Basic Star Party Supplies for Amateur Astronomy
Best Books, Charts, Accessories for New Telescope Owners
Oct 10, 2008
Many facets of the amateur astronomy hobby exist, including astrophotography, telescope making, and asteroid hunting. These special interest groups require a lot of time and monetary investment. What if a new telescope owner is simply looking to enjoy the night sky itself a few weekends year?
Follow these suggestions for the most useful and cheapest equipment to get the most out of a small to mid-size reflector or refracter telescope. Once all the necessary equipment is gathered, check out Observing Tips for New Telescope Owners.
Best Telescope Accessories
- TelRad - By far the best and most basic accessory for the telescope owner is the TelRad. The TelRad fits on the outside of the telescope tube where the original finder scope is located. Consult the telescope manual for how to remove the original finder scope and slap a TelRad on there.
Available for around $50, the TelRad will soon become the new amateur astronomer’s best friend. Instead of finagling with a stubborn finder scope that projects everything backwards and magnifies things just enough to be disorienting, the TelRad projects a simple laser bull’s eye onto the sky. Many star charts include TelRad companion finder charts to make finding things in the sky a relative cinch.
- Barlow – The barlow is another basic must-have. It fits on the end of any eyepiece and automatically doubles the magnification for an easy closer look at the object.
Best Star Charts and Observing Books
- SkyAtlas 2000.0 by Wil Tirion (Cambridge University Press)-Considered the definitive star chart. For around $60 this book of large, fold-out maps is indispensible, and includes just about everything in the night sky visible with a small or medium telescope. The book comes in a deluxe version with laminated pages to defray possible damage from that spilled midnight hot chocolate.
- NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe by Terence Dickinson (Firefly Books) By far the best beginner’s book. This handy companion include large, easy to read star charts and is littered with essential tips and tricks. NightWatch comes conveniently spiral-bound, to allow for easy reference when setting up and observing.
Essential Star Party Camping Accessories
- Little Hotties Hand Warmers – It gets mighty cold in the wee hours of the morning, especially without a campfire. Little Hotties Hand Warmers are well worth the cheap price to keep fingers from freezing.
- The Astronomer’s Journal: Log and Sketchbook – Available from the American Association of Amateur Astronomy, this spiral-bound notebook allows for a full page of notes and sketches per night sky object. Essential for anyone wanting to keep a record of observations.
- Red Tape - When trying to stop “white light leaks” in order to preserve night sky adaptation, one can’t have enough red tape. The best tape for the job is “Red Lens Repair Tape.”
Available at most auto parts retailers for temporarily repairing broken tail light, this tape offers just enough opacity to see while not ruining night sky adaptation. Buy plenty of rolls, as many first time observers are likely to run out before realizing at midnight that they forgot to tape the dome light in their cars!
These are just a few tips meant to help get the brand new astronomers safely and productively through their first observing season. Talk to other astronomers and enthusiasts to learn their perspectives and, as always, practice makes perfect.
