There are many things which surprise and confound newcomers to astronomy: the challenge of setting up and aiming a telescope; the tendency of objects to rapidly drift through the field of view; how much the telescope will shake at the … Read More
Telescopes come in many sizes, but in terms of shape they are pretty much all tubular. That is, until you get to the optics. Depending on the design, telescope optics can be concave or convex while also incorporating flat elements. … Read More
For over a century, engineers have been building observatories for professional telescopes at increasingly higher elevations, from the famous Mount Wilson Observatory in California (1700m) to the TAO in Chile (5640m). But why are telescopes put on mountains? There are … Read More
Like most serious hobbies, astronomy is notoriously expensive. There are telescopes, eyepieces, filters, cameras, and a seemingly endless array of accessories to separate you from your hard-earned money. But does it have to be this way? Are there cheap telescopes … Read More
As you’ve probably heard, we live in a galaxy called the Milky Way. It took a while to figure this out. A little over one hundred years ago it was widely believed that the Milky Way was the entire universe. … Read More
In case you haven’t noticed, space is big. And I mean big. 93 billion light years in diameter, according to NASA, or around 1 trillion trillion kilometers if you prefer. Of course, we are just talking about the size of … Read More
If you’ve ever wondered about the chances of accidentally stumbling on a black hole during a leisurely outing without your telescope, I’ve got bad news for you: black holes cannot be seen with a telescope. Or anything else for that … Read More
Astrophotography has gained immense popularity among photography enthusiasts in recent years, and with the rapid advancements in smartphone camera technology, capturing the night sky has never been more accessible. As smartphones continue to push the boundaries of low-light photography, users … Read More
WARNING! Never look at the Sun through a telescope without the correct equipment. You will cause serious damage to your eyes and potentially go blind. I cannot express the seriousness of that warning message. Below is a very graphic video … Read More
Thanks to advances in camera technology, it’s now possible to take incredible astrophotography images with just your smartphone! However, that doesn’t mean that it is as simple as “point and click”, there is a lot of skill involved in taking … Read More