BeanerSA
26-01-2015, 07:49 AM
I just thought I would share my story, as people seem to like that sort of thing.
When we asked my 12y/o what he wanted for christmas, he wanted a telescope. I had to confess that although being interested in all things science, and space all my life, I had never actually bothered to "look up".
We asked all the extended family to chip and armed with a firm budget and a keyboard, I set about researching what to buy. After a couple of days research, I went back to my son, and asked him, what he actually wanted to see, and to make sure he had realistic expectations about what he would see and not be disappointed by not seeing "hubble quality" views. He was pretty cool about it, and a 6" dob came in right on budget. My neighbour has a telescope on an EQ mount that his family bought him, but hadn't seen a dob before. "How do you align it?". "Is it self levelling?" were the sorts of questions he asked. I knew I'd bought the right thing. Just drop it on the ground, point it at what you want to see. Fantastic:thumbsup:
My son was going to count on me to guide him in this new endeavour, so I started researching all things astronomy. The internet is such a fantastic resource, obviously, and I am grateful for it.
Before christmas we headed out to a public viewing night at the ASSA's Stockport Observatory (https://www.assa.org.au/facilities/stockport/), and had a fantastic night. We were hooked. I joined us up as the fantastic dark sky site is just 30 minutes from us, and it is very affordable. Having been involved with many clubs over the years, some as treasurer, I would say it's a bit too cheap!
Our backyard at home offers fantastic dark views from the south, thru east to the north, and lousy light pollution ridden views everywhere else. The easy views were easily found. The moon is fantastic at anything less than half moon. M42 is easily found, and stunning. Jupiter at the moment is just awesome, I cannot believe it's taken me so long in life to view a planet! I've managed to find 47 Tucanae, despite being unable to see the SMC. The Jewel Box cluster near Crux. Comet Lovejoy was pretty easy to find.
Son wants to view a galaxy, and I've struggled with that one. Sculptor is in the light polluted area, and I've struggled to find anything else.
I'm have been a pretty active member on OCAU, Whirlpool and Reddit, so you might see me around there.
If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to ask.
When we asked my 12y/o what he wanted for christmas, he wanted a telescope. I had to confess that although being interested in all things science, and space all my life, I had never actually bothered to "look up".
We asked all the extended family to chip and armed with a firm budget and a keyboard, I set about researching what to buy. After a couple of days research, I went back to my son, and asked him, what he actually wanted to see, and to make sure he had realistic expectations about what he would see and not be disappointed by not seeing "hubble quality" views. He was pretty cool about it, and a 6" dob came in right on budget. My neighbour has a telescope on an EQ mount that his family bought him, but hadn't seen a dob before. "How do you align it?". "Is it self levelling?" were the sorts of questions he asked. I knew I'd bought the right thing. Just drop it on the ground, point it at what you want to see. Fantastic:thumbsup:
My son was going to count on me to guide him in this new endeavour, so I started researching all things astronomy. The internet is such a fantastic resource, obviously, and I am grateful for it.
Before christmas we headed out to a public viewing night at the ASSA's Stockport Observatory (https://www.assa.org.au/facilities/stockport/), and had a fantastic night. We were hooked. I joined us up as the fantastic dark sky site is just 30 minutes from us, and it is very affordable. Having been involved with many clubs over the years, some as treasurer, I would say it's a bit too cheap!
Our backyard at home offers fantastic dark views from the south, thru east to the north, and lousy light pollution ridden views everywhere else. The easy views were easily found. The moon is fantastic at anything less than half moon. M42 is easily found, and stunning. Jupiter at the moment is just awesome, I cannot believe it's taken me so long in life to view a planet! I've managed to find 47 Tucanae, despite being unable to see the SMC. The Jewel Box cluster near Crux. Comet Lovejoy was pretty easy to find.
Son wants to view a galaxy, and I've struggled with that one. Sculptor is in the light polluted area, and I've struggled to find anything else.
I'm have been a pretty active member on OCAU, Whirlpool and Reddit, so you might see me around there.
If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to ask.