A TELESCOPE FOR CHRISTMAS?
By Terence Dickinson, SkyNews Editor

Every December, thousands of telescopes in the $75 to $300 range are bought as Christmas gifts. Although a telescope might seem to be the ideal gift for someone with a budding interest in astronomy and stargazing, most veteran amateur astronomers instead say that a better choice in the same price bracket is a beginner’s package that includes excellent quality binoculars as well as one or two guidebooks with introductory star charts.

There is a common misconception that any telescope will reveal hundreds of celestial objects in glowing splendor. This is only reinforced by pictures of colourful nebulas and galaxies on the telescope box. True, a typical department store or Christmas catalogue telescope will show the Moon’s craters, Jupiter's four largest satellites, and Saturn's rings. Apart from that though, you are probably farther ahead with binoculars.

Binoculars cost less than telescopes and are much easier to use, especially at first. Binoculars allow the comfort of two-eye viewing while providing wide, bright, right-side-up images. Any size and type of binoculars will get you started, but the most widely recommended sizes for astronomy are 7x50, 10x50, and 8x56. The first number in these designations is the magnification, the second is the diameter of the main lenses in millimetres. There are many good quality glasses in these sizes the under-$300 category. For example, SkyNews offers the Celestron Ultima DX 8x56 for $215 plus taxes and shipping (Canadian orders only please—www.skynews.ca/pages/store.html).

A useful binocular accessory for astronomy is an adapter for attaching the glasses to a camera tripod. One type of adapter (about $20) is L-shaped with a bolt at the top of the L that screws into a threaded hole at the front of the binocular's focusing bar. The base of the L attaches to the tripod like the base of a camera. When buying binoculars, ensure that they have the threaded receptacle—not all do.

What celestial sights can binoculars show? Here's an abbreviated list:

• The brightest star clusters, like the Pleiades and Hyades are seen in their entirety in binoculars whereas most telescopes (with their smaller fields of view) can show only portions of them.
• Fantastic detail on the moon, including at least 100 craters, mountain ranges and flat plains that seventeenth-century astronomers thought were seas.
• Thousands of stars in the Milky Way and elsewhere in the sky that are invisible to the unaided eye.
• Star colors become more evident with binoculars than without. Besides plain old white, stars range from sapphire blue to deep orange.
• The Andromeda Galaxy, a vast city of stars larger than our entire Milky Way Galaxy, is plainly seen as an oval smudge near overhead at this time of year.

OK, I know the urge to buy a telescope can be irresistible. So here are a few basic rules for telescope shoppers who have made up their minds that binoculars just won’t do: (1) Don't pay any attention to claims about high magnification; even large telescopes seldom use more than 200 power. (2) If there is a choice, select the telescope with the sturdiest mount and tripod. (3) The telescope should have a finderscope (a miniature telescope for sighting) at least 30mm in aperture. (4) Don’t agonize over what type of telescope to buy, rather be prepared to spend at least $300 to insure a minimum level of quality. (5) If a telescope specialty store is available locally, it should be your first choice for wider choice and expert advice.

For more tips on buying a scope and where to buy one, see “Astronomy Stores & Equipment Guide,” on the left menu of the SkyNews home page at www.skynews.ca.

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Observing Highlights for November and early December 2006
By Todd Carlson, Assistant Editor

The annual Leonid meteor shower peaks on the night of November 17/18. From a dark observing location, viewers can expect to see 10 to 15 meteors per hour after midnight on November 18. The meteors will appear to radiate from the head of the constellation Leo, which rises in the east after 11:00 p.m. Observing Alert: In New England, and Canada east of Lake Ontario here is a possibility that a larger than average number of Leonid meteors with extremely long paths reaching most of the way across the sky will be visible around 11:30 p.m (Nov. 17). These are “earthgrazer” meteors that come in on low trajectories, just skimming the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Geminid meteor shower occurs on the night of December 13/14 and likely will be the best shower of the year. Forty or more meteors per hour should be seen from a dark site. The shower peaks near 6:00 a.m. EST on the 14th although meteors should be seen streaking across the sky all night.

Meteor showers are best observed with the naked eye—telescopes and binoculars are not required, nor are they useful for meteor observations. A reclining chair and warm clothes are all that is needed.

The nearly full Moon occults the Pleiades star cluster on December 3. The glare of the Moon will make observations difficult, but nonetheless all of North America will be able to observe the event which begins shortly after 8:00 p.m. EST, lasts for about 2 hours and is best observed with a telescope or binoculars.

December 9, 10 and 11 offer an excellent opportunity to see movement within our solar system. On the morning of December 9, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter can found low in the eastern sky forming a tight one-degree triangle. Jupiter will appear as a bright “star” and will be the easiest to identify. On the 9th, Mercury will form the top of the triangle, with Jupiter on the left and Mercury on the right. On December 10, Mercury will be slightly above Jupiter (within 10 arc minutes) with Mars to their right. On the morning of December 11, Jupiter will be the top of the triangle, with Mercury to the left and Mars to the right.

Click HERE to view an image showing where to locate the three planets on the morning of December 9th.

For more information on these and other celestial events, see the November/December 2006 issue of SkyNews.

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SkyNews.ca has everything for the amateur astronomer!
Are you searching for holiday gift ideas or stocking stuffers for your favourite astronomer? Is there is an aurora occurring tonight? What interesting events are happening in the night sky this week? Looking for a review of the latest telescope or eyepiece? SkyNews.ca has all this and more!

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In the November/December 2006 issue of SkyNews:

• SkyNews reviews two new apochromatic refractors from William Optics.
• Exploring the Night Sky by Alan Dyer.
• Scoping the Sky by Ken Hewitt-White.
• Astrophotography or Sleep? A personal guide to getting your astronomy fix without losing sleep.
• Christmas gift ideas for the backyard astronomer.
• Readers’ Gallery.
• And more!