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What to look for in the sky:
The moon
The moon is the easiest target to find in the night. When it is in the full
position, when the entire face is lit, then it bathes the night with a silvery
light washing out the rest of the sky from all but the brightest objects. The
best time to view the moon is actually not when it is full by rather anytime up
to the first quarter, this is when the face appears to be half lit up.
The terminator on the moon, the dividing line between dark and light, shows
the best features such as craters and mountains.
The planets
The planets are our solar system companions. These range in size from
moon size rocky bodies to giant gas balls which could hold 1000 earths. To
find the planets requires some information as to when they are visible. An
astronomy magazine such as SkyNews or Sky and Telescope will give you
the locations of the planets from month to month. Most people who have
looked up at night have probably seen some planets but did not realize it. A
planet, when it is well clear of the horizon will not twinkle as do the stars.
They are resolved by the eye as tiny balls as opposes to the stars which are
infinitely small points of light. The easiest planets to view are Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Mercury is an object to look for
but it is usually below the horizon and often is a challenge to find. Pluto is
too small for most telescopes below 10'‘ so do not worry about finding it at
this time.
Each of the planets has its own interesting views. Venus is covered with
clouds. So all we see is an extremely bright light, the brightest next to the
moon. However it goes through phases like our moon. In other words the
planets surface will, as it travels around the sun, appear to have different
amounts of it lit up. This gives the planet varying crescent shapes, as if a
bite were taken out of it.
Beyond our solar system there lies a multitude of objects to be found.
Galaxies, nebulae and star clusters abound.
