How to Choose a Great Telescope for Beginners

January 29th, 2011 admin


With such a bewildering range of telescopes available, how is the beginner to choose a scope that will be suitable and encourage him or her to pursue their interest in astronomy? Unfortunately the sheer range of telescopes available makes making a decision difficult if you are new to the field and there are plenty of traps for the unwary.

There are several considerations including the ease of set-up, practicality, portability, the location you will be viewing from and of course your budget. As for the power of your scope, its important to understand that will be determined by the diameter the lens or mirror, which we call the aperture. The larger it is the more light you catch so the more you can see.

For those in cities of suburban areas there are practical reasons to favour small refractors. They are easy to store away and grab on a whim for casual observation. They can be used for land viewing too (an image corrector is usually required) and need minimal maintenance. They also tend to deal with city and suburban light pollution better than reflectors. They tend to be more expensive than the same size reflectors but the smaller sizes used by amateurs this is not so much an issue.

Reflectors on the other hand are great where there is less light pollution and storage is less tight. They need a little maintenance and set-up time but they are an economical way to achieve wide apertures and so can let you see more. At the extreme end this class includes those huge dobsonian telescopes you see on turntables but you need a lot of room to store those!

There is another class known as catadioptric telescopes, they are in some ways a mix of the reflector and refractor and are popular with more experienced observers but generally not so favoured by newcomers. They often come with computerised navigation however so a few of the lazier beginners jump straight to these!

I’d sincerely recommend thinking about the location you’ll be viewing from and how you will store your scope or move it about when you are using it. The more practical it is the more you are likely to use the scope and enjoy it! I’d also recommend not choosing the computerised navigation scopes as half the fun is in learning to navigate your own way around!

By: Aidan James

About the Author:
See more on on how to choose a good beginners telescope and get some specific recommendations – Telescopes for Beginners, helping others get a start in astronomy or check out a whole range of great cheap telescopes from reputable manufacturers at Telescopechoice.com Cheap Telescopes



Discover Low Cost Subtle Lighting Solutions for Nighttime Landscape Fun!

January 26th, 2011 admin


It is common for people to like to be outside at night to enjoy gazing at the moon and stars. To be able to fully be comfortable outside in your yard at night, however, you’ll need to add some lighting. You will be stumbling around your yard without lights.

Outdoor landscape lights can set the mood for a patio, front entry to a home or business building and give the landscape a complete new look and feel when the sun goes down.

You need to add some light, but not too much. Too much light will cause light pollution and you won’t be able to enjoy the stars like you want to do.

You do not need to keep your outdoor lights on every night. It is a waste of energy and money, and it will make the stars less visible for neighbors – malibu low voltage lights is a excellent example. Plus with today’s reliable outdoor solar lighting let the sun power your landscape. If everyone in your neighborhood had lights on outside every night, it would seriously reduce sky visibility.

Tiki or bamboo lights are a nice, subtle lighting solution for nighttime outdoors. They can provide beauty and style. If you use flames in these for light, the effect will be stunning. This is one of the simplest forms of light that you can use.

More elaborate options are available. You can use spotlights and floodlights to provide visibility to important areas of your yard. These are good if you need large areas lit up for entertainment or other purposes, or to highlight specific sections of your landscape to add emphasis.

There are a huge number of lighting options available. The most important thing is that you are moderate in your lighting use. You need to be careful not to use more than you need. Every light should have a purpose to avoid excess. You don’t want to ruin the harmony and beauty that you want to be outside to enjoy.

By: Thomas Fyrd

About the Author:
Find out for yourself why so many people are interested in Malibu low voltage landscape lighting. Don’t be shy light up your outdoors – check us out at http://www.plant-care.com/1605-landscaping-lights.html



NASCAR Race Track Experience

January 26th, 2011 admin


For the diehard NASCAR fans, we know that the sounds and roar of the engines and the air as these cars race by is something you cannot get at home, even with a large screen plasma HDTV. The vibrational energy at a NASCAR event is unbelievable and we should use this energy to light up the Race Track utilizing this energy. How so you ask?

By lining the race track walls with special sheets and placing these large 4′ X 8′ sandwich sheets with a taunt film on the vibrational side and small copper lined tubes; hundreds of these tubes running perpendicular to the sheets, with magnets inside bouncing back and forth. These magnets will charge a capacitor and be hooked up to an LED lighting system using fiber optics or reflectors, each one hooked up to a .2 to .5 watt light. With hundreds of thousands of lights hooked up in a composite format it will light up the racetrack without the light pollution associated with streetlights, stadium lights or in large cities.

Currently this technology is being used in those little flashlights you see advertised on television that you shake and they light, but you never need batteries. This idea of lighting up the racetrack is using that technology on a larger scale with miniaturized parts making up the guts between the sandwich sheets. Let there be light, thru vibrational energy and there was. Think on it.

By: Lance Winslow

About the Author:
“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.



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