield. Essential if you’re planning to stargaze somewhere you’ve never been before so you can guage darkness levels and avoid pesky light pollution.
Park4night – Once you’ve decided on a dark location getting off the road and parked can be a massive headache, especially where I live in the Highlands of Scotland where there’s plenty of dark areas but very little access. This app will show you lay-bys and parking spots for brief stops or overnight parks.
Glendale App – One of the best Aurora alert apps for tracking down the elusive northern lights.ISS Detector – My main app for seeking out and planning International Space Station passes. Works from your home location or anywhere in the world.
Clear Outside – One of the best weather apps aimed at stargazing. Summarises different altitudes of cloud cover, Moon brightness, wind and precipitation and provides you with a simple traffic light system for each night.
Compass Galaxy – I have a Samsung phone but any compass app will do to help you find north out in the field.
Phases of the Moon – The presence of the Moon is a huge deal. For Milky Way observing and deep sky astronomy you want to avoid the Moon and this app will quickly tell you the phase and rise and set times at your local position.
I should add that I’m in no way affiliated with any of these apps or software companies. This is just an honest peek into what I use to help me enjoy the night sky. I hope you find it useful.
