|
|
Starting out or thinking about it? You've gazed up at the night
sky and wondered what's up there or maybe you've seen some photographs
and want to find out more. A good place to start is our own moon.
This photograph shows a full moon and the familiar patterns that make some people see a man's face. I sometimes see a girl reading a book. The dark areas are known as seas because ancient people thought that they contained water. In fact, they are darker areas of rock caused by lava flows billions of years ago. You will not see craters when there is a full moon without a telescope or binoculars but if you have good eyesight you might be able to make them out at half moon. We can see some craters in the photo and, on the bottom left, you can see the large crater Tycho and rays extending from it. Billions of years ago, the moon and most of the rest of the solar system objects were bombarded by impacts from objects the sise of large rocks and Tycho was created in one of these collisions. Its rays were caused by material being flung hundreds of miles across the lunar surface.
We now know that the moon is a lifeless world, without atmosphere or liquid
water but that doesn't stop us enjoying its view. You can see the seas just
with your unaided eyes and even small binoculars can bring out a wealth
of detail, like craters and mountains. The £20 ones that are left in
a drawer upstairs will do the job.
As well as looking at the moon, perhaps you'd like to know a bit more
about what's up there. The next stage is too long to explain and really needs
a book. You have to find your way around the night sky. David Levy's "Skywatching"
is the best I've come across so far and I still use it to look things up
from time to time. Others that have been recommended are:
Click here to see what's in the sky now
Once you've learned your way around the constellations (star patterns),
perhaps you'd like to try some easy binocular objects to enjoy.
These are described in The Directory
The BBC web site contains guidance about buying a telescope from Patrick
Moore. Click
here to read it. I agree with most of it but would add that some of
the prices he quotes are on the pessimistic side and I, and others, have
enjoyed some good views of the planets with 60mm (2.4") refractors. However
the improvement in moving up to an 80mm refractor (3.1") is quite noticeable
and if you can afford the apochromatic version, even better.
To find out what I've been looking at recently, click here.
