With Halloween, today, I've been thinking of hauntings. Being an astronomer, I've heard of haunted observatories and I suspect my ghost may someday haunt one or two. I can't say, however, that I have ever encountered a haunted telescope or binocular, though I suspect just about any zoom binocular is demonically possessed and cursed. In my opinion, giving someone a zoom binocular is akin to sticking a pin in a voodoo doll. Ouch. If you plan to give someone the gift of a binocular, be sure it is a fixed power binocular or you may be sending them the wrong message. Happy Halloween!

Our first frost this last weekend was something of a wake-up call that summer is indeed over and, for me, it means adjusting to my winter pattern of activity. Most years, I simply move my hobbies indoors - put the bike on the trainer, pull out a microscope and so on. Not this year, though; Joanie is not moving indoors without a fight. I bought some cold weather bike clothing and it's going to take some really nasty cold and heavy snow to keep me off the bike trails. If you see some crazy nut on the trail, binocular around her neck and camera at the ready, don't worry. It's just your local bike and optics nut at work.

With all the excitement regarding Comet 17P/Holmes, I just had to give it a try. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical about seeing it, here in the badly light polluted Chicago suburbs - my limiting visual magnitude is about magnitude 3 on a good night - but I trudged over to the park, anyway, to see what I could do. One look with my astronomy binocular, though, and I yelped, "Wow!" There it was, like a big snowball, hanging in Perseus, near Algol. In fact, it is actually bright enough, even from my location, to be seen as a "star", but you won't get a clue to the real nature of Comet 17P/Holmes until you see it with a binocular or telescope. In my Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe, it was unmistakable as a comet - I could see a very dense inner core surrounded by a halo of white. Should be a grand sight in even a small telescope.

As I left the parking lot at my place, this morning, and turned out into traffic, I looked to the west and gasped. The moon was sitting low on the horizon with clouds passing in front. It was truly a "Kodak" moment - absolutely magnificent! If I had been carrying my digital camera in my purse - my Pentax Optio A10 (now the Pentax A30) - I would have pulled off the road for a pic. The heck of it is, I usually carry my camera, but I had left it in my bike jersey from my bike ride last night. Ouch! As far as I am concerned, the biggest reason to purchase a small digital point and shoot camera is to have it with you when you need it. Shame on me.

Urban astronomers are victims of light pollution. Not doubt about it. I can attest to this, firsthand, here in the Chicago suburbs. Trying to see faint objects is often mission impossible where I observe. Light pollution is moderate to severe. Ouch! Does this mean I have given up on astronomy? Never! If you live in the city, too, never fear - you can still do a lot of astronomy. Don't let those light pollution blues keep you from enjoying one of the greatest pastimes, ever.

The bright spot, literally and figuratively, for urban astronomy is observing the moon and planets. These bright objects are far less affected by light pollution and, in fact, the atmosphere at night in a large city is oftentimes more stable than it is in rural areas, giving lunar and planetary observers in the city an edge over their fellow astronomers in the country. Since faint objects are not the goal, here, no need for a jumbo telescope, either. I've spent many a fine night with nothing larger than a quality 3" or 4" refractor, but other telescope designs in a similar size, give or take an inch in size, will also do a nice job for observing the planets and the moon. Bigger is not always better for an urban astronomer and smaller telescopes are a lot easier to transport, should you decide to load one in the car and try some astronomy under a truly dark sky.

No doubt about it, if you choose to do celestial navigation the old fashioned way - without a computer - and you are dealing with a lot of light pollution, you have a challenge on your hands. Finding deep-sky objects with an astronomy binocular is one of my favorite things do to do and, here in the Chicago area suburbs, we have a lot of light pollution. Gone are the old days when I could just casually star hop or just drift my binocular so many degrees from one object to the next. Now I have to pay much closer attention to star patterns on a star map and match them up with the stars I see in my Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe, then use every deep-sky technique available to spot an object. Believe me, I hate light pollution more than ever, but I have to admit that it has forced me to become more skilled at using a star map. Just wait till I get out under a real dark sky again …

Okay, so maybe the moon isn't the most glamorous thing to study in binocular astronomy. After all, you an only do so much with a typical 8x or 10x binocular as far as detail. Doesn't mean, however, that you cannot have fun with a binocular if it is your only instrument. In fact, the moon is so bright, you can even use a compact binocular - no need for a special astronomy binocular, here.

