"You must not expect to see at sight ... Seeing is in some respects an art which must be learned." 

William Herschel (1738 - 1822)

This section gets right to the heart of what this hobby is all about.... observing the night sky. I started this page as just an afterthought to keep track of my Messier Object hunting, but as often happens with web pages, it began to grow. I've now added enough content to divide it into the five sections that you see below. I feel it's a good source for the beginner, but those at an intermediate level might find some good information in here too. Like many of my other pages I hope to keep adding to this section. Be sure to check back.

 

Observing Tips

 Just a few basic tips for the beginner to get you started on the right path. This page covers night adaptation for your vision, telescope cool down, light pollution, star charts, plus a few miscellaneous ones.

Constellations

 If you want to learn to find your way around the night sky, the best way to start is to learn the constellations. Here you will see what the constellations look like. Also you will find just a few deep sky objects to look for in each one.

Moon & Planets

 You will find the basics for observing the moon & planets and some tips to help you get the best out of observing them. Find out here which filters work best on different planets too.

Messier Objects

 French astronomer Charles Messier made a list of 110 objects that were hard to distinguish from comets in his day. The list is here along with a small picture, a description, and where each object can be found.

Monthly DSO's

 Here is a good list of deep space objects to get you started each month. There are many, many more DSO's out there than what I have here, but this is a nice start!
 

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Latest revision 8/4/2006