This article is available in audio format, please click on the play icon below to listen.
Christmas Presents.
Thinking of starting up or re-kindling a hobby in astronomy for yourself or someone else? Here is some help.
One of the best ways to learning about the night sky, apart from just using your eyes, is to install some of the great free mobile apps. I use Stellarium Mobile (free). It will open up a new dimension to your understanding and enjoyment of astronomy. Holding it up against the night sky in ‘compass mode’ it will identify where planets, galaxies and constellations are, OVERLAYING them in real time for you to discover. You can also zoom in and advance or go back in time! It’s a little like having Brian Cox and Dr Who standing next to you pointing out interesting night sky objects.
https://stellarium-labs.com/stellarium-mobile-plus/
Alternatively Star Walk 2 (with adverts also free)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vitotechnology.StarWalk2Free&hl=en_GB
or for iphone
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/skyview-lite/id413936865
If you are thinking of buying a telescope then please try binoculars first. Although they won’t be as powerful the chances are you may see more. This is because they are easier to use and can be used at a minutes notice. Telescopes are wonderful when set-up and on a clear night, those two things don’t often coincide! Binoculars can be decribed by two number eg 8 x 42. The first is the magnification (how mush closer but consequently dimmer. The second number is the size of the large lens at the end (a large one lets in more light.) Overall 10×50 would be a great start.
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-equipment/binoculars-for-astronomy/
If you have to bite the bullet and buy an entry level telescope, take care. Don’t be fooled by misleading advertising and poor quality materials (especially ridiculously advertised high powers like x500). You do indeed get what you pay for.
There are different types of telescopes – refractor, reflector and compound (which is a bit of a mixture). Refractors (a larger one is good for deep sky) use a lens at the front and are low maintenance, Reflectors (good for moon and planets) are cheaper and often have their eyepiece at the front and optics at the bottom. Compounds which are worth having are expensive and small ones are next to useless for serious deep sky observation.
When choosing one, the diameter of its light-gathering mirror or lens (‘aperture’) is very important. The bigger the better – but not at the cost of quality. What the telescope sits on is very important too. Initially, a good tripod is easier to use than a complicated ‘mount’, although eventually you will move to one. There is a lot to take in so these links may help.
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/telescopes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TIOSPMZkL0
The Night Sky.
Looking from the north-west over to the south-east you will see what looks like a band of cloud. Look closely and you will see that it is in fact packed with bright specks. These are individual suns within our home –  the Milky Way Galaxy. We are looking edge-on in to our own spiral galaxy. Generally speaking all the things we see in our night sky are inside our own Milky Way. Therefore, when we look away from that ‘band’ we are looking out in to deep space.
Orion (the familiar figure 8 shape) can be seen half-way up in the south-east. The star Betelgeuse has caused some excitement over the past few years. It started to noticeably dim and there was speculation that the star was at the end of its life. Since then studies believe that dust between us and the star was the cause of the dimming. Its massive size has encouraged it to evolve to a point that it will go supernova and explode within the next 100,000 years (don’t watch this space!) Above Orion and slightly to the right is Jupiter with the very closely pack jewel box of the Pleiades. In binoculars both of these will look spectacular.
After finding Betelgeuse in the top left of Orion look to the left to find the next brightest star, Procyon. Half-way between the two you will see a very dim reddish smudge (see star map above.) This is the Rosette Nebula. It takes 5000 years for its light to reach us. Here is an image I took from Embsay 3 years ago. It is a star -forming area and also known as the ‘skull’ as some people see this shape within the stellar gas.
This month we have 2 new moons on Sunday 1st and Monday 30th December. Both should be good days to stargaze if it is a clear evening (no moon glare).
The 21st December is the winter solstice, giving us the shortest day and the longest night.
Clear Skies
Milan Davidovic