What can you see with a common binocular? You can, for instance, see all the maria and count enough craters to keep you busy for a long, long time. Last night, for instance, I just concentrated on the maria and had a ball. The moon was about two-thirds full and the moon's retreating shadow (the terminator) was near Sinus Iridium. The rim that forms this "bay" stood out amongst all the other detail, as do most features when they are near the terminator. Very nice way to end a beautiful weekend, by the way.

For those of you trying to decide on which astronomy binocular to buy or which telescope to buy, let me just say that you can do a lot of astronomy without ANY optics. While you are making that binocular or telescope purchasing decision, get out under the stars and learn some basic constellations and, better yet, throw in the names of a few of the better known stars. You will be that much ahead when your new binocular or telescope finally arrives. Believe it or not, even an optics nut like me sometimes enjoys a quiet evening under the stars with nothing more than a lawn chair and, this time of year, perhaps a blanket.

I am sometimes asked to name my favorite bird group. That's a tough one to answer, since I love all types of birding and would hate to limit myself in any way. However, given that I enjoy a challenge and given that most of my birding over the years has been on the prairie, I would have to say my overall favorite group is the shore birds - can't think of a better way to spend the day than on a prairie marsh with a spotting scope. On the other hand, when working with a binocular, my favorite songbird group has been the sparrows, infamously known as LBBs - little brown birds. Of course, I also love warblers, so all you Eastern birders need not take offense. In fact, I am making up for lost time on warblers, now that I am living the forested side of the Mississippi, but the sparrows are still my favorite. Guess you can take the girl off the prairie, but you can't take the prairie out of the girl.

As a telescope and astronomy advisor, here at OpticsPlanet, some folks just assume that I started my astronomy pastime with a good telescope and a good binocular. Not so. My first serious attempt at astronomy was with a cheap, department store 60mm refractor with awful .965" eyepieces. My first binocular, was a bit better - a Tasco 10x40 porro prism. Together, the telescope and binocular cost me less than $75, but, for a poor college student trying to pay her way through college, that was a lot of money. I had to skip a lot of lunches to get that astronomy gear. About the only positive thing I can say about this astronomy equipment was that I survived it, purely out of love of astronomy, but truth be known, I spent countless hours under the stars with that telescope and binocular, cheap as they were.

The good news is that, with a little guidance, a beginner on a budget can get more telescope and binocular for their astronomy dollar, these days. To get started, I wrote a couple of articles on the basics. Be sure to read How to Choose the Right Telescope and Astronomical Binoculars before buying. These articles are my way of helping a beginner to avoid some of the mistakes I made along the way.

Never underestimate portability in a binocular, spotting scope or even a telescope. All the performance in the world means nothing if you don't have an optic at hand when you need it and, nearly always, any optic is better than no optic.

A case in point was last week on the bike trail. I was circling a lake in a suburban park and traffic on the trail was heavy with joggers, roller bladers and folks in general. I glanced over the lake and happened to see a raptor being chased by a much smaller bird. I didn't need a binocular to identify the silhouette of the larger bird - even at that distance the crook in the wings showed me the bird was an Osprey. Through my Nikon 5x15 HG monocular, the bird was a beauty - the carpal patches were dark as coal and I could make out the mask on the birds face. Wow! Even at a mere 5x, the bird was glorious.

