Just in case anybody cares, my amateur astronomy blog can be found at AmateurStargazer.com. From now on all my astronomy posts will be over there. I just happened to launch it on one of my favorite authors, Douglas Adams’ birthday. So I had to put a fitting Douglas Adams quote at the top. Don’t Panic!

Yesterday I got a new pair of Binoculars. Amazon has a great deal on a pair of Celestron SkyMaster 15x70s for $62! They are normally over $100. I couldn’t resist.

These things are huge, and give you a great view. The 70mm objective lenses brings in so much light, it make them hard to use during the day, but great for night viewing. I didn’t spend a ton of time viewing last night, but I had to check out Venus and Jupiter. The pair are a beautiful site in the west, and will be closest together on Thursday.

With my new Binoculars I was able to make out one moon of Jupiter. I checked out the current location of Jupiter’s moons on Stellarium, and all four Galilean moon were on the same side. My guess is the moon I saw was Ganymede since Stellarium said it was the brightest. It also happens to be the largest moon in the Solar System.

15×70 binoculars are great, but they are kind of heavy, and hard to hold steady. You really do need a tripod for them. I had to rest my arms on the deck railing to get a steady look. After I knew what I was looking at I took out my 10×50 Celestron Binoculars, probably the perfect size for hand use, and I was able to see Ganymede with them too. I’m pretty sure that was the moon I was seeing through my scope on Saturday night. It just proves that with more experience I will be able to see more things, even with my 10×50 binoculars.

Last night was our first warm (38ºF) night with clear skies that I have been able to get my telescope out. Our yard is still full of snow, so I was limited to what I could see from the deck. I think I’m going to start an astronomy blog to share my astronomy experiences, but for now I am posting it here.

Equipment

• Meade 60mm refractor 25mm and 9mm EPs (Not the best scope, will be upgrading soon)
• 10×50 Celestron binoculars

What I saw

• Jupiter
• Venus
• Mars
• M42 (Orion Nebula)
• M45 (Pleiades)
• Mizar and Alcor (double star in the Big Dipper)

Venus
The first think I observed was Venus. Venus is small, and has a thick atmosphere, so you can’t see much detail. Because Venus is an interior planet, it goes through phases like the Moon does. I was hoping to make out what phase it’s in, but I couldn’t.

Jupiter
I spent most of my night viewing Jupiter. I was able to make out one band and I think one of the Moons. I could only find one Moon, so I couldn’t tell you which one it was. With more experience, and a better telescope, I’m sure I’ll be getting better views of Jupiter in the future.

Mars
I was hoping to see it’s icecap, but I was unable to see much detail in Mars. Again, with more experience, and another night, maybe I will be able to see Mars’ icecap.

M42 (Orion Nebula)
I’m really not sure what kind of view of the Orion Nebula my telescope will give me. I wasn’t able to reach it with my telescope from my deck. I viewed it through my 10×50 binoculars. It’s just a fussy little blip through binoculars, but still fun to look at.

M45 (Pleiades)
Pleiades is probably my favorite binocular object so far. To the naked eye it’s just a faint fussy blip, but through binoculars, you can see the seven or so bright blue stars. I have tried to view it in the past with my telescope, but I couldn’t find it through my crappy finder scope. I didn’t even try last night.

Mizar and Alcor (double star in the Big Dipper)
My northern sky is pretty light polluted. About all I could see in that direction was the Big Dipper. Double stars are always fun to look at through binoculars because what looks like one star, becomes two. In actuality, Mizar is a quadruple star system and Alcor is a binary system, but all you see through binoculars is Mizar and Alcor.

Conclusion
I spent about an hour outside viewing, and had a great time. I can’t wait until I can get out it my yard to get better views. I was hoping to stay up later and see the Moon and Saturn, but I was just too tired and have a cold. My telescope gets really good views on the Moon. The Moon is pretty close to full now though, which isn’t the best time to view it anyway. I can’t wait until Saturn starts rising earlier. Everybody says that’s the one that gets them hooked on this hobby. I think I’m already hooked.

Last night was my first chance at star gazing. It was a pretty nice night — 25º — a little too chilly for setting up my telescope, but nice enough to use my new binoculars. Most amateur astronomers will tell you to start with binoculars anyway. You don’t see huge detail in the objects in the sky, but it is easy to find things, and a good way to get familiar with the sky.

I didn’t get out early enough to see the Moon. Tonight the Moon and Venus make a pretty nice pair in the early evening western sky. I’m going to try and get a view of them tonight.

I was surprised how many stars I could see through my binoculars that I couldn’t see with the naked eye. My view of the northern sky isn’t that great because of all the light from the city. I couldn’t see any stars, but with my binoculars I was a least able to make out the Big Dipper. Facing west, Jupiter was bright and impressive through my binoculars. Again you don’t get much detail through binoculars, but still great to see. I usually can’t make out the different colors of stars, but with binoculars I could clearly see the bright redness of Betelgeuse, and the bright white Rigel in Orion. What I was probably most impressed with was actually seeing the Orion Nebula.

I went out again early morning and got a shot of Mars. Again, no details, but it was obviously red, and just cool to at least get a better view than you can with the naked eye. I went out a few hours later to try and see Saturn, but it got cloudy, so I didn’t get to see Saturn.

I agree that binoculars are a great way to start. It’s easy to find things, and a good way to learn the sky. I can’t wait until it gets warmer so I can spend more time outside. I may even have to find a good place where I can get away from a lot of the light pollution.

Yesterday I got my copy of Night Watch. It was a book that Fraser Cain recomended for begining amateur astronomers during one of his Google Plus Virtual Star Parties, which I can’t say enough good things about. I’ve been obsessed with learning everything I can about amateur astronomy since it’s not really nice enough to be outside and observing. Last night was a clear night, and I had a good view of Jupiter and Venus from my driveway early in the evening, but with temps below zero, I didn’t feel like spending much time outside. Instead I dove into my new book. I totally agree with Fraser, Night Watch probably is the book for begining amateur astronomers. I’m sure this wont be the last post about my new hobby that I am obsessed with. My ultimate goal is to get some amazing pictures from space. I’m probably a few years off of being able to do that, but here is one of Jupiter and Europa that a member of our local astronomy club took.

How cool is that? Someday I want to be the person that takes these pictures.