You’re interested in the night sky and have seen some amazing photos online. Now you want to get right into the hobby of astronomy and have decided to get your own telescope, but the question is, which telescope do you buy as a beginner in astronomy?

There are a huge number of telescopes available on the market, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. The main question you’ll be asked is, “What do you want to observe?” – who knows…you’re just starting out and you probably just want to look at some nice things in the sky.

Getting a telescope is just the beginning, though. You need to get it set up, you need to know how to align it, so you know what you’re looking at and, most of all, you need dark skies and good weather!

When I was beginning astronomy, I realized early on that where I live in a big city was not the best observing site. Also, the weather is often not that good. Moreover, I have a family and a job, so I can’t stay awake all night with my telescope waiting for the skies to clear up enough to spend a few minutes observing.

I decided that I needed something more – I wanted a great observing site with dark and clear skies, I wanted a great telescope, and I wanted automation so that I wouldn’t have to watch the equipment as it took photos for me.

I found that people use remote telescopes to take photos of the night sky.

The very first service I found was completely free – the MicroObservatory. You pick from a list of targets and get an image the next day. I explain the MicroObservatory and how to use it here: Remote Imaging Using The MicroObservatory

Later, I found Slooh.com, and it didn’t take me long to sign up and start taking great photos. The big plus was that it was all automated – I picked what I wanted to photograph, and the next day I would have the images waiting in the “My Photo Hub” area – no late nights and losing sleep!

The Free book, Remote Astrophotography Using Slooh.com – A Handbook is perfect for the beginner in astronomy. You’ll learn about the telescopes available to you, how to take photos, how to pick targets, what to do with the images, as well as more advanced topics like photometry and astrometry. Remote Astrophotography Using Slooh.com – A Handbook is a great introduction and helps you build a good foundation for your adventures in astronomy, and best of all it is completely free!