The smaller bird, though, was just too far to see any detail, though its flight definitely suggested another raptor. When the smaller bird finally chased the Osprey away, the smaller bird then landed in a tree next to the bike path. If I approached closely, I might get a better look, but by now, its aggressive behavior and flight patterns definitely suggested it was a Merlin. I eased the bike forward and put the monocular to work. It was indeed a Merlin - I could even see the hooked bill in my monocular.

Not bad for a simple monocular. And to think I nearly forgot it at home. Never leave hone without a binocular or, at least, a monocular. Wildlife is everywhere, even in the big city.

One of my favorite eyepieces for my Kowa 663 spotting scope is the TSE-21WD wide angle 20x eyepiece. Now, you might think I have some very specific or exotic use for this wide-angle eyepiece, but, in truth, I find my zoom Z9B 20-60x eyepiece to be far more practical and every day useful. Sure, I do use my 20x for some digiscoping, but most of my digiscoping pics have been taken with the zoom eyepiece, simply because it was the eyepiece I had in the scope at the time a bird decided to pose for a shot. In the end, I just love the 20x wide-angle for the sensational panoramic, picture-window like views it provides. For an optics connoisseur ( fancy way of saying optics nut) like me, it is a little taste of heaven.

The weather was unseasonably warm this weekend, as many folks heard on the news about our Chicago marathon race. It was so warm, in fact, that insect activity was intense and the birds were out in good numbers to take advantage of the abundance. For the most part, my birding was a matter of stopping on the forest trails as I rode my bike. I normally use a compact binocular for this work, but since I was riding in the forest, I opted instead to save even more weight by carrying a small monocular even though a binocular is always a better choice for birding. The frequent stops also helped me to keep fresh and well hydrated. As a long distance biker, I know the importance of both saving weight and carrying enough water.

Here in the Chicago area, the big spectator sport this week has been watching the Chicago Cubs. For all my friends who are Cub fans, go Cubs. My spectator sport, though, is a bit more solitary in nature. Give me an open expanse of mud flats at the local marsh, a good spotting scope, such as my Kowa 663, lots of migrating birds, a thermos of coffee and life couldn't be better. The weather forecast looks good for the weekend, so don't look for me at any stadium. I've got a better seat waiting out at the marsh. Go birds!

After some rain last night, the skies cleared and the temperature dropped, so when I walked out the door this morning, I was rewarded with the magnificent sight of Venus in the pre-dawn glow. Wow! That's about as high in the sky as I have seen Venus and for those night owl types, yes, it is worth stirring to get up a bit early and see it. As a binocular and telescope target, there's not much to Venus, since all we really get to see are its cloud tops, but as a naked eye astronomy object, it ranks right up there with the moon, which, in fact, was nearly overhead this morning in the same part of the sky. What a great way to start the day.

Folks, understandably, get bogged down with equipment issues when shopping for a telescope. Not a day goes by without someone asking me what they can see with one model of telescope or another. Which telescope will see more? I can answer these questions on an "under ideal conditions" basis, but the problem is that few of us have ideal observing conditions, anymore.

Light pollution is a fact for many of us city-bound astronomers and, when searching for the faint stuff, light pollution, not the telescope, can be the limiting factor. If you are observing under city lights, what's the quickest and most effective way to upgrade the performance of your telescope? Load your telescope up in your vehicle and take it to a truly dark sky. If that isn't practical, even taking your telescope to even a somewhat darker site will pay dividends in what you will see. With this in mind, better to have a small or mid-sized telescope that you can transport than to be stuck in the city with a big telescope that is a hassle to get in the car. Bigger is not always better when choosing a telescope.

The fall migration is in full swing and, for me, it appears to be another good year. Yesterday, for instance, I saw some White-throated Sparrows and some Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers through my Nikon 5x15HG monocular. No, I don't recommend a monocular as a serious birding tool - I carry one with me when cycling to save on size and weight - but a monocular can do a good job as a backup optic and for birding, a monocular is definitely better than no optics at all. I carry my monocular on my bike to save size and weight, since every ounce counts on a performance bike. When I'm out on a birding trip, I carry a binocular, of course.