Hello everyone, I am a newbie who has been visiting the site for over a year now and I truely enjoy the site. I am retired and I walk several miles at 3:30 AM in the early morning and I begin to notice the heavens above me on clear nights and became intested in the stars...I can only identify Pegusus(sp?) at the moment but I would like to learn much more about the stars and I believe this is the site that will help me greatly...thanks to everyone who post and imparts all the helpful information.Kudos to the Bad Astronomer!

Welcome to the board and the hobby!



My suggestions:
1.) Get a planisphere (star chart), preferably one calibrated for your latitude. These are absolutely invaluable for learning the night sky.

2.) Buy or check out a quality introductory text on astronomy, like some of Terence Dickinson's fine work, or works like Skyguide and Menzel and Pasachoff's A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets.

3.) You might want to get a planetarium program like Starry Night or Cartes du Ciel (IIRC, the latter is free), though these are--IMO--wholly secondary to the first two.

Best of luck.

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"Call me old-fashioned, but I think fire is magic. And it scares me a lot."

--The State

imn8xtc. Welcome to baut. I agree with Romanus. The Planisphere looks like a wheel with a slot that gives some view of the wheel's printed stars, matching your month and time of day you're viewing. Big help in learning the sky.You should be able to find one in a yuppie children's toy store, or you can order from Edmund Scientific, in Paramus ,New Jersey..~10 bucks. Sky & Telescope magazine, and Astronomy magazine at your local magazine seller's give monthly sky charts. (Your library may have a subscription, too). Just picking up binoculars and a lawn chair to stretch out on while looking up will find lots more "Stuff" up there.
If you find a coarsely printed old star map with labels...photocopy it, and slowly whiteout the labels....see if you can "connect the dots" from memory....then try it on the real sky. Enjoy. I also recoommend books by Fred Schaaf, Seeing the Sky, Seeing the Planets, etc...or Chet Raymo's , "365 Starry Nights"...he's the one got me hooked. Pete.

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A third rate theory forbids.
A second rate theory explains after the fact.
A first rate theory predicts.
A. Lomonosov

You might also try:

http://www.astrowhatsup.com/download-the-book/

A free to download guide to observing the night sky courtesy of Tammy Plotner and Universe Today.

Welcome mate

This board is a wealth of Knowledge and information.


David

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But you're sure the astronauts are lying; you just don't seem to know what they're lying about: Jayutah


I are Learnding.

If you don't already have them, get a pair of binoculars for starters.
I know most books recommend 7x50, but if you have a steady hand (or a tripod), 16x50 is what I'd choose. Bushnell is relatively inexpensive.
Should it turn out you're not permanently interested in astronomy, binoculars can be used for different purposes like birding or sport games.

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Mars Society.

And for interest and reliable links APOD -- Astronomy Picture Of the Day -- is hard to beat:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Useful too, a dictionary:

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/dictionary.html

And on physics & astronomy:

http://www.physlink.com/Index.cfm

Also

http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/index.html

All above if you're a real beginner and want more than just look at the sky.

And download the 3D space simulation Celestia:
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

Ever wondered how the night sky looks like from, say, Deneb? There's the answer.

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Mars Society.

All the stars you see on your walks are within our Galaxy. Then there are thousands of billions of other galaxies. And glowing nebulas. And....

Definitely a good idea. You'll be able to see other galaxies and lots of amazsing stuff. Keep looking up!

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Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.