Get started as an amateur astronomer

If you’re interested in astronomy, but want to find out more before investing in your own telescope, the GeekDad blog has a couple of good suggestions for how to get started. It recommends finding a local astronomy club which holds stargazing nights which are open to the public.

Quasar Publishing, publishers of Astronomy Australia hosts a list of amateur astronomy societies here, or a web search for the name of your city and “astronomy club” should do the trick.

If you have an observatory or planetarium near you, check out what they have on offer too. Sydney’s Observatory charges $15 for a night visit which is hosted by an experienced astronomer. It also runs paid night classes including one on stargazing skills which includes guidance on how to choose and use a small telescope.

The photographer’s note on the image I’ve used here says it’s a telescope image of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) taken from a backyard observatory. 12 hours total exposure time. Neat. :)

Don’t have a telescope? Borrow one! [Geek Dad]