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Best 5 affordable telescopes for astronomy beginners
Published November 25, 2021 | 
Best 5 Affordable Telescopes For Budding Astronomy Beginners….
Are you interested in buying a telescope but have no idea where to start? If your first telescope is too large and unwieldy or requires a lot of tinkering, you’ll be put off, you’ll find it difficult to transport and your scope maybe consigned to the garden shed or garage, never to be used again.
But how can you know where to start? Good advice is to join your local astronomy society, attend a star party or find your nearest astronomy kit stockist. Speak to people who know best, and you may even get the chance to try before you buy.
Have a look at our pick of some of the best telescopes suitable for astronomy beginners. For more detailed help you can also read our guides to choosing your first telescope and how to spend your first night with a telescope
Top 5 first time buyers telescope guide
Sky-Watcher StarQuest 130P Newtonian reflector
The Sky-Watcher StarQuest 130P Newtonian is short, which makes it a nice, easy scope for beginners to handle. Plus, it weighs just 8kg and is easy to assemble. This means it’s a great choice for newcomers but also, for more experienced astronomers, it’s not as likely to get left in storage and remain unused.
The 130P Newtonian may not be an imaging telescope, but we did manage to attach a smartphone adaptor to the 25mm eyepiece and were able to use our iPhone to capture an image of the Moon.
The StarQuest 130P is easy to use, and it’s well-made. As a result, it’s great choice for first-time stargazers. At £265.00, an afordable price.
Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ refractor
At £224.00 the StarSense Explorer phone dock, which incorporates a smartphone holder and a mirror, turns this simple, basic manual telescope into one that can easily locate objects via a touchscreen phone and the StarSense app. This is a sturdy, reliable refractor that’s good value for those beginning their adventure in amateur astronomy,which seems to be a worthwhile buy.
Sky-Watcher Heritage 100P Tabletop Dobsonian
This compact, lightweight scope is easy to store and convenient for bringing out at a moment’s notice once the clouds clear. You could even place it on a sturdy patio table during your observing sessions. Importantly, the scope also gives good views of a range of celestial wonders; particularly the planets. This would be an ideal first telescope for a budding young astronomer and an ideal christmas present at £135.00
Celestron Omni XLT AZ 102 Refractor/basic mount
This scope comes with a finderscope, diagonal, eyepiece and mount that boasts slow-motion controls. Setting it up is relatively quick and easy due to the mount and tripod coming pre-assembled. All you need to do is attach the telescope to the mount, add the diagonal and eyepiece and you’re ready to go. It offers pin-sharp views of stars and galaxies and, weighing just 6.2kg, can be easily moved around your viewing spot or taken on trips to dark-sky sites. A great looking scope for the price of £229.00
Bresser Messier AR-80/640 AZ NANO Telescope
At £169.00 this 3-inch telescope enables observations of a wide range of celestial objects and comes with an altaz mount that’s intuitive to use. The whole package is a doddle to set up. An aluminium dew shield cuts down on unwanted light and keeps dew at bay, while the supplied red dot finder makes locating bright celestial objects easy. Emphasis is on lightweight materials, making it a good ‘grab and go’ instrument to encourage beginners to leave the light pollution behind and head for a dark-sky site.
Credit BBC Sky at night Magazine for the report
Partial Lunar Eclipse this week hopefully the weather will play its part
Published November 16, 2021 | Partial Lunar Eclipse this week hopefully the weather will play its part
This week, on 19 November, a partial lunar eclipse will be visible over North America, parts of Asia, western Continental Europe and the UK.
From the UK, the lunar eclipse can be seen from 06:00 UT until moonset, making this a great event for early risers.
What is a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse causes darkening and changes of colour on the lunar surface as Earth blocks the passage of sunlight to the Moon.
Only light from the Sun that has been refracted by Earth’s atmosphere reaches the Moon (as indicated by the bent line in the above illustration).
As the Sun’s rays intercept Earth, it causes the formation of two different zones of shadow:
- The penumbra, where some of the Sun is always seen
- The umbra, where the Sun is completely hidden by Earth
A lunar eclipse appears to begin as the Moon moves into the umbra region. The lunar surface darkens and sometimes takes on an orange-red tint.
If you’re viewing the partial lunar eclipse from the UK on the morning of 19 November, get up nice and early.
Around 05:30 UT you’ll see a beautiful full Moon shining away above the western horizon. As time goes by and the Moon drops towards the horizon it’ll become eclipsed by Earth’s shadow, presenting what, it’s fair to say, is a tricky partial eclipse.
The background sky will technically still be astronomically dark at this time (the presence of that bright Moon and its reflected sunlight will have an effect of course, but that’s not a concern here), but as the Moon appears to drop towards the west-northwest horizon, dawn begins.
As the sky lightens, the Moon remains visible – its brightness sustaining the view in the brightening morning twilight.
The Moon enters the weak outer part of Earth’s shadow, the penumbra, at 06:02 UT, but this is unlikely to be seen.
As time advances, the Moon heads deeper into the penumbra, towards the darker umbral shadow.
It reaches the umbral shadow at 07:19 UT and the period leading up to this will show the Moon’s northwest limb becoming darker as it enters the denser part of the penumbra.
The umbra is more defined, and a distinct shadow edge will start to appear after 07:19 UT, but the Moon’s low altitude and the brightening sky will make things tricky across the UK.
Best places to see the 19 November lunar eclipse
Eclipse magnitude is a measure of how much of the apparent diameter of the body being eclipsed is covered by the eclipsing entity.
In this case the body being eclipsed is the Moon, the eclipsing entity is Earth’s shadow.
The best views with the greatest magnitude percentages will be from locations further north and west within the UK.
