We have recently taken up amateur astronomy as a hobby that is fun and educational for our kids and ourselves. This weblog records our observations as we explore cosmos.
Equipment
We use either a 10 in. or 4.5 in. Dobsonian reflector that we purchased from Orion. The “Dob” is a rugged and inexpensive design that makes it a popular choice for beginners. The telescope came with 10mm and 25mm Plössl eyepieces. We also purchased a 2× Barlow adaptor.
We also have a pair of binoculars for casual observing that we purchased from Orion (the Orion
“Outsider” series). They are 10 × 50 (10× power, 50 mm aperture) wide angle (7.6° field of view) with 17 mm of eye relief, which makes them usable with my eyeglasses on.
The Venue
Many of these observations were made in our yard in Fishers, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. Consequently, observing conditions are far from ideal; the sky is never very dark, and trees and houses obstruct some of the view. These conditions push many interesting objects past the level of observability in a small telescope, especially in the hands of a beginner. Nevertheless, we took the challenge of determining the limits of our new hobby.