Truly, just never stop following the news about the stars. Plus, telescopes are cheaper than ever before, so there’s really no reason not to have at least a beginner’s telescope pointed to the heavens. Try taking a peek at Jupiter, for instance. I’ve read some articles recently that have suggested that Jupiter’s moons may be the best option for human exploration and colonization in the solar system. That’s all speculation of course, and probably outside of the reach of our lifetimes, but why not look at the planet in all of its giant red spot glory?

Maybe you know of someone who is just starting out. We all remember that time, when the sheer size of the universe was enough to leave us in awe and wonder. Maybe you still feel that way (I sure hope you do). Just keep looking up, and check back here for more great stuff to help you along the way.

A great beginner’s kit with eyepieces, filters, and a case

Whether you’re just a beginner, just starting to look at the stars, or a more advanced stargazer – this Celestron Telescope Accessory Kit may be just the thing you’re looking for. Now, no matter what I’m doing – whether it’s astronomy or any other hobby – I like to ensure that I’ve got everything I need, close at hand, and available to move at any time. That’s exactly what this basic astronomy kit from Celestron is offering – a slew of eyepieces and filters for your Celestron telescope.

Featuring 5 Plossel eyepieces of varying size, a Barlow lens, six color eyepiece filters, and a moon filter, you’ll have a great time exploring the possibilities! They’re all easily attachable to your Celestron telescope, plus the all package nicely in a carrying case. Best of all – the kit will do anything but break the bank.

I’d recommend this kit to anyone, as it’s great for beginners and advanced astronomers. In fact, I might pick one up soon!

gear galaxy astronomy tips

I remember first getting interested in Astronomy years ago.  I’d look up at the sky and just say “wow!”  Had no idea what I was looking at as a kid.  Didn’t know what shapes were what, couldn’t even tell what was a star and what was a planet.  Then, around 15 years old, I finally got the drive to actually want to know something.  Thankfully, I have an Uncle who’s been a pretty serious hobbyist most of his life, so he got me started.  I would bug him whenever I got the opportunity and just ask question after question about how things worked.  Why I can see this, but not that.  When does this happen, etc..  He also hooked me up with some Sky Maps and other stuff to get me started.  So I figured I’d pass along some of the good pieces to start with.  Even before you get a telescope, you can have fun learning the skies, so here’s a little kit to start you off.

Now, I always pack a Green Laser Pointer with me.  You can’t use red because the beam isn’t strong enough to let you see what you are pointing at.  With green, or rather, any color other than red, you actually see the beam shine all the way to the object you’re trying to point out.  This is great for helping me show my son or a group of friends to Orion, Polaris, or whatever else I’m trying to show.

When you stay out in the dark long enough, you let your eyes acclimate to the darkness.  This lets you see so much more.  Far enough away from the big city, and from the street and house lights is when it really gets interesting.  The last thing you want to do when it’s getting good is turn on some bright flashlight to blind you.  It’s always good to bring along a red light to help you find your way.  Red is easier on the eyes and won’t affect the dilation of the pupil so you won’t require more time to readjust.

With the astronomy tips above, anyone can get started on the night skies.  If you can get interested with just that, then you know investing in a good telescope will open the door to even more starlight adventures.  I’ll share more about telescopes in my next post.  Keep watching!!

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has a black hole toward the center of it called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*.  This black hole is apparently hungry, as it is going to consume a ton of gas in the next couple years.

Using the VLT (Very Large Telescope) in the European Southern Observatory, astronomers can see a cloud of gas that is roughly three times the size of Earth accelerating toward the black hole.  This means the gravitational pull of the black hole has latched onto the cloud and has begun drawing it, process that will get faster and faster the closer the gas gets to the black hole.

The collision of these two massive celestial bodies will be very interesting to witness, as scientists don’t know what exactly will happen.  The immense gravitational pull from the black hole will heat the gas in the cloud by several million degrees, at which point it will begin to emit X-Rays. After that, it may be ripped in two, with one part of the cloud launched out into space while another part settles around the black hole, but no one is sure yet if this is going to be the case.

You won’t be able to view this on a regular telescope, as it’s far too distant, but you can see similar objects with a small refractor or reflector telescope.  The rings of Saturn were viewed hundreds of years ago by Galileo, who thought there were ears on the planet, so you shouldn’t struggle to see them with the advanced astronomy optics we have available to us today.

The gas that settles around the black hole may form an accretion disk, which is very similar to Saturn’s rings.  Accretion discs are usually around stars, but they also form around black holes.  As planets revolve around stars and moons revolve around planets, an accretion disk is a huge bulk of mass that has not formed into a solid chunk that floats around a star or black hole.  This mass swirls around the black hole, which many artists represent similar to water going down a drain.

Get a look at Saturn’s Rings by taking out your refractor telescope, setting it up on your tripod and enjoying a bit of Astronomy.  There’s so much to see, and the smartest guys on the planet spend a lot of time guessing wrong about what’s going to happen in the myriad of events taking place all the time in the Universe! You may not be watching black holes consume gas, but the laws of physics cause these types of events to happen in a number of different ways, so you can still learn a lot.

One such occurrence has just taken place.  An object that astronomers are calling LkCa 15 b has just been photographed for the first time, and it appears to be a “protoplanet” which is a newly forming planet that is still extremely hot and has massive amounts of gas and dust floating around it in a wide ring.  The gas and dust is still being pulled into the planet, which will cool over time as more mass is added.

LkCa 15 b is the youngest planet ever found, and by a pretty wide margin, as it is roughly 5 times younger than the previous record holder.  The planet is forming into a gas giant similar to Jupiter, and because of its age astronomers are able to use telescopes to measure both the inner core of the planet and the surrounding gas in a way that has never been possible in the past.

Astronomers Adam Kraus and Michael Ireland discovered the planet using Hawaii’s Keck telescope array.  These 10-meter telescopes have incredible power, but it was actually optical sleight of hand that allowed the scientists to get a quality image of the protoplanet.  The Keck telescopes have a deformable mirror that allows for rapid corrections in the event of atmospheric distortions.  The telescopic sleight of hand used is called aperture mask interferometry, which involves placing a mask with holes in the path of the collected light in order to manipulate light waves.

As I’m sure you’ve all read our Telescopes FAQ, you’ll know that the aperture is one of the most important parts of a telescope.  It is the size of the main optical lens, and it is primarily this size that determines the amount of light gathered, which in turn determines how bright and clear the image is.  By manipulating the light through the Keck telescopes, Kraus and Ireland were able to remove light sources that would distort the image of LkCa 15 b to get a clear image of the planet during its formation.

Though interferometry has been around since the 1800s, it has only been able to view nearby stars for about the last 7 years, and by using the technique with the biggest telescopes on the planet far greater detail has been possible, leading to numerous discoveries, including this young planet.

Similar techniques to interferometry are used by amateur astronomers all the time.  Some telescope accessories, such as the Celestron Telescope Moon Filter, alter certain light frequencies to allow for a better view.  The Moon Filter dims the bright light from the moon to provide greater contrast, giving astronomers greater detail.

Research into this new planet may lead to greater understanding of how planets come into being.  While it is too early to tell, the area around LkCa 15 b may turn into a new solar system, with multiple planets forming from the massive amount of gas and dust in the area.  It appears at present to all be pulling toward the same spot for a single gas giant, but if enough dust collects far enough away from LkCa 15 b a second planet or even third planet may form.  It’s also possible at present that other celestial bodies may become moons for LkCa 15 b.  More study is planned over the coming years to train massive telescopes around the world on the new planet to see what happens in this baby solar system.