John Stewart's Astronomy Page

Astronomy is looking up.

Buying a Telescope as a Present

The primary recommendation is don't. Especially don't buy a department store telescope, unless you plan on spending a lot of time in the workshop, like Petterson here, trying to fix a wobbly mount. A telescope is a very personal instrument and should be chosen to fit a person's interests (e.g., planets, nebulae, double stars, astrophotography, and so on) and lifestyle (in the back yard after supper or driving 60 miles to a dark sky site). Scroll on down to the information for newbies and look at the articles there, especially the Heretic's Guide. Here's Stargazer Steve's Santa and the Young Astronomer.

Here are some great things you can give instead of a telescope:

• Magazines: A subscription to Sky & Telescope, Astronomy or Sky News.
• Books: My favorite is H.A. Rey's (creator of Curious George) The Stars: A New Way to See Them. How about Chet Ramo's 365 Starry Nights: An Introduction to Astronomy for Every Night of the Year? Being technically oriented, I enjoyed Dinah L. Moche's Astronomy: A Self-Teaching Guide.
• Clubs: Why not get a membership in your local astronomy club. Here is my list of astronomy clubs. Here is a list from Sky & Telescope and one from www.AstronomyClubs.com. You can have a great time observing with your friend, spouse or child at a club event! Most clubs will give you access to dark sky sites, and most club members love to mentor beginners. You will have the chance to try out the huge variety of telescopes and binoculars used by club members, and some clubs have loaner scopes available.
• Binoculars: I suggest a good pair of 10 x 50 binos, but younger eyes could use the lower power of 7 x 50. Why? Read about the exit pupil size. Some objects, like comets, are better seen in binoculars than in a telescope. Since binoculars display an erect image (unlike most astronomical telescopes), they can be used for terrestrial viewing as well. Read more by Alan M. MacRobert in Sky & Telescope.

Click on the image for the explanation.
I show Great Falls Observatory Park instead of Washington, DC because it is halfway between where I live and another place I often go to observe.

Weather Forecasts

Weather sometimes can be predicted. To help plan your observing sessions, you might ask old Petterson here.

On the other hand, you can try the Weather Channel forecast for Washington, D.C. Weather Underground forecasts for Washington, D.C.

If you can't see the stars, look at the clouds using the local satellite for Washington, D.C. (or Middleburg, VA. )or look at the rain using the regional radar or the local radar.

The NOVAC weather page.

Intellicast.com 10-day forecast for Washington, DC. Today's Stargazers' Sky watch (48-state cloud map). Tomorrow's.

AccuWeather Enhanced Infrared Satellite.

The National Weather Service for Baltimore/Washington.

Finally, clouds over the eastern US and Today's Space Weather from NOAA.

Predictions

Sky Maps is a great source for a map to find your way through tonight's sky.

Jeff Stetekluh provides astronomical calculations for the Northern Virginia and DC area:

• Sun and Moon rise/set times.
• Galilean Moon Events: During Eastern Standard Time, Eastern Daylight Time.
• ISS predictions.

There are now a number of planetarium programs accessible through the web.

• John Walker's Your Sky.
• The Sky View Café Java applet. Creates star charts and doles out almanac data.
• Stig's Sky Calendar. Unfortunately, I can't get this to load either in IE or in NS.

The US Naval Observatory brings you bright satellites over Washington, D.C.

Satellite predictions for Mt. Pleasant, Washington, D.C. You can customize this for yourself by first getting your longitute and latitude from Mapblast!

Phases of the moon calendar.

Billy Kreuter's Astronomy Ephemeris Program.

Information for Newbies

The best thing to do when starting out on your exploration of the Universe is to find good guides. You will soon find that all astronomers (not facing a deadline) will love to share their experience with you. Seek them out in astronomy clubs, observatories, and planetaria. Astronomical organizations can be immensely helpful, too.

• AstronomyBoy's How to Buy (and Not Buy) a Telescope.
• Your First Steps in Astronomy, by Richard Tresch Fienberg.
• Jay Reynolds Freeman's Recommendations for Beginning Amateur Astronomers . Several articles for beginners through the Astronomy Connection.
• Choosing Your First Telescope, by Joshua Roth.
• Jack Troeger's Astronomy Course for Middle/High School Students.
• The Heretic's Guide to Purchasing a Telescope. More information on telescopes and equipment.
• Martin Trittelvitz's Tips zur Anschaffung eines Instrumentes für die Amateurastronomie (German).
• Choosing Telescopes and Binoculars: A Beginner's Guide.
• The Constellations.
• How to estimate limiting magnitude? Here are some helpful pages: Charts in the SEDS site.
• Thursday's Classroom.
• The Night Sky Observer, with lunar and Jupiter applets.
• Buying Your First Telescope, by the director of the Ott Planetarium.

