New BGA

In this lesson you’ll learn why Mercury is the hardest of the bright planets to catch, when to look for it, and what you can hope to see. The Elusive Planet Seeing Mercury through a telescope is the biggest challenge among the five bright planets, and bagging it is a real badge of honor. The […]

In this lesson you’ll learn about the brightest evening constellations of summer: Cygnus, Sagittarius and the Summer Triangle. The Brightest Constellations – Jun / Jul / Aug Later on it this section we’ll look at two bright constellations: Cygnus and Sagittarius. First though, I’m going to start with a collection of three bright stars known

In this lesson you’ll learn more about the constellations of Pegasus and Andromeda, which are bright in the evening sky of fall. The Brightest Constellations – Sep / Oct / Nov Pegasus and Andromeda are best placed for viewing during late evening in the fall. They can also be seen after sunset in summer, before

In this lesson you’ll learn what a star chart is, how to hold and orient it, and how to use it to find your way around the real sky. When you’re new to astronomy, the night sky can feel scary, overwhelming and thrilling all at once. A star chart is the tool that turns that

In this lesson you’ll learn how to use Stellarium, a free planetarium program, to see what’s up tonight, find objects by name, and plan a star hop before you head outside. A printed star chart is a wonderful thing, but it shows the sky for one moment in time. Free software can show you the

One of the most unexpected challenges facing us backyard astronomers is deciding what to look for. We know there’s a lot out there, and it’s easy to start with the planets and famous deep space objects… but, then what? In this lesson, I’m going to help you by giving you a framework of questions to

In this lesson you’ll go deeper into star hopping: the equipment that makes it work, how to plan a route, and how to push on to faint objects you’ve never seen before. You met the basics of star hopping earlier in this course, in Your First Star Hop. If you haven’t read that yet, start

In this lesson you’ll learn why the Moon is the perfect first target, and what’s coming up in the rest of this section. Start With the Moon Even if you are desperate to see Saturn’s rings, the Orion Nebula or the Andromeda Galaxy, stay with me and start with the Moon. It is, quite simply,

In this lesson you’ll learn what causes the Moon’s phases, how long the cycle takes, and which phases give you the best views through a telescope. Why the Moon Has Phases The Moon makes no light of its own. Everything we see is sunlight bouncing off its surface back to us. As the Moon orbits

In this lesson you’ll learn what the terminator is, how it moves across the Moon each night, and why it’s where you should always point your telescope first. What the Terminator Is The terminator is the line that divides lunar day from lunar night: the boundary between the sunlit part of the Moon and the