Fundamentals of Stargazing

Deep Sky Tours – September

Much of the tour of the deep sky this month takes you around the small but amazingly rich northern constellations Cassiopeia and Cepheus. These star groups lie along the northern reaches of the Milky Way, so like Sagittarius, they are packed with open star clusters and nebulae along with a few interesting and astronomically important stars. Deep-so...

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Sky Tours (South) – September

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

This month you tour the small and sparse zodiacal constellation Capricornus, just east of the much richer Sagittarius. You also look into the deep southern sky to see the small and intriguing constellations Indus, Pavo, and Octans.
Click here to download notes for 'Sky Tours (South) - September' (PDF, 1 MB)
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Sky Tours (North) – September

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

This month, the tour of the constellations moves northward along the plane of the Milky Way into the small but rich constellations Cassiopeia and Cepheus, then southward along the ecliptic into the sparse but intriguing constellation Capricornus.
Click here to download notes for 'Sky Tours (North) - September' (PDF, 1 MB)
Click here to download au...

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Solar System Observing – Zodiacal Light; Lunar Mountains

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

This month it’s time to examine the zodiacal light, a white, wedge-shaped spear of light thrusting up above the horizon along the zodiac. The light is visible in very dark sky all year, but September and March are the best times of year to see this glow, which is caused by reflection of sunlight from tiny dust particles in the plane of the solar sy...

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Stargazing Tools – Eyepieces (Part 2); Dew Control

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

This month, you get another look at the types of eyepieces on the market with a review of two specialized types of oculars: zoom and long-relief. You also get a no-nonsense look at telescope resolution, one of the most misunderstood specifications of a telescope. And, if you live in an even moderately humid climate, you will appreciate this month’s...

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