Atronomy for dummies

procco

My wife and I just bought a telescope for our daughter for her birthday. We went and looked at the moon tonight. My daughter was really excited to be able to see it so clearly (and I was too!)
Does anyone have recommendations of good websites or publications that will help us find interesting things to look for in the sky? It's still pretty cold out here in Chicago, but spring and summer are coming and I'm looking forward to having a fun and educational activity to share with the kid. Thanks for any help!

Tresset

Blast! My dad keeps recommending one but I forgot its name...

lolien

Maybe @JLee can help you.

Tresset

After experimenting with Google's autofill I remember! It is called "Stellarium" http://www.stellarium.org/

procco

I'll check it out. Thanks!

BelgarathMTH

This one has always been my favorite:

http://stardate.org/

procco

Thanks, @BelgarathMTH that's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. Really looking forward to some warmer weather!

DreadKhan

The title of this thread is genius on so very many levels. I loled. No rolling around though!

dunbar

This stargazing lark isn't as easy as it seems. When I lived under the smog free skies of Darkest Africa I used to watch the moon through a very long telephoto lens on my tripod-mounted camera - and found out just how fast the damn thing moves! Even with ultra fast film I couldn't get a picture that didn't come out blurred.
Knowing something academically is no substitute for experiencing it in reality!

JLee

@procco

Oops...been crazy at work lately and just saw this.

Which telescope do you have? That will help to give object recommendations and general tips.

Most people start with the planets, moon, and the Messier Objects.

The Messier Objects refers to a list of non-comets that Charles Messier (et al) cataloged in the late 1700s. These tend to be among the brightest and easiest objects to find.

Here is a good reference list for the Messier Objects:
RASC's Messier Object List (ordered by season)

The New General Catalog is a list that compiles many thousands of objects, but the best and brightest of those are listed here:
RASC's Finest NGC List (ordered by season)

Both of those lists are best used when observing as far away as possible from city lights. The best astronomical accessory is a tank of gas I would contact a local astronomy club for information on some good, safe locations nearby for observing.

If you cannot find a darker sky, here are some lists that might serve you better (although darkness will improve every object!).

Here is a list I use from observing in the city:
Astronomical League Urban Observing Program

Another class of object that I very much enjoy are double/multiple stars. These hold up well in light pollution. Some people find them underwhelming, but I really enjoy them, especially nice color contrasting doubles:
Eagle Creek Observatory Color Contrasted Double Stars

I have plenty of more resources if they would be helpful, but I will wait to hear back as to which kind of scope you have.

Kind regards,
Josh

JLee

Btw, I forgot to mention a planetarium program, such as the one @Tresset linked, is very helpful.

However, for field use they tend to obliterate your dark adaptation. For the field I'd recommend a trusty planisphereand a red, variable brightness flashlight (set to the dimmest setting that still allows you to read).


Here is another helpful series of charts that you can print out, place in laminate sleeves, and bring along:Telrad charts for the Messier Objects

These charts are useful even without one, but they are designed for use with the greatest accessory I can recommend: Telrad. The Telrad is the most intuitive device used to help determine where your telescope is pointing. Very, very helpful! My (then) 6 year old niece was finding planets and other objects by herself with one.

procco

Whoa, thanks for all that info @JLee I appreciate it. My daughter is only 5 years old, so we'll probably just stick with looking for the basic stuff for starters, like the moon and planets. Hopefully she'll get interested and want to find other things in the sky.
We got an Orion brand telescope at a thrift store for $50. I'll look at the model name when I get home from work. It has a 25mm and a 10mm lens with it. Even with the 25mm we were able to see a lot of the details on the moon the other night. That was pretty cool!
Thanks again everyone for all the helpful info!

joluv

Since you're in Chicago, you could also take advantage of Adler Planetarium. They have a lot of content designed for kids around that age, e.g. a Sesame Street planetarium show.

procco

We're planning on taking her there sometime really soon. I've never been there either and I'm looking forward to it.

procco

@JLee the telescope we got is an Orion Observer 70mm Altizamuth refractor telescope. Like I said, we picked it up at a thrift store, so it was a little bit of a gamble, but everything seems to be in order on it. The only part missing is the "EZ Finder" scope. I'll see if I can order a replacement for that. It was tricky even finding the moon!

JLee

@procco My wife received a 60mm refractor from her father when she was about your daughter's age and she still has it. I have an 80mm refractor as well and use it all the time.

The EZ Finder will be a help for sure. You might consider a Rigel Systems Quick Finder or the aforementioned Telrad as well. They cost about the same but offer added functionality in the form of a concentric degree circles display. This makes it easier to gauge the relative positions of the object you are looking for with respect to naked eye stars. Another benefit is that the inner degree circle native to those two products does not obscure the object you are pointing towards, as in the case of the EZ Finder's simple red dot.

Open clusters, the moon, planets and double stars are all good targets for that scope. The Orion Nebula (M42) is a worthy target now as well. Keep in mind that the better your dark adaptation is, the more you will see. Deep sky objects are called faint fuzzies for a reason.

If you find your family has developed an interest in the hobby, an 8" Dobsonian is a good pick for value and performance that will greatly expand the variety of objects that you can observe.

Musigny

Tresset said:

After experimenting with Google's autofill I remember! It is called "Stellarium" http://www.stellarium.org/

In addition to stellarium you may be interested in Celestia http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
These are the two softwares usually available on free/open platforms. IIRC this runs on windows too.