How many telescopes can you fit on Mt John? Mount John, New Zealand, is the home of University of Canterbury’s research observatory and Dark Sky Project’s stargazing tours. So, there are a lot of telescopes […]
A Kiwi perspective on astronomy and space science news and how to get the most out the night sky
Category: Astronomy gear
A collection of our experiences dealing with various astronomy gear.
The Bizarre and Confusing World of Telescope Mounts – Part One
Often when people go and buy their first telescope they don’t think much about the mount, they tend to focus more on the capabilities of the telescope itself.
Brashear Telescope Restoration
The Brashear Telescope is a masterpiece of the Victorian age technology. It stands 9 m tall with a refracting lens of 18 inches (45.72 cm) across. And it is getting a new home in Tekapo, […]
Finding stuff to see in the eyepiece
Now that your telescope is all ready, take it outside and start viewing the night sky.
Getting your telescope ready for its first use
Using a telescope for the first time can be quite daunting. So it’s worth taking the time to get familiar with the telescope and the mount and all of the accessories, so that you can make the most of your time outside and don’t hurt yourself or your new expensive equipment.
Mars and a new telescope
Using a telescope for the first time is not the easiest thing to do, expectations need to be realistic.
One stardate to rule them all
Here’s some hints on how to survive a Stardate without harming yourself or other astronomers.
How many telescopes fit in a Toyota Corolla?
We attended the Stardate South Island event last weekend and had a fantastic time. This article is about how we managed to fit a whole house into the boot of a Toyota Corolla.
The mysterious language of telescopes
When you get a new telescope there’s lots of numbers and things thrown around like focal lengths, focal ratios etc. This articles looks at what those things mean.
Astrophotography is for everyone, again…
This is the next iteration in showing how astrophotography can be for everyone. This time we demonstrate what we photographed with an iPhone.
Sidewalk Astronomy
Milky-Way.kiwi did some public outreach in the weekend with some sidewalk astronomy to show people the Sun through our solar telescope.
You want to take pictures of the night sky?
In this article we explore some of things that you need to think about if you want to take pictures of the night sky.
You bought Binoculars and now you’re ready to upgrade to a telescope.
If you’re going to take the plunge and buy a telescope then think carefully and weigh up all of the options and seek plenty of advice. This article covers some of the things I learned when I got my first reasonable telescope.
How far can we see?
Have you ever been asked how far can you see in a telescope? This article helps answer that question and also covers how far you can see with the naked eye and a pair of binoculars.
The Binoculars see their first stars
We got the chance to take the binoculars out for their first run last night and had a great time dodging clouds to get some great views of some of our favourite objects.
The Binos Have Arrived
Milky-Way.kiwi just purchased a pair of Celestron 15x70mm Binoculars and this is the first of a series of articles on how we put them to good use!
Preparing for Monday
So you got your binoculars for Christmas, now what? If you live in the Southern Hemisphere then much awaits you. Same in the North, just I didn’t write about it here.
Big is better…
With the US President’s recent signing of the new US space policy it timely to catch up on how NASA is progressing with the Space Launch System
PhotoPills: imagine, plan, shoot – an astrophotography planning tool.
“Any photographer that has a question that needs an answer can use PhotoPills. Beginners use it to find sunrise and set times, golden hour and blue hour times and for basic calculations like depth of field. Then we have the photographers that plan their Sun, Moon and Milky Way shots… it all depends on your needs.”
