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I've owned one of these for four years, and have been very pleased with it. The optics are excellent, the mechanics as well, and the computer accurately finds objects. My only recommendation would be to consider getting the 8" or 10" version: very slight additional cost and bulk, but a lot...

The celestial pole on Mars is nowhere near Polaris, because Mars' polar axis is oriented differently than Earth's. The ecliptic is more or less the same, so the zodiac constellations are the same. There will be the same retrograde motions visible as we see with Venus.

I think you must have a case of mistaken identity. NGC 1977 is a far more difficult object that M42. I've seen it only one or twice in my life under extreme dark sky conditions, whereas M42 is readily visible with the naked eye (and any sort of optical aid) in downtown Toronto (white on the...

I think you must have a case of mistaken identity. NGC 1977 is a far more difficult object that M42. I've seen it only one or twice in my life under extreme dark sky conditions, whereas M42 is readily visible with the naked eye (and any sort of optical aid) in downtown Toronto (white on the...

It depends on where you're observing from. Back in 1959 I saw all the Messier objects from my back yard in suburban Montreal with an 8" reflector, but that was before light pollution became all pervasive. By the early years of this century, I could only see a few dozen Messiers from my back yard...

The names and distances of the three stars that make up Orion's Belt are (from east to west): Alnitak 826 ly 1° 21' Alnilam 1325 ly 1° 23' Mintaka 919 ly

The most useful size of binoculars for astronomy is 10x50. Orion's Scenix 10x50s are excellent at a very reasonable price, just under $100: http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=binocular_standard/~pcategory=binoculars/~product_id=09333

my mother has a garden that deer frequently go in to and ruin the plants. anyway to keep them away?

The names and distances of the three stars that make up Orion's Belt are (from east to west): Alnitak 826 ly 1° 21' Alnilam 1325 ly 1° 23' Mintaka 919 ly

I've always liked Starry Night, and have used it for many years. I liked it so much that a few years ago, I went to work for them, so I'm not an unbiased source. The powerful versions (Pro and Pro Plus) are not cheap and put a lot of demands on your hardware, but the results are very pretty, and...

The AAVSO has a good system for alerting you about novae and supernovae. Sky & Telescope has various alert mailing lists. Those are the ones that I use.

The AAVSO has a good system for alerting you about novae and supernovae. Sky & Telescope has various alert mailing lists. Those are the ones that I use.

One of the best general introductions to astronomy is NightWatch by Terence Dickinson (Firefly).

Whatever it is, it is not a star, since stars don't change brightness over the normal time span you might be watching. More likely it is an artificial Earth satellite of some kind. The Iridium series of telecommunications satellites are well known for their bright flashes when the Sun glints off...

It depends on your state or province's science curriculum, which varies from state to state, province to province. Most jurisdictions offer it as part of the science curriculum, and may offer specific astronomy or earth science courses where there is enough demand and someone qualified to teach...

They are asking for the Moon's synodic period, which is 29.530588 days. Calendar months are completely arbitrary and not even a good approximation of the synodic period, which is why the time of Full Moon, say, is slightly earlier each month. So your answer is definitely wrong.

I know these as descriptive terms used to describe the bands in the atmospheres of the gas giants. Belts are dark in colour, zones are light in colour. I believe that in the darker belts we are seeing deeper into the atmosphere.

Have you tried focusing the finder? Most finder scopes focus by unscrewing the objective end of the finder, not the eyepiece. Read the manual. The Orion SkyQuest 10-inch is a first rate beginner's scope -- in fact it is the telescope I most often recommend. I'd rate it about 8 on a scale of 1...

Cornell is the place I'd go. Steve Squyres and Jim Bell of Mars Exploration Rovers fame are both at Cornell.

No, I don't work for NASA. Actually, since I'm Canadian, it would be the Canadian Space Agency that I would work for, but I don't. I have been an amateur astronomer since I was sixteen years old, more than 52 years ago. That means I never got paid to do astronomy. That changed a few years ago...