Here are some suggestions from the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers, Astronomy magazine.

Local Astronomy Clubs

The following are local astronomy clubs. Click here to see the full list of clubs and organizations. Look at Elizabeth Warner's list, too.

• Northern Virginia Astronomy Club. NOVAC sponsors public viewing at several places around Northern Virginia.

• The Analemma Society.
• Baltimore Astronomical Society.
• Cumberland Astronomy Club.
• Delmarva Star Gazers.
• The Goddard Astronomy Club, in Maryland.
• Greenbelt Astronomy Club.
• The Howard Astronomical League, in Columbia, MD.
• The Howard County Celestial Searchers, for students, kindergarten through grade eight. Sponsored by the astrodentist.
• Maryland Students for the Exploration and Development of Space.
• National Capitol Astronomers.
• The River Valley Stargazers Astronomy Club, in College Park.
• Southern Maryland Astronomical Society.
• The Tri-State Astronomers, in Hagarstown, MD.
• The Washington Area Astronomers, a forum for professional astronomers and astrophysicists, has come to an end.

Local Observatories

This list represents a sample of the observatories in the D.C. area. Again, look at Elizabeth Warner's list, too. Here is my wider list.

• The Analema Society Observatory Park at Turner Farms in Great Falls, VA, has weekly viewing for members on Fridays.
• The Keeble Observatory, at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, VA. Public viewings are on Wednesdays.
• The Crosby Ramsey Memorial Observatory at the Maryland Science Center, in Baltimore.
• The United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.
• The University of Maryland, Dept. of Astronomy has a lecture, followed by informal observing in College Park, MD., on the 5th and 20th of each month. ADASTRAgrl (Elizabeth Warner) is the director.
• The McCormick and Fan Mountain Observatories of the University of Virginia, Dept. of Astronomy. There are public nights every first and third Friday night.

Local Planetaria

This list represents a sample of the planetaria in the D.C. area. Guess what, Elizabeth Warner has a list, too. Here is my wider list.

• The Einstein Planetarium in the National Air and Space Museum. The NASM sponsors public viewing at Sky Meadows State Park in Faquier County in Virginia.
• The Montgomery College Planetarium.
• The Arlington Planetarium.
• The Howard B. Owens Science Center's Planetarium, in Greenbelt, MD.
• The Rock Creek Park Planetarium, in Washington, D.C.
• Fairfax County Public Schools Planetaria, in Fairfax County, Virginia.
  

Schools

These are schools in the D.C. area with public astronomical programs.

• The University of Maryland, Dept. of Astronomy has a lecture, followed by informal observing, on the 5th and 20th of each month.
• The University of Virginia, Dept. of Astronomy has public nights every first and third Friday night.

Star Parties

This will be a list of star parties in the DC area.

• The Delmarva Stargazers Star Gaze Star Party, at Tuckahoe State Park, near Queen Anne, MD, 6-10 April 2005.
• The Mason Dixon Star Party, 6-10 July 2005.
• The Stella Della Valley Starfest, somewhere in Pennsylvania (TBA), hosted by the Bucks-Mont Astronomical Association.
• The Delmarva Stargazers No Frills Gaze Star Party, 28 September-2 October 2005.
• The NOVAC Star Gaze, 1 October 2005, at CM Crocket Park, Faquier County, VA.
• The Mid Atlantic Star Party, 1-8 November 2005, near Robbins, NC.

Astrophotography

Having recently purchased Tilly Smith's C5+ I am now interested in astrophotography!

• Astro-Imaging Hints Page.
• Catching the Light: Astrophotography by Jerry Lodriguss.
• Michael Purcel's Driveway Astrophotography.
• Robert Reeves' Schmidt Camera Astrophotography.
• Chris and Dawn Schur's Comets and Sky Astrophotography.
• Getting Started in Astrophotography: Oliver Thizy's (Deep Sky) Astrophotography for Amateurs.
• Chuck Vaughan's Astrophotography.

These are references for CCD photography:

• Cookbook CCD camera Home Page.
• Al Kelly's CCD Astrophotography Page.
• Dirk Langenbach's Astronomy Page, his version of the Cookbook 245.

A QuickCam can be used for astrophotography: Ash's Astronomy Pages show how to modify webcams for astronomical use. Lance Hill Observatory, author of article on using QuickCam for astrophotography. Hanno Müller's How to disassemble a B & W QuickCam. Geoff Chester's Adventure in QuickCam Astronomy. QuickCam and Unconventional Imaging Astronomy Group. The QCUIAG message board. Note: Logitech bought QuickCam in 1998.

John's first QuickCam image of Moon, 5 Apr 2003.

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All contents © Copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 John Stewart
Last modified: Fri 26 Aug 2005