Wannabe question: Light pollution in NYC.

To cut right to it: Is it a bad idea to get into amateur astronomy while
living in NYC? Is it a major restriction to have urban lights on all the
time? I have two balconies on either side of a tall building hard by the
George Washington Bridge (which is lit to the gills at night). Have
been perusing the group and thought this would be the best place to
decide whether I should even bother dreaming of pursuits here discussed.


TIA for any advice or direction you can offer this wannbe (not even a
newbie yet).

I live in the Los Angeles light bowl so I have some experience with the
effects of light pollution. There are two types of light pollution - one is
the general glow that surrounds a city - every city dweller now has to deal
with that. The other is the lights from streetlamps and your neighbors.
You can counteract that by putting a towel over your head.

There are some very active amateurs in the heart of New York City, check out
the forum on www.astromart.com. Get a good pair of binoculars and a book on
binocular astronomy. You'll be amazed how many stars you can see with
"just" a binocular.

The biggest problem is that being able to see a lot of the "signposts" in
the sky with your naked eye makes finding things easier. I thing a Goto or
setting circles is needed more in the city than otherwise (personally I'd
advise getting one of the new Orion XTs - a dobsonian - or a Discovery DHQ
dob - with setting circles for your first scope - I don't find that cheap
goto works that well and it's harder to use in the city).

Some nights you may see only a few stars with the naked eye and that makes
it tougher. But, as I said start with binoculars. There's no reason you
can't do astronomy from the city.



"Robin L. Marin" wrote in message
...
To cut right to it: Is it a bad idea to get into amateur astronomy while
living in NYC? Is it a major restriction to have urban lights on all the
time? I have two balconies on either side of a tall building hard by the
George Washington Bridge (which is lit to the gills at night). Have
been perusing the group and thought this would be the best place to
decide whether I should even bother dreaming of pursuits here discussed.


TIA for any advice or direction you can offer this wannbe (not even a
newbie yet).

I live in the Los Angeles light bowl so I have some experience with the
effects of light pollution. There are two types of light pollution - one is
the general glow that surrounds a city - every city dweller now has to deal
with that. The other is the lights from streetlamps and your neighbors.
You can counteract that by putting a towel over your head.

There are some very active amateurs in the heart of New York City, check out
the forum on www.astromart.com. Get a good pair of binoculars and a book on
binocular astronomy. You'll be amazed how many stars you can see with
"just" a binocular.

The biggest problem is that being able to see a lot of the "signposts" in
the sky with your naked eye makes finding things easier. I thing a Goto or
setting circles is needed more in the city than otherwise (personally I'd
advise getting one of the new Orion XTs - a dobsonian - or a Discovery DHQ
dob - with setting circles for your first scope - I don't find that cheap
goto works that well and it's harder to use in the city).

Some nights you may see only a few stars with the naked eye and that makes
it tougher. But, as I said start with binoculars. There's no reason you
can't do astronomy from the city.



"Robin L. Marin" wrote in message
...
To cut right to it: Is it a bad idea to get into amateur astronomy while
living in NYC? Is it a major restriction to have urban lights on all the
time? I have two balconies on either side of a tall building hard by the
George Washington Bridge (which is lit to the gills at night). Have
been perusing the group and thought this would be the best place to
decide whether I should even bother dreaming of pursuits here discussed.


TIA for any advice or direction you can offer this wannbe (not even a
newbie yet).

Sherry,

Would you have any recommendations as to types of binoculars for astronomy?

Thanks
Joseph
"Sherry Katz" wrote in message
. ..
I live in the Los Angeles light bowl so I have some experience with the
effects of light pollution. There are two types of light pollution - one
is
the general glow that surrounds a city - every city dweller now has to
deal
with that. The other is the lights from streetlamps and your neighbors.
You can counteract that by putting a towel over your head.

There are some very active amateurs in the heart of New York City, check
out
the forum on www.astromart.com. Get a good pair of binoculars and a book
on
binocular astronomy. You'll be amazed how many stars you can see with
"just" a binocular.

The biggest problem is that being able to see a lot of the "signposts" in
the sky with your naked eye makes finding things easier. I thing a Goto
or
setting circles is needed more in the city than otherwise (personally I'd
advise getting one of the new Orion XTs - a dobsonian - or a Discovery DHQ
dob - with setting circles for your first scope - I don't find that cheap
goto works that well and it's harder to use in the city).

Some nights you may see only a few stars with the naked eye and that makes
it tougher. But, as I said start with binoculars. There's no reason you
can't do astronomy from the city.



"Robin L. Marin" wrote in message
...
To cut right to it: Is it a bad idea to get into amateur astronomy while
living in NYC? Is it a major restriction to have urban lights on all the
time? I have two balconies on either side of a tall building hard by the
George Washington Bridge (which is lit to the gills at night). Have
been perusing the group and thought this would be the best place to
decide whether I should even bother dreaming of pursuits here discussed.


TIA for any advice or direction you can offer this wannbe (not even a
newbie yet).

Sherry,

Would you have any recommendations as to types of binoculars for astronomy?

Thanks
Joseph
"Sherry Katz" wrote in message
. ..
I live in the Los Angeles light bowl so I have some experience with the
effects of light pollution. There are two types of light pollution - one
is
the general glow that surrounds a city - every city dweller now has to
deal
with that. The other is the lights from streetlamps and your neighbors.
You can counteract that by putting a towel over your head.

There are some very active amateurs in the heart of New York City, check
out
the forum on www.astromart.com. Get a good pair of binoculars and a book
on
binocular astronomy. You'll be amazed how many stars you can see with
"just" a binocular.

The biggest problem is that being able to see a lot of the "signposts" in
the sky with your naked eye makes finding things easier. I thing a Goto
or
setting circles is needed more in the city than otherwise (personally I'd
advise getting one of the new Orion XTs - a dobsonian - or a Discovery DHQ
dob - with setting circles for your first scope - I don't find that cheap
goto works that well and it's harder to use in the city).

Some nights you may see only a few stars with the naked eye and that makes
it tougher. But, as I said start with binoculars. There's no reason you
can't do astronomy from the city.



"Robin L. Marin" wrote in message
...
To cut right to it: Is it a bad idea to get into amateur astronomy while
living in NYC? Is it a major restriction to have urban lights on all the
time? I have two balconies on either side of a tall building hard by the
George Washington Bridge (which is lit to the gills at night). Have
been perusing the group and thought this would be the best place to
decide whether I should even bother dreaming of pursuits here discussed.


TIA for any advice or direction you can offer this wannbe (not even a
newbie yet).