For the amateur who wants to go deeper and detail his observations, there comes a time when he needs some astronomical instruments. At first, of course, our instrument for observing the sky is our eyes. But it is important that the amateur first become familiar with the night sky, before thinking about purchasing instruments. And this is relevant because we must think of the sky as if it were a great city, seen from above:
With our eyes we will be able to see without problems in the city, since we will have a wide field of vision (Figure 1), but if we then observe it immediately with a telescope, without first trying to orient ourselves and recognize the main details of the city, what we will see will be a smaller field of vision where we would easily get lost (Figure 2), and at the end of the day we would be underusing the instruments (and wasting the investment!).
Below you will see some questions, so that you can ask yourself and have an idea of what best suits your case, before considering purchasing your first instrument or moving on to a more complex one. The list goes from least to most difficult:
1. Can you recognize the main constellations in the sky? Do I know the brightest stars? Do I have basic notions of celestial orientation?
If your answer is NO: So it is advisable to wait a little before buying an instrument. Use your eyes to look at the sky and consult sky maps to find the brightest constellations and stars. Consult the best-known techniques to orient yourself in the sky and know the celestial coordinates. Train your eye to discriminate stars based on their luminosity and color. Recognizes constellations according to time of year.
| If your answer is YES: Then you are ready to purchase Binoculars, an instrument with a visual field smaller than the eye. |
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