If we start with London, the umbra crossing starts just 6 minutes before moonset and the eclipse only reaches a maximum magnitude of 3% before the Moon is lost below the horizon.
In contrast, Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis experiences just over an hour of umbral shadow crossing, the partial reaching a peak magnitude of 74% before moonset.
From the west coast of Ireland, the umbral eclipse begins an hour before moonset, the peak magnitude reaching 68%.
Back in the UK, the eclipse reaches a magnitude of 18% from the centre, where the Moon sets 20 minutes after the start of the umbral phase.
In order to see anything of this event, it’s essential to find a location where the horizon is clear, unobstructed and preferably flat in a west-northwest direction.
A seaward horizon in this direction is perfect.
Credit; Sky at Night Magazine for the great information
What is a conjunction in astronomy?
Published November 8, 2021 | I have just seen this article and thought it an interesting read, so I thought it was worth a share, you never know we may get a few clear night skys to observe the wonderful stars and planets in our heavens
When the Moon, planets and stars come together to form a conjunction, the results can be spectacular. Find out which conjunctions to look for in the night sky.
Conjunction: what a funny-sounding word it is, yet in the field of astronomy this phenomenon can give us some wondrous night-sky sights, ranging from naked-eye views through to binoculars and even using a telescope.
There are usually a few beautiful conjunctions to see in the night sky if the weather permits – or early morning sky for that matter – each month, and below we’ll look at some of the best coming up over the next few weeks
What is a conjunction in astronomy?
Generally speaking a ‘conjunction’ is the name given to two or more celestial objects close together in the night sky.
The most commonly observed conjunctions involve the Moon, often as a crescent in the evening or morning sky, along with any of the bright planets Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn
You can also see conjunctions between the Moon and brighter stars or even between the planets themselves, so there is quite a range of possible combinations.
Some involve more than two objects, such as when two planets are in conjunction and are joined by the Moon.
There are also times when incredibly close conjunctions set two objects in the same telescope field of view, or in really special cases, show Venus or Mercury transit across the face of the Sun.
You may already have come across the term in astronomy guides, yet if we went by its strictest definition then some events called conjunctions would probably not qualify.
To be precise: a conjunction is a line-up of at least two celestial objects in the sky relatively close together that share the same Right Ascension (RA) or ecliptic longitude in the sky.
- RAis the equivalent of longitude on Earth but projected onto the celestial sphere
- The eclipticis the plane of Earth’s orbit and appears to us as the apparent path of the Sun across the sky. Ecliptic longitude is measured along the ecliptic eastwards from the spring equinox
Even within astronomy there are different meanings of the word conjunction.
- When a planet, either outer or inner, lies on the other side of the Sun to Earth it is said to be at superior conjunction
- When an inner planet lies between Earth and the Sun it is at inferior conjunction
When do conjunctions occur?
Often a conjunction will occur during daytime or when the objects are below the horizon, and this is where the definition becomes more relaxed.
If the objects are very bright, such as a crescent Moon and Venus, then daylight viewing can be possible, but if the objects have set below the horizon they won’t be visible.
So conjunction can be applied in quite a loose context to refer to objects that are viewable above the horizon in twilight or at night, even if they are not, at that point, at the exact moment of conjunction.
- If the objects are at their closest, then this is known as an appulse: the minimum separation between two bodies that occurs just before or after true conjunction.
Conjunctions really capture our attention, which makes them ideal targets for public stargazing events, or for inspiring young astronomers and newcomers to look up at the night sky.
They are also easy to capture with a smartphone camera, giving more people the chance to preserve the moment and share with friends or on social media.
Upcoming conjunctions to see in the night sky
Below we’ll look at some fascinating conjunctions coming up over the next few weeks between the Moon, planets and stars.
3 November: Mercury and the Moon
During mid to late October Mercury returned to the morning twilight, best morning apparition lasting into November. The innermost planet is always brighter at the end of the apparition, so November is a good time to catch it if you are an early riser.
Mercury was at greatest elongation west from the Sun on 25 October when it lay 18 degrees from it and from 1 November it should be viewable until mid-month as it descends back into the solar glare.
On 3 November the slim Cresent Moon lies above Mercury, adding to the view, and keen-eyed observers may also spot Spica as it emerges from the solar glare.
7, 8 November: Venus and the Moon
Venus is still with us, lingering all month low in the southwest evening twilight sky. However, it gradually improves in height as the month wears on and this is down to the eliptical gradually becoming steeper as it intersects the horizon with each passing day. Venus is also catching up with Saturn and Jupiter.
The evening crescent Moon lies either side of Venus on 7 and 8 November, which makes for a a good guide to help you find the planet.
10, 11 November: Mercury and Mars
You may also get a chance to spot Mars near to Mercury on 10 and 11 November very low down towards the east-southeast morning twilight horizon.
More conjunctions in November 2021
- 2 November: Crescent Moon forms triangle with Zaniah and Porrima in Virgo (morning)
- 12 November: Northern Taurids Meteor shower peak (morning, favourable)
- 13 November: Moon forms triangle with Neptune and Psi Aquarii (evening)
- 17 November: Moon lies between Uranus and Xi Ceti (evening)
- 19 November: (Very) Partial Lunar Eclipse just as moon sets (morning)
- 22 November: Moon lies near to Mebsuta Epsilon Geminorum (evening)
- 23 November: Moon forms triangle with Castor and Pollux (evening)
- 24 November: Moon lies above Beehive cluster (late evening)
- 26 November: Moon lies close to Eta Leonis and north of Regulus (late evening)
- 27 November: Last Quarter Moon lies to upper left of Regulus (morning)
- 30 November: Crescent Moon lies near to Porrima (morning)
(credit Sky At Night Magazine)