Must-See Astronomical Events of the Season
Venus at Greatest Eastern Elongation
View the magnificent planet and it’s phases at it’s highest eastern elongation on the 23rd of March
Comet Atlas
On the 23rd of May, the newly discovered comet Atlas will be at it’s closest to earth, a mere 72 million miles. Due to it’s size and approach, it may be the second brightest object in the night sky, after the moon.
Lyrid Meteor shower
On the 22nd of April, witness the fantastic Lyrid Meteor Showers, a spectacle of the night sky.
“Man must rise above the Earth—to the top of the atmosphere and beyond—for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.”
Check out the telescope on Celestron’s site!
Celestron Starsense Explorer LT 127AZ
This is the telescope I regularly use for my astronomy endeavours. Let’s talk a bit about it. it’s a 7-inch wide telescope, which means an aperture of seven inches (7″), and it has a focal length of 1000, with a focal ratio of 7.9. Perhaps its crowning feature is smartphone compatibility. You can dock your phone, and with the app (which does not need any signal to function), you can get a guided tour of the sky by virtue of the mirror on the telescope. the app identifies objects and gives you instructions to guide you to the object. I live in Gurgaon, a polluted city in India, making the night sky hard to navigate, but this telescope makes life so very easy. It gathers tons of light and I can easily view the Moon, Jupiter with four of its moons, Saturn with its rings, and even Orion’s Nebula. It can magnify from 40x to 200x with its included eyepieces! Imaging aside, it’s an excellent telescope. After using it for nearly a year, I do however have a few complaints. Firstly, the scope itself is not very rigid on the tripod. at high magnifications, even the slightest tap will make the optical tube wobble, distorting the image. secondly, there is a lack of fine motion controls for horizontal movement, meaning azimuthal. There are also missing fine focus adjustments, making viewing faraway objects with high zoom very hard. Occasionally the telescope’s altitude controls are a tad touchy, however other than that it’s an amazing telescope. Verdict: Optimal telescope for amateur backyard enthusiasts, and viewing of DSOs however, it may not be the best choice for a seasoned professional.