ABIGAIL BEALL
LOCKDOWN TURNED US INTO A NATION OF AMATEUR BAKERS, GARDENERS AND ASTRONOMERS. WHILE WE CAN’T HELP YOU WITH THE FIRST TWO, WE CAN HELP YOU CARRY A NEWFOUND PASSION FOR THE NIGHT SKY INTO 2021...
Astronomy needn’t require a telescope and a stack of star charts. Abigail, a science writer and urban astronomy expert, reveals how to spot the night sky’s wonders.
You don’t need lots of expensive equipment to see incredible things in the night sky. With just a bit of guidance, you’ll soon be able to spot planets, stars, meteors, nebulae and even another galaxy. Throughout 2021, there will be plenty of opportunities to witness some wonderful cosmic sights, like the Andromeda Galaxy, located some 2.5 million light-years away. Here’s what you need to know to get started…
DO I NEED TO BE OUTSIDE?
Not necessarily. There are plenty of beautiful views of otherworldly objects that you can see from the comfort of your house or car. The key is making sure you reduce the light around you as much as possible. If you want to stargaze from home, go to the highest window you have and turn off all the lights in your house. Wherever you are stargazing, it’s important to give your eyes time to grow accustomed to the dark. After 15 minutes your eyes start to adjust and you’ll see much more, but it takes about 40 minutes to fully adjust to the dark. Avoid using a torch or looking at your bright phone screen.
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME OF THE MONTH TO STARGAZE? This depends on what you are looking for. If you want to study the Moon using binoculars, the best time to look is a few days before or after the full Moon, when the glare will not be as intense. But if you’re looking for fainter objects, it’s best to look when the Moon is as small as possible, so around the new Moon or when the Moon has set for the night (just before dawn). If you’re struggling to see something, try looking away slightly and it might appear in the
corner of your eye. This is called ‘averted vision’, and it works because the centre of your eye is less sensitive than the bits around it.
DO I NEED TO BUY A TELESCOPE, OR A PAIR OF STARGAZING BINOCULARS?
There is no need to splash out on expensive equipment, especially when you’re first getting into stargazing. There is so much you can see with the naked eye – planets, stars, satellites, meteor showers and the Moon. If you want to take your stargazing a little further, start with a pair of binoculars. The important thing with binoculars is magnification – binoculars with 10x magnification will let you see the craters on the Moon, the Galilean moons of Jupiter, and comets (when they’re visible).
A small telescope, with 25x or 50x magnification, will let you see the rings around Saturn. Remember, the best telescope is the one you will use, so don’t spend lots of money on something you won’t bother getting out the box.
HOW CAN I TAKE BETTER PICTURES OF THE NIGHT SKY? If you want to take photos of the sky using your smartphone, there are a few things you can do to improve their quality. Turn off the flash and don’t use digital zoom. If you’re using a digital camera, start with an ISO of around 100 and increase it to see what the noise or distortion is like.
The longer the shutter is open the more light you will let in, but if you leave the shutter open for more than 20 seconds the stars will blur – remember we are on a spinning rock! If you want to capture star trails, then you can go for a much slower shutter speed. But if you’re looking to photograph deep sky objects, you will need to get a motorised mount that moves your camera to compensate for the rotation of the Earth.
HOW CAN I SEE A METEOR SHOWER?
If you’re stargazing for about an hour you will probably see a couple of meteors. But meteor showers only happen at certain times of the year, because they depend on where Earth is in its orbit around the Sun. Usually, meteor showers are best seen between midnight and sunrise.
WHAT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A METEOR, AN ASTEROID AND A COMET?
A meteor is a flash of light caused by bits of dust or rock entering Earth’s atmosphere and burning up. Meteors are usually caused by debris that has broken off an asteroid or a comet. An asteroid is a lump of rock originating in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Comets are from much further away, and they contain lots of ices that are heated up when they come near the Sun, creating a large tail.