Telescopes And More

Blog

Mars is a difficult planet to observe. It only shows itself well to amateur astronomers once every two years or so and even then it is better in some years than it is in others. When Mars is in a favorable position though and close by enough to observe well it is a sight to behold, especially in larger instruments. This sketch was made with an 8″ Dob telescope at 244X and shows quite a bit of detail. In the center of the sketch is Syrtis Major, one of the more prominent features on the Red Planet. Definitely worth a look…… in 2012!

This sketch shows only an approximation of what can be seen in slightly larger instruments. In this case, the sketch was made with an Dobsonian at a magnification of 49X. The amount of detail that can be seen in the Orion Nebula is staggering and quite impossible to accurately put onto paper. Swirls of gaseous material, bright patches and darker areas and embedded stars abound. Expect to take some time studying the object in the eyepiece before making a sketch but it is time well spent! Author is my brother Michael Geldorp.

Tomorrow through Tuesday brings the peak of the Quadrantids, the first meteor shower of the year.

Northern Hemisphere observers may see from 10 to 60 meteors per hour for a few hours. The shower usually begins around 11 p.m. when the radiant (the apparent source of the shower) rises high enough to see well.
The Quadrantids are an easily visible January meteor shower.
The radiant of this shower is an area inside the constellation Boötes. The name comes from Quadrans Muralis, an obsolete constellation that is now part of Boötes. It lies between the end of the handle of the Big Dipper and the quadrilateral of stars marking the head of the constellation Draco.

Adolphe Quetelet of the Brussels Observatory discovered the shower in the 1830s, and shortly afterward it was noted by several other astronomers in Europe and America. Read the rest of this entry »

During the winter months there is no end to the open clusters we can see with even modest telescopes. We’re looking into a particularly rich region of the Milky Way in the area around Taurus, Orion, Monoceros and Auriga and it is in Auriga that we find the object in this particular sketch. Of the three Messier objects in that constellation M37 is the finest in my opinion. This rich cluster is almost impossible to sketch and the placement of the stars is by no means meant to be accurate. Rather, this is a prime example where overall impression of the object’s appearance is more important than accuracy in astronomical sketching. As can be seen in the sketch, made with an 8″ Dobsonian scope at 98X magnification, the stars in M37 seem to forms clumps with less dense areas and lanes in between them. This is a fine object to study in any inmstrument!

Author: Michael Geldorp

Celestron Sky Maps are the ideal teaching guide for learning the night sky. You wouldn’t set off on a road trip without a road map, and you don’t need to try to navigate the night sky without a map either. Even if you already know your way around the major constellations, these maps can help you locate all kinds of fascinating objects.

The front cover has a specially designed luminous planisphere that rotates to simulate the seasonal progression of celestial objects through the sky. When the planisphere is pre-exposed to light, star positions glow brightly against a dark background, mimicking actual constellations. Read the rest of this entry »

If you like to look to the heavens even just occasionally get yourself some decent binoculars and indulge in a little binocular astronomy. Think about it, binoculars are inexpensive, highly portable and require no complicated setting up procedure so are ideal for casual astronomy.

Binoculars allow excellent moon views, and great viewing of star fields, comets and even deep sky objects. They are especially useful for beginners as unlike astronomy telescopes they keep the view the the right way up, making it really easy to navigate the skies. With a little practice you can pick out several of the planets and even the larger moons orbiting Jupiter. Read the rest of this entry »