by Louise Schutte

Created on: August 10, 2009   Last Updated: August 21, 2009

Gazing into the sky amounts to more than searching for the Big Dipper, although this well known constellation is certainly the appropriate starting place. Stargazing also includes other constellations, meteors, auroras, and comets. Recreational astronomers can begin sky-watching right in their own backyards by viewing craters and peaks on the Moon - plainly visible through binoculars

Many celestial objects are visible to even the naked eye - including meteors, auroras, and solar and lunar halos. Other views that the unaided eye may behold are moon-planet conjunctions and noctilucent clouds. The former represents a close gathering of planets or of planets and the Moon. Noctilucent clouds are seen at night around the time of summer solstice. One of the best places in the world to view these silvery-blue cirrus clouds is Edmonton, Alberta.

Before purchasing a telescope, it is recommended to use binoculars to view the sky. Binoculars are useful in viewing star clouds of the Milky Way, bright comets, lunar eclipses, and nebulas (gas clouds). Binoculars will also reveal star colours, four of Jupiter's largest moons, Uranus, Neptune, and the Andromeda Galaxy. They can assist the unaided eye to see through the light pollution of urban areas.

Binoculars are sold in a wide range of varieties, price ranges and weights. Popular sizes of binoculars include 7x50 and 10x50. The first number represents magnification; the second is the diameter in millimeters of the front lenses. The 7x50 binoculars have a 7-degree field of view. Many wider angle views distort the outer edges, making the narrower field of view the optimal choice in many cases. A comfortable weight for a binoculars used for backyard astronomy purposes is 22 to 32 ounces. Smaller and lighter sizes that are also popular are 7x42 and 8x42. Prices for a good set of binoculars range vastly in price from $100 - $1000.00. Tripod mounted binoculars offer the best view, however, for comfortable celestial viewing, "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide" recommends lying down in a child's inflatable boat to gaze upon the sky with more support being distributed to the head, legs, and shoulders. High-eyepoint binoculars are useful for those stargazers who wear eyeglasses.

Philip S. Harrington recommends dew caps to reduce fog on the front of the binoculars' objective lenses. In "Touring the Universe through Binoculars," he writes that dew caps are easily made by placing soup cans (blackened on the inside) over the lens barrels.

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