Astronomy Writings
Little articles of written, often in response to postings on discussion boards by beginners. Although I try to be accurate, these are my own thoughts and opinions only, nothing official.
| Avoiding Disappointment for Beginners | A series of articles for beginners, on starting well and avoiding early disappointment. |
| Starting Problems | An exaggerated "life in the trenches" account of a fictional beginner having a terrible time. |
| Setting Expectations | Avoiding disappointment by understanding what a beginner should and should not reasonably expect as they enter Astronomy |
| Getting Advice | As a beginner, you'll want to get advice on how to proceed. It's readily available, but the quality varies widely. |
| Beginner Telescopes | General advice on choosing a beginner telescope. Pointers to good books and articles, analysis of classic beginner advice, and my own feelings and advice. |
| About Finders | A description of the various types of Finders that can accompany your telescope, and their advantages and disadvantages. |
| Beginner Objects | General advice on choosing suitable targets for a beginner's first observing sessions. |
| Finding Things by Star Hopping | An introduction to the basic technique for finding target objects. |
| Understanding the Sky | A very basic introduction to the kinds of motion and activity that take place in the sky, and the effects you'll see when you observe. |
| Aperture Fever | A discussion of why large aperture is important, but why it isn't always the most important thing you need. |
| Magnification | A discussion of how magnification is calculated and affected, how much you need, and how toy telescopes use this figure to try to mislead you. |
| Setting Up | A basic guide to setting up and aligning your telescope for use. |
| Visual Astronomy and Seeing Colours | Why you are only seeing deep space objects in Black and White. |
| Backlash | A discussion of backlash in gear-driven mounts: what it is and what to do about it. |
You can comment on these articles in their individual blog entries, or on the whole collection here.