Backyard Astronomy for Beginners

One of the goals here is to provide information for people who are new to amateur astronomy, telescopes and other equipment. The Basics section is included particularly for those people who are contemplating an equipment purchase but are confused by the flood of online ads, and by the marketing hype that in so many cases is misleading. I hope to bring astronomical expectations back down to earth, so to speak.

In the world of amateur astronomy there is nothing more disappointing than for a beginner to gaze through the eyepiece for the first time, searching in vain for the glorious color they had been led to expect. We try to steer people toward more realistic expectations and away from telescopes that are likely to disappoint. The Eyepiece Views page is a good example of this. On this page are several images, created in AdobePhotoshop, that try to duplicate what you might see at the eyepiece of a telescope of moderate aperture.