1. Learn the sky - The first thing you have to do its learn the roads if you want to drive them. It is much easier to start small and learn the major freeways and roads before hitting the suburbs. In other words, you have to start by learning the major things first and then get more details later with experience. Get a planisphere or look at the monthly sky maps that are in the middle of each issue of Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazines.
2. Don't go straight out and buy a telescope - Many people think, "If I want to get into astronomy, I need a telescope". They couldn't be more wrong. Astronomy is what you make of it. I know many people who are very intrested in astronomy yet do not own a telescope. Granted, many do, and you may want to also, but you have to really need to do a few things before you buy a telescope. A) You need to first do number 1: Learn your way around the sky. A telescope is essentially useless if you don't know what you are pointing it at. It's like driving around if you don't know your way around the area, you might see some neat things, but you don't know anything about them (and can't really appreciate and understand it) unless you learn them first. B) Telescopes are not cheap. Most people want to say "Wow, $200 is a lot, but if I want a telescope..." This is a waste of money (read on further for more on this), especially if you just became fascinated with astronomy. You may decide later that you don't care for it as much and decide not to pursue it anymore and waste more money. The other "classic" problem with this is that these telescopes are inferior (read on further for more on this) and will be the cause of becoming frustrated and giving up.
3. Get some binoculars - A pair of binoculars is the ideal way to start off into observing for several reasons. Binoculars show you a wide field, making it easy to find your way around; a telescope looks at only a tiny part of sky, and that will make it frustraing for you to find things (remember #1 above). Binoculars give you a view that's right-side up and straight in front of you, making it easy to see where you're pointing. A telescope will show a view that is upside down, sometimes mirror-imaged making it more difficult and frustrating if you are just starting out. Binoculars are also fairly inexpensive, widely available, and a breeze to carry and store. For astronomy, the larger the front lenses (primary aperature) are the better. Good optical quality is important too. But any old pair of binoculars that you already have is enough to get you started. That's how I did it, with an old pair of 7x35 Buschnells. I would suggest starting with 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars. Expect to pay about $100 (or a little less) for them at a retail store, or get a really good pair for about $150-200 from a company that sells astronomical equipment.
4. Get some good star charts and books - You should buy at least a couple of good books and a decent star chart and/or planisphere (besides the ones they put in those books) and a copy (subscription) of Sky & Telescope and/or Astronomy magazine. I would recommend Astronomy to start out with because it is more geared towards an amatuer while S&T is more technical. For books, I would recommend:
The Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky is a good one
NightWatch by Terrence Dickenson (there is a new version just published last year) is what got me into it
Peterson's Field Guide: Stars and Planets is very nice to have
Skywatching by David Levy is very basic
Advanced Skywatching by Robert Burnham is better if you have some knowledge of astronomy
5. Get involved with others - There are a lot of others like yourself out there, and it provides a good way to learn. Many astronomy clubs have been around a while and just don't get the kind of exposure they would love to have. Sky & Telescope's Astronomical Directory lists a lot of clubs. Check it out to find one near you. There are also a lot of intresting things out here on the internet so look around.
6. How do I know when to get a telescope? - There comes a time when you will finally be ready for a telescope. I would say wait at least a year so you can learn all the sky well and decide if you want to seriously spend a good bit of money for a decent telescope. So now that you are going to buy a scope you ask, what kind? how much? Click here to find out.
7. Enjoy it - That's what it's all about, isn't it?
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