okay so I dont know hardly anything about the stars and space.. educate me.. i want to learn a lot about it but its so huge i have no idea where to start.. how do I find stuff, see things and how is everything 'mapped'? how do you read locations et?

As you say, it is a big subject. Tell us a place you'd like to start, for example one of the following:

- planets & other Solar System objects
- stars
- celestial coordinates
- history of the universe
- galaxies
- exotic things like black holes and neutron stars
- unmanned spaceflight
- manned spaceflight
- something else you're interested in.

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When I read your post it sounds like the frustrations of a somebody with a new telescope. Perhaps you were a good boy and got something nice for Christmas?

Is that the source of your question?

I don't know an easy way. There are a lot of details and some of them are wrong. Keep working on it and you may be better informed than the average person posting on Bautforum in a few years. Neil

no actually I DONT have a telescope though want one... Ive just always been fascinated with space and I like space type video games and all that but its so big.. I dont even know where to start...I guess the easiest way is to start from the center of our solar system and work my way out right?

start with the sun, and work my way out each planet with moons then stars, then go more in the galaxy, etc..??

The advice that I most frequently give is, of course, "get thee to a library". That is the best place to start. Look for the astronomy section and browse for some books at your current level of reading and math.

If, as skinnert suggests, you have a new telescope, I would start with the Moon and planets first, then move on to some of the brighter stars/objects that you can find in the finder telescope such as the Pleaides, the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda galaxy, (Albireo, Epsilon Lyrae, M13 when they come in season). Eventually you will figure out how to use the setting circles to go from an object with a known position to a target at some other coordinates, although usually you will still have to use the finder to zero in on the exact location.

I hope this helps.

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Sounds like a plan. I prefer the more nearby objects in this Universe. They seem more mine (but I'll share). I can almost envision progeny visiting them someday. Nearby stars, distant stars, other galaxies, I hope my progeny visits, but they'll be so remote from me (and carry so little of me) that I can't get excited about them. They're too much like strangers.

Still be open to deviations from the plan. There's lots of weird and wacky stuff outside this system, and that sort of stuff stretches the mind and has aesthetic value, too.

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I dunno I guess my best bet is to pick up a cheap telescope (by cheap I dont mean wally world special, but something decent) and a planisphere based on my area.. and go from there... get a couple books here and there and learn what I can on my own.

You don't even need to buy books, at least not for the basics. Use the internet!

For a broad based review of a variety of topics, why not try Astronomy Cast?

http://www.astronomycast.com/

Or if you want a more structured education, there are Intro to Astronomy classes available from Ohio State and Cal-Berkeley.

http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/.../Ast161/Audio/

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_d...sid=1906978460 (includes video)

All for free.

I also started from the very beginning just a few years ago, but I chose understanding the history of astronomy first, then moving into modern times in regards to our solar system. The University of Tennessee Dept. Physics & Astronomy was the one I chose, all of it was free.

This was the place I started. Some of the links may be outdated however. I liked the way it was structured, so I spent many a night shift reading and researching. Enjoy!

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You might want to start here:
http://www.nineplanets.org/

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T. Anderson

Celestial Mechanic had the right answer. Go to the library. Tell a librarian what it is you would like to know. Explain your level of experience. Librarians love to help. That's what I did 53 years ago when I was 9. A primer touching on various aspects of astronomy will be well ordered and easier for a novice to understand than information for various levels of expertise found by hopping around the internet. After reading that first book I was considered the family expert on astronomy. Of course I read many more afterward. By the time I was 11 I took an introductory college level course in astronomy that was being taught on my local PBS station, although I could not register for credit without a high school diploma. Perhaps you could take an astronomy course at your local community college. In high school, quite a few of my monthly book reports were related to astronomy.

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Curt Renz - "Centaur"
For monthly astronomical calendar visit:
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okay well I enrolled in some online classes and for my gen ed. class for science Im taking Intro to Astronomy, I figured why not its free and its a 16wk course so I gotta learn something! haha

Well done. Sixteen weeks from now, I bet you'll be very pleased that you took the course. Now hit those books!

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For monthly astronomical calendar visit:
www.CurtRenz.com/astronomical.html