Beginner Astronomy FAQ: Honest Answers for New Stargazers

Welcome everybody.

This page answers the most common questions beginners ask when starting astronomy — especially under UK skies.

Have you recently got “into” Astronomy?
Have you got a new telescope or other astronomical equipment?

Are you feeling unsure, confused, or slightly disappointed with the hobby so far?
Is your equipment hard to operate, or not give you the views you are expecting?
That’s completely normal, and you are in the right place to get some guidance.

“Why doesn’t the view through the telescope look like the photos?”
Most astronomy photos:

  • Use long exposures.
  • Stack many images.
  • Enhance colour and contrast.
  • Show details that are invisible to the human eye.

Visually:

  • Objects, especially deep sky objects, are faint and can be elusive to find.
  • At low light levels, our eyes can only see grey or colourless images.
  • Objects are often smaller than expected, especially the planets.

This is not a failure — it’s just how human vision works at night in low light levels.

“What am I doing wrong if I can’t see it?”

Usually, you’re not doing anything wrong.

Common reasons objects aren’t visible:

  • Too low down to see, or are still below our horizon.
  • If you live in a town or city, light pollution can swamp faint objects.
  • Moonlight also interferes, so try to observe when the Moon is not about.
  • Our atmosphere often causes poor transparency or seeing, which adversely affects image quality.
  • We often start out with unrealistic expectations. Telescopes are often supplied in boxes with colourful images of deep-sky objects. As you can see above, it is usually not possible to see colour when looking through a telescope.

Even experienced observers sometimes see nothing at all.

Not seeing anything still counts as observing.

“Do I need a telescope to start?”

No.

A good quality telescope can be expensive.

It is best to begin with:

  • Naked-eye observing.
    Identify the constellations and brightest stars, the changing phases of the Moon, and find and follow the positions and movements of the planets.
  • Binoculars are often the best first tool.

Many beginners enjoy astronomy more before owning a telescope.

 

“Why does everyone recommend binoculars?”

  • They are very easy and intuitive to use.
  • They make the image a bit brighter and show wide areas of the sky.
  • They work very well for observing comets and star fields. They give nice wide-angle views of the sky, brightening the image. Star clusters, such as The Pleiades Star Cluster in Taurus, are best viewed with binoculars.
  • Help you to learn your way around the sky to find the brightest objects.

They also work better than telescopes under light-polluted skies for many brighter objects.

“What do I need to look for when buying a telescope?”

If you do want to get a telescope, avoid buying a telescope from a high street store or generic online store.
These are often of poor quality, both optically and in construction of the tripod, which are often too flimsy to hold the telescope in position. Astronomers call the telescopes “Hobby Killers”.
They’re frustrating to use and are quickly discarded, and the hobby theron is avoided like the plague.

Contact a reputable astronomy dealer who will always take your needs and budget into account to suggest the best model.

Getting a telescope will collect more light and give higher magnifications, which will help with:

  • Seeing the craters and features on the surface of the Moon.
  • Planets. High magnification is required, as planets appear extremely small.
  • Tighter star clusters and double stars look lovely in a telescope.

When choosing a telescope, get the widest aperture possible, but always remember, the more complicated a telescope and mount is, the more familiar you’ll need to be with it to get it set up, especially in the dark.

The telescope that gets used the most, is the one easiest to set up abnd use.

“If I have a telescope, what magnification should I use?”

Less is often more.

Larger-aperture telescopes collect more light, producing higher-resolution images.
Therefore, a larger telescope will help reveal more.

Beginners often use too much magnification:

  • This spreads the light out, so faint objects become dimmer.
  • This makes tracking harder as the object will move across the field of view quickly if the telescope is undriven.
  • Higher magnifications make atmospheric disturbance appear worse, so the image will not be as finely detailed.
  • Start with a long-focal-length eyepiece, which provides lower magnification, a wider field of view and a brighter image.
  • Use a shorter focal-length eyepiece and higher magnification when atmospheric conditions allow.

Magnification is calculated by dividing the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the eyepiece.

“What does ‘magnitude’ actually mean?”

Magnitude measures brightness, but:

  • It’s logarithmic (small numbers matter a lot).
    A 1st magnitude star is the average brightness of the brightest naked eye stars.
    Magnitude +6 stars are usually the faintest stars we can see with the naked eye under reasonably dark skies. There are varying brightnesses of stars in between these, +5, +4, +3 and +2 magnitude stars.
    However, the scale goes on in both directions.
    Any object brighter than 1st magnitude has a negative value.
    Venus can get to magnitude -4.4 when at its brightest.
    The Moon, when full, can reach a magnitude of -12.
    The Sun is so bright that it is almost magnitude -27.
    The scale continues in the other direction, fainter than magnitude +6.
    These are revealed using optical aids, such as binoculars or a telescope.
    Pluto at its brightest is about magnitude +15.
    My telescope and camera can reveal objects as faint as magnitude +20.
    The scale extends to extremely faint magnitudes that can only be detected by professional equipment or space telescopes.
  • Large extended objects behave differently from stars as their light is more spread out. This can make them a bit harder to see in the telescope as the often have low contrast.
  • Light pollution changes everything. Stray light can flood objects, making them difficult to see from heavily light-polluted towns and cities. A magnitude 6 star would be relatively easy to see under dark skies, but may be invisible from towns. In some very light polluted locations, stars may only be seen down to 2nd magnitude.

