Astronomy Without A Telescope
by Kevin Brown : last updated: July 31, 2008When people think of doing astronomy, they often think of wonderful looking, astronomical telescopes. The sort of instruments that just scream “Serious Science” and positively bristle with add-on pieces of equipment, electrical wires and often nowadays, computer technology.
Now, I also think that telescopes like this can be pretty cool, but you don’t need ANY telescope at all to enjoy astronomy, let alone a complex, high-end monster! In fact, a complicated telescope can actually get in the way of your enjoyment of the Night Sky.
I have often spoken to people who have gone out and bought an expensive clever telescope, only to find it too dificult to use. They then get frustrated, put the telescope away in a cupboard and forget about the whole idea of doing some astronomy. This is a shame.
You really don’t need any special equipment to get started with astronomy. All you have to do is to go outside on a dark night. Then wait for a few minutes to allow your eyes to adapt to the darkness. And then you look up! It’s that simple!
Outside with your eyesight adapted, you can start to find your way about the Night Sky. This is very enjoyable, but does take a little practice.
Finding your way about, also depends on being able to recognise the prominent star formations (constellations). You will also want to learn how to use a few particularly bright stars as pointers, to help you move about the sky.
Being able to visually “hop” from star to star and constellation to constellation is good fun. It will also give you a great sense of achievement and will stand you in very good stead, if you decide to use a telescope for observations in the future.
To learn how to find your way around the Night Sky, you will need a map. Because you will be standing at some point on the Earth surface while it rotates and moves in Space, you will need a special map that takes account of this movement.
This type of special star map is called a planisphere. What you will be able to see depends on the time of day, the date in the year and your latitude on the Earth. Consequently, a planisphere adjusts for these factors and shows you what will be visible above the horizon for you to see on a given night.
You can find star charts and planispheres on the internet, that you can study and print free. However, you may choose to buy a more durable version (some are printed on plastic) that will last for years of outdoor use. There are also some good books which show you the commonly used paths for finding your way around the Night Sky, using bright stars as pointers.
I hope this has article has shown you that you can have a lot of fun observing the stars and doing astronomy, without a telescope.
