Expert: Tom Whiting - 2/2/2007

Question
Hi Tom,
 I would like to get into viewing the night sky (with appx a 6-8" telescope, all objects- planets, galaxies, nebulae, etc.).  I know a bit, but certainly not a lot.  I don't want to just buy a sky chart and look and say "gee whiz how pretty."  I want to go a bit further in depth.  Can you recommend a begginers guide to sky observing book?  I can go on Amazon and see dozens of guides like this, but is there one in particular you can recommend?  Also, can you recommend what a beginner observer may need equipment wise?  I would imagine (besides the telescope, eyepiece, diagonal)=
1. flashlight, red lighting
2. skychart
3. some sort of lens/glass cleaner/formulae (any brand in particular you can recommend?)
4. gloves and warm clothing!

Thanks again, you are always so helpful, I hope not to abuse it.

Tim C  

Answer
Hi Tim C,,
The very best I can help you with, is for you to go to our club
website and punch on "Tom Whiting's Sound Advice for the
Novice"....that will save me a lot of writing here...
http://www.velocity.net/~bwhiting

There you'll find that equipment (telescopes) comes LAST,
not first in our great hobby...knowledge comes first.
Scopes are like airplanes...all airplanes fly but you don't send
a bomber to do a fighter's job.  So which scope you get depends on what you decide to specialize in...variable stars,
comet hunting, deep sky objects, lunar/planetary details,
asteroids, splitting double/multiple stars, etc. etc.
There is a scope out there that maximizes that particular
activity.
As far as so-called "observing guides", they are all good
and good for incentive...but most don't give you what you
want right now....what you really want and need is a very good star atlas or star chart (like a detailed map of the USA)
....like Cambridge 2000.0  or Norton's Star Atlas and Reference
Manual   (both about $30-40) but they are good for the next
30 years, so that's about a dollar per year.
{SO YES, you DO want to buy a Sky or STar "chart" as you
call it...not the "picture" kind,....the map kind.}
Then take your red flashlight, go out at night, and learn
(Yes, self-teach yourself) the night sky.  It isn't that hard as
all constellations are simply area's of the sky....if you can
learn and memorize 4 adjoining states, say PA, OHIO, IND,
Illinois,  then you can also learn and memorize Gemini,
Cancer, Leo, and Virgo....so just punch on the website above
for much more information for the beginner.
Hope all this helps,
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting
Erie, PA


FOLLOW UP:
But if your heart is really set on purchasing a scope right
now, I'm told by our more knowledgeable, younger club
members, that the Orion SkyQuest Classic DOBS are hard
to beat for exquisite optics (that's the whole story there as
you need excellent figures on all your surfaces)....at a very
reasonable price.  They recommend either the XT 8 Classic
Dob for $370 or the XT 10 Classic Dob for $550....and if you
want to start out fairly big, the XT 12 Classic Dob for only
$870 is a good buy.  The only disadvantage I see of these
scopes is that stupid right angle finderscope...I'd throw that
in the garbage, and install a straight-thru 8 x 60 mm finderscope, something that can actually see the dim objects.
A right angle finder is an "Oxymoron"...the purpose of a
finderscope is to find things...how can one, peering at a
right angle to the sky, find things?  That is stupid.  Always
install a straight thru finderscope...just my opinion....OH,
and get a Telrad too, then you have positive control over your scope, and you know exactly where in the sky it is pointing.  (I wouldn't own a scope without a Telrad
reflex finder on it....in fact, my 30 inch portable DOB has
2 Telrads mounted on it.
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting
Erie PA