But these numbers alone never tell the full story.

“Why do objects look so much better in winter?”

This is because:

  • Nights are longer in winter.
  • The atmosphere is often clearer. Frosty nights are normally the best.
  • Some bright constellations and Milky Way objects are visible at this time.

Due to our latitude, nights are extremely short from late April until late August in the UK.
This makes observing and imaging extremely challenging during those months.

Our weather in the UK doesn’t always help, of course.

“Why can other people see more than I can?”

Observing is a learned skill.

  • Experienced observers know what to expect when they look through their telescopes, and they know how to use them to best effect.
  • Deep-sky objects can usually be observed more easily using a technique called averted vision. This technique places the object of interest in the middle of the field of view, and the observer concentrates their gaze towards the side of the field of view. The object then normally reveals itself if it is bright enough to be viewed in the telescope.
  • This technique helps you pick up the subtle contrast between the faint object and the sky.
  • Patience helps your observing technique. The more you observe through the teescope, the more detail you will start to see.

Like most skills, your observing will improve with time, not with the equipment.

“Is light pollution ruining everything?”

It limits what you can observe — but not everything.

These objects are still excellent under light pollution:

  • The Moon. Even binoculars will reveal many of the lunar features.
  • Planets. Bright enough to view from anywhere, but as they look so small, they require a high magnification to see details on their surfaces.
  • Double stars. Look fantastic, whatever the background light. Try looking at Albireo in Cygnus (although they now think this may not be a true double star).
  • Bright star clusters. Wonderful clusterings of stars. Look up the Sword Handle, a double star cluster in Perseus.

Dark skies help, but they are not required to enjoy astronomy.

“Why does the Moon ruin deep-sky observing?”

We love looking at the Moon, but when it gets near full, it can be extremely bright

Moonlight:

  • Brightens the sky, giving a bright sky background to observe against.
  • Reduces contrast, making faint objects harder to see.

This is normal and unavoidable, so when the Moon is about:

  • Do some Lunar observing.
  • If they are about, observe the planets
  • Look at some of the bright double stars and star clusters.

“Why does everyone talk about ‘seeing’ and ‘transparency’?”

This is because they affect different things:

  • Seeing → This is the steadiness of the atmosphere. This is important when observing details in objects, such as the planets.
  • Transparency → How much clarity the atmosphere has. This is important when observing faint deep sky objects.

As you can see, even if we have a clear night and stars are visible, if these conditions aren’t right for the object we want to observe, it may not always give us a good observing night.

However, conditions can change quickly, so it is always worthwhile keeping an eye out.

“Why do comets often disappoint?”

We often hear headlines about “The Comet of the Century”…
These rarely become the spectacular objects we are told about, which leads to disappointment.

This is because:

  • Although we get lots of comets each year, they are usually small and far from Earth, which makes them very faint.
  • By their nature, comets are diffuse objects. This spreads the light out, reducing contrast against the background sky.
  • Media and Internet coverage often exaggerate brightness, giving unrealistic expectations.
    When a comet is good, it can be really special. I’ve seen four, what I would call spectacular comets in my lifetime, but they are sadly rare.

Giving honest expectations of what we can see will make comets far more enjoyable to observe.

“Is astronomy supposed to be this hard?”

Observing a seeing detail in deep-sky objects is subtle and can sometimes be challenging, but it’s not hard.

Astronomy is very rewarding as long as you do the following things:

  • Have patience. Good things come to those who wait.
  • Realistic expectations. Have a good idea of what you can expect to see through your telescope.
    It’s never going to match Hubble images, but seeing a faint, fuzzy patch and knowing it lies millions of light-years away is always a thrill.
  • Keep trying. Only by going out observing regularly will your skills develop, and you’ll start seeing more and learn your way around the sky.

Progress is gradual. It’s only when you later look back to remember where you started that you will see just how much progress you’ve made.

“How often do experienced observers fail?”

Even as an experienced astronomer, I frequently fail to see or image objects.

This can be due to clouds, poor conditions, bad timing, and trying for too faint targets.

Something else that prevents you from seeing objects is having a personal life.
How often is it a clear sky when you are out and about doing something unrelated to astronomy?

With all these things, we observe the universe for the enjoyment of doing it, and experience will help you see more.

What changes with experience is your expectations.

“What objects should I focus on first?”

Start with:

  1. The Moon. The most detailed object we can see in the night (and daytime) sky.
  2. The bright planets. These move about, so check for their positions and whether they can be observed.
  3. Find your way around the sky. Learn the constellations and how to star-hop to find stars and objects.
  4. Be aware of and understand the limits of your equipment and ability at that stage of your journey.

“Is it worth continuing if I feel frustrated?”

Yes — if you reset expectations.

Most people who quit astronomy do so because:

  • They expected instant results. Like most things, we need to work to get the best results.
  • They compared visual observing to photography. Images will always show much more detail and colour than can be seen with the naked eye.

Those who enjoy observing long-term accept this subtlety.

If you want fine details and colour in deep sky objects, take up astrophotography.
But, of course, that side of the hobby also has a steep learning curve to get the best results.

Where to Go Next

If this page helped:

Final Thought

Astronomy rewards patience, realism, and curiosity.

This site exists to help you enjoy the night sky as it really is, not as media and Internet over-hype suggests it should be.

Clear skies. Keep Looking Up.