Published: November 20, 2008 11:00 pm      

Some gift hints for budding astronomers

Best buys for first telescopes

I have received several requests recently for advice on buying a modestly priced telescope for a young student or an adult beginner. If your budget is really limited, consider instead getting a good pair of binoculars that can be mounted on a camera tripod.

Prices for good quality binoculars are typically from $25 to $45 in large discount stores and hunting stores. A good choice would be 8 x 40 or 10 x 50 binoculars. The first number is the magnification or power; the second number is the width of the front lens in millimeters (about 1/25 of an inch).

Try the binoculars out in the store before you pay for them. These binoculars usually have a center cap that unscrews, allowing you to use a tripod adapter. If a tripod adapter is not available, find a small block of wood that you can attach a hose clamp that will hold the binoculars securely. (Use cloth or felt to prevent the hose clamp from scratching the binoculars.)

Then you need to insert a 1/4-20 screw fitting into the block of wood so it can be attached to the camera tripod. (Your local hardware store can provide these items: hose clamp (to wrap around binoculars), and screw fitting for 1/4-20 bolt.) A decent camera tripod with long enough legs to mount the binoculars at convenient eye level can be purchased at large discount stores in their camera sections. (Camera tripod may cost $20-$30.)

Another option is to get a spotting scope, a compact lens telescope with variable power that provides an erect (right side up) image. Spotting scopes usually come with a small tripod that may be inconvenient for viewing sky objects well up in the sky. You could use a high stool (that scope and its tripod placed on) and a low chair (to sit on).

Then you might be able to comfortably view the moon, planets and sky objects when they are not too high in the sky. Most spotting scopes have a screw hole so they can also be used with a regular camera tripod, which may be superior to the small tripod supplied with the spotting scope.

Good quality spotting scopes can be found on sale for under $100 at hunting goods stores Just as for binoculars, look through the spotting scope inside the store; you should be able to focus the spotting scope on items at the other end of the store.

As for telescopes, your best buys are small reflecting (mirror) telescopes that are easily transported and set up in your backyard, patio or observing place. Be sure that your telescope site is not doused with light from your own dwelling or your neighbors. You may have to move around till the lights are blocked off by trees or houses.

One well known telescope company sells several astroblast telescopes that are very reasonably priced. The smaller astroblast scope (4.5 inch wide mirror) is easily handled by a primary grade student and there’s a larger telescope (6 inch wide mirror) for older students and adults. These telescopes are mounted sideways on mounts that are quite sturdy, considering their weight and size. Both of these telescopes come with several eyepieces for low and medium power views as well as a small finder scope.

I have free several catalogs from this company for my Planetarium visitors. There are many telescope ads in the magazines “Sky and Telescope” and “Astronomy.” Also visit the Internet at www.SkyandTelescope.com .

See winter sights

During Thanksgiving week you can begin to see the brilliant winter star sights in the evenings. Before 6 p.m. look for brilliant Venus and bright Jupiter, slowly drawing together low in the southwest. At 7 p.m., look for the Seven Sisters star cluster in the East. This concentration of stars resembles a tiny dipper.

To the left of Seven Sisters is the golden star Capella, the first bright winter star to appear. Capella will stay in evening view through June. By 9 p.m., Orion, the year’s brightest star group can be seen in the East. Orion’s trademark is his belt of three stars in a row. To the left of the belt is Betelgeuse, Orion’s bright pink star. On the other side of the belt is white-blue Rigel, Orion’s brightest star.

We will have our last showings of “StarDeath and Elements” at the Frostburg State Planetarium at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. in Tawes 302. Also included is an informal tour of the evening sky using our planetarium projector.

The Planetarium will be closed next Sunday to reopen on Dec. 7 with “Skies of the Holy Lands,” featuring the skies as seen by Abraham, Moses, at Jesus’ birth and by Mohammad. To get a free planetarium calendar, call (301) 687-7799 and leave your name and mailing address.

Readers are invited to email Bob Doyle at rdoyle@frostburg.edu with any comments or questions.