Question on astronomy

B

BradleyC

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 Jul 2010
Messages
113
Visit site
Seeing as you get such a good horizon when you are on a yacht, has anyone found they've got into astonomy since they've become liveaboards? If so, can you point me in the direction of some good astonomy books/resources?
 
I used to be quite a keen amateur astronomer in my youth, but I haven't bothered to get the telescope out for quite a long time - have looked at everything within the limited range of the rather small scope that I can afford. I certainly lay down in the cockpit late at night and gaze up at the stars, but I don't think it qualifies as "astronomy".

A boat is not a particularly good platform for many areas of astronomy - you need a very stable platform if you are going to use any degree of magnification on a telescope. Some astronomers concentrate on comet hunting which you do with a decent pair of binoculars and that should be possible from a boat at least in calm waters.

As far as getting started is concerned, don't rush out to buy a telescope - you will either buy something that is so cheap as to be completely useless or something that is expensive and difficult for a beginner to learn. Get a reasonable pair of binoculars (if you don't already have one) and buy a copy of one of the popular astronomy magazines. That will include sky maps that show you where to look in the sky for interesting things in the next few weeks and you can dip your toe in the water looking at a few planets, binary stars and some of the brighter galaxies. You will not be wasting any money if it doesn't grab your interest since everyone needs a decent pair of binoculars anyway.

Most people that stick with it graduate to a telescope from Meade (http://www.meade.com/) - they make decent quality scopes and their entry level models are very good value for money. Most of them are also servo-controlled with built-in computers - once you have set it up correctly, you can just select stars and planets off a list on a remote control and the scope points itself in the right direction. BUT, do think carefully before spending the money - it will not work properly on anything smaller than an aircraft carrier and even then only if its moored in a non-tidal river! If you are prepared to go ashore, then it's a different matter and you can have a lot of fun with a Meade telescope costing just a few hundred pounds...
 
P.S. EBay can be your friend!

Don't go buying a brand new telescope - check EBay first. There are usually dozens of decent scopes being offered at far less than the list price by people who have bought them expecting to see pictures like the Hubble produces and given up in disgust when they've just seen a small fuzzy blob!
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I've signed up to the National Schools Observatory (you can if you are a homeschooling parent) which means I can request observations (images) of the stars/moon/planets/galaxies so hopefully I won't have to worry too much if the yacht wobbles! It's a professional robotic telescope and far better than anything I could ever afford (http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/

I'll check out Ebay for a decent telescope for carrying onboard as well. Thanks for the link to Google Sky Map - it looks really good!
 
BradleyC said:
Thanks for all the suggestions. I've signed up to the National Schools Observatory (you can if you are a homeschooling parent) which means I can request observations (images) of the stars/moon/planets/galaxies so hopefully I won't have to worry too much if the yacht wobbles! It's a professional robotic telescope and far better than anything I could ever afford (http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/
Click to expand...

You might also have a look at the Bradford Robotic Telescope (www.telescope.org), which is also available to home educators.
 
Download a copy of Stellarium it's the best program to see the stars and constellations and it's free http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/ Start playing with it to see what it can do by clicking the buttons and you can drag the screen to look in any direction and up/down. You need to put in your Lat Long. Once you know where everything is it's worth buying a telescope if on land or binoculars on a moving boat.
 
KellysEye said:
Download a copy of Stellarium it's the best program to see the stars and constellations and it's free http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/ Start playing with it to see what it can do by clicking the buttons and you can drag the screen to look in any direction and up/down. You need to put in your Lat Long. Once you know where everything is it's worth buying a telescope if on land or binoculars on a moving boat.
Click to expand...

If you have a high end Samsung smart phone, there's an application you can install which is very clever. It makes use of the built-in sensors including the GPS, compass and orientation sensors to give you a sky map that is synchronised to your location and the position in which you are holding the phone. You look at an object in the sky, holding the phone next to it and the screen display tells you what you are looking at!
 
>If you have a high end Samsung smart phone, there's an application you can install which is very clever. It makes use of the built-in sensors including the GPS, compass and orientation sensors to give you a sky map that is synchronised to your location and the position in which you are holding the phone. You look at an object in the sky, holding the phone next to it and the screen display tells you what you are looking at!

Yes I've seen that in action on a different phone it very impressive just expensive compared to Stellarium and the Mark One eyeball ;-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top