It's interesting that you say that Jeremy
In a conversation with Alex today we were discussing the whole where does one start...
I'm not especially 'new' to astronomy but, I am beginning to become more 'serious' about it..
In our conversation today we were discussing that I am still a bit reluctant to wade in with advice on the forum to beginners other than to point them to threads from more knowledgeable folk. However, as I move along my journey, I'm starting to feel a little more confident in providing some limited advice to those who are brand new....
Our conversation today was along the lines of 'start with the moon', it's big, it's bright & it's very simple to find... so I agree, this should indeed probably be the rank beginner's starting point... then I would say that the planets, particularly Saturn & Jupiter should be your next targets.. again, easy to find, plenty of detail can be seen with a modest setup & generally still from urban skies...
For me, I then started to progress to the brighter Nebula because again, they are visible from my backyard... my main focus has been on trying to find Messier objects since, long long ago, folk were able to see them with optics that would be considered quite subpar by today's standards.
I'm now beginning to branch out.. beginning to have a better understanding of my optics & having a bit of a play with some short exposure AP...
This includes starting to hunt for less bright objects, galaxies, etc.... but, of course this requires a dark site & I'm in the process of trying to find one close to home... However, I find myself drawn back to that big old moon that had become a bit boring and passe until, Alex put out the challenge to look for specific things, to push ones optics looking for fine resolution.. suddenly, the moon got really, really interesting again...
So, in short, I agree Jeremy... the moon is a fantastic target for so many reasons...
But, I will be taking a close look at Alex's list too...
Cheers
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ukastronomer
Boy you have been busy 
But what about the nearest Astronomical wonder our Moon |