There’s nothing like gazing into the night sky and Astronomy has been a popular pastime even before telescopes and fancy equipment were invented. Stars, constellations and comets have been the subject of superstitions and myths for centuries and even though we can send probes out there today, the sky beyond our planet still holds many mysteries.

Amateur astronomers can start out rather inexpensively and you can buy telescopes for beginners that don’t cost a fortune and even have light filters and digital cameras built in. Then just buy a good star chart that lists all the celestial bodies and maybe a book for further knowledge and you are good to go.

As you become more familiar with astronomy, you’ll want to note things like eclipses which are a fun thing to see for any astronomer. You’ll probably want to take note of when and where these eclipses can be seen and, maybe, even travel to the best viewing place. You’ll want to buy the latest equipment for looking at an eclipse - glare and light filters for your telescope.

Planetary alignments are a rare occurrence and any astronomer will want to get a good look, however you do need a high powered telescope to get a good view. The most powerful telescopes allow you to view far away solar systems and galaxies and any astronomer that really gets in to the hobby will soon be saving up for the most powerful telescope he can buy.

Yet, some of us are satisfied to study something a little closer, such as the moon. Fascinating in itself, it’s entertaining enough just to watch the impact of asteroids striking it’s surface.

No matter what you view through your telescope, most astronomers keep a log of celestial formations and look for variances and oddities such as black holes and white dwarfs which can be exciting if your telescope is powerful enough to get a peek.

But no matter what you use to look at the night sky - be it an advanced telescope with the most powerful lenses or simply a blanket you can lie down on to look up at the stars, astronomy is a worthwhile and intriguing hobby.