The local newspaper had a headline this week about how bad light pollution has become east of the Mississippi. Of course, this comes as no surprise to me, being trapped as I am, here in the Chicago area. (It was, however, a real shock to my peace of mind when I moved here about four years ago.) Light pollution limits me to about 3rd magnitude stars on the best of nights and that is a far cry from what I knew out on the prairies of Nebraska during my youth. What has been a surprise, though, is how popular astronomy is in the Chicago area, despite the awful light pollution. Chicago, for a big city, is very astronomy oriented. I sell a lot of telescopes and astronomy binoculars to folks like me who do their best to deal with light pollution. I see this a more than job security. To me it is also sign that there are enough us to something about the problem. That is a good New Year's resolution for any astronomer.

I've been too long without a camera. Ever since I dropped my old companion - my Pentax Optio A10 - and destroyed the LCD screen, I have been a woman without a digital camera. That may not be as dangerous as a woman scorned, but it does make me nervous (not a good thing for an emotional creature like me). So, I guess it's time to let go of the Pentax and move on to another digital camera. I am tempted by the elegant little Leica D-Lux 3. I know, I know, I can get basically the same thing in the Panasonic version, but that little red ball on the Leica just does something to me. Besides, I have owned many Leica binoculars, but have yet to take home a Leica camera. Maybe it's about time.

"Help! I just got a new telescope for Christmas and I can't see anything. Is there something wrong with this telescope?" This is an all too familiar refrain that comes my way after Christmas. Sometimes it really is a matter of a defective telescope, but most of the time it's a matter of not being familiar with telescopes and what to expect when a beginner first uses one. That's why I added some articles to our website that will help. My article, Telescope FAQs, explains basic setup for a small telescope and it can be used with any brand of telescope. My article, A Dozen Telescope Observing Tips For Beginners points out some basic dos' and don'ts for the beginner. Getting started in astronomy does require some learning and effort, but it is an undertaking well within reach of anyone with an interest in the night sky. You do not have to be a gadget and tech minded person to succeed in basic astronomy.

Feeding birds is a great way to get started in birding and, beyond a backyard feeder (placed where you can see it through a convenient window) and some bird feed, you don't need much in the way of equipment. Nearly any binocular will allow you to watch the action at a feeder as long as the feeder is not too close to your window. You just want to be sure your binocular focuses closely enough to see the feeder. The good news is that most birding binoculars focus down to fifteen feet or less. All you need to add is a basic field guide, such as Ken Kaufman's Birds of North America or one of the many excellent bird guides on the market and your are set. Of course, you may also want to have a cup of hot cocoa or eggnog, ready. After all, it is Christmas.

Quick! What astronomical object offers an amateur astronomer the greatest wealth of detail to observe? Answer: the moon. Yes, the moon offers more detail for a telescope than any other object in the solar system and, for many city bound astronomers plagued with light pollution, perhaps even more detail than the total of all the deep-sky objects in the sky on a given night. Wow!

So why isn't the moon a more popular target for astronomers? For one, I suspect it may be a matter of mystique. The moon simply does not have that exotic appeal and mystery of the outer planets and certainly doesn't pique the imagination the way distant galaxies do. For another, I suspect it may be a matter of marketing. Let's face it, from a marketing pint of view, the moon is a dud. You don't need a lot of equipment or accessories to observe the moon, even in a serious way.

All of this adds up to one thing, in my opinion. The moon may be the ideal target for urban astronomers or astronomers on a budget. Light pollution is never an issue and even a small refractor will do a nice job on something this bright. Forget those jumbo "light bucket" telescopes used for deep-sky work or fancy computerized mounts - you can always find the moon on your own. Lastly, the moon is worthy of some serious observing. Amateur astronomers who haven't tried lunar astronomy in a serious way may find it to be far more challenging than they expect and certainly a more interesting object as well.

Learning at least a handful of bright stars is a good idea for a beginning astronomer, even those using a computerized telescope. If nothing else, you can use a bright star you know as a quick check for your telescope's computer alignment. You can learn some bright stars with the aid of a monthly star map, such as the Celestron Star Map, or, in this day and age of technology, with a handheld sky computer, such as the Celestron SkyScout or Meade MySky.

Every astronomer should know how to use the "pointer" stars (Merak and Dubhe) at the front of the bowl of the big dipper (Ursa Major) to find Polaris, the pole star. Knowing the location of Polaris is essential to using a telescope with an equatorial mount and also for setting up many computerized telescopes. Other than Polaris, some easy to spot bright stars in the winter sky include Capella (Constellation Auriga), Aldebaran (constellation Taurus), Betelgeuse (constellation Orion) and, of course, the brightest of them all, Sirius (constellation Canis Major), though this one may not be visible till later in the evening. Be careful, though - learning star names and constellations is addictive! It's one of the most enjoyable aspects of astronomy for me and no telescope or binocular required!

Good news for those lucky enough to get a new telescope for Christmas! As long as you have clear skies, you will some great targets for that new telescope. The first, and one I recommend for beginners, is the moon. The moon makes an easy to find target for beginning astronomers. It also a great target to use for practicing the basics of focusing and to understand the effects of changing magnification. The moon will be full on the 24th, so you may want to use a moon filter if your telescope doesn't have one. The next target will be the planet Mars. Next to the moon, Mars is currently the brightest object high in the sky in the constellation Taurus. Beginners should not expect to see a lot of detail, however. Mars is currently not at its closest, but any telescope will still show it as a red disc. The idea is to see it for yourself with your very own telescope. Enjoy!

On rare occasions, I drift into a materialistic frame of mind and, at those times, my thoughts are usually a matter of a new road bike or, especially around the holidays, a new premium telescope. Being that I have a fascination with things small and simple, it is only natural that thoughts of a Televue 76 or Stellarvue APO telescope dance in my head. I really like the idea that these will fit in a Christmas stocking, albeit an extra-large one. That's the idea, though - small, portable, exquisitely made and even optics that outperform typical telescopes of their size. Come on, Santa. I've been a good girl (well, most of the time)!

Bigger is generally better in an astronomy telescope, no doubt about it. A telescope with a larger mirror or lens will see fainter objects than a smaller telescope and will also see more detail in these objects. However, that is not to say a small telescope is not useful. For may of us light-polluted and city-bound astronomers, brighter objects, such as the moon and planets are more practical targets to observe than faint deep-sky objects. For planetary work, a good refractor, even one as small as 80mm is still a great choice. This is especially true if it has an ED objective, such as the Celestron C80ED R or the fabulous Televe TV-76. Smaller telescopes are also easier to handle and operate. As the old saying goes, "The best telescope is the one you use the most."

Getting around to making out my Christmas wish list. Not being a material type, my wishes are for things I regard as beyond price. First, I wish for a dark sky, free of light pollution. I would even leave my binocular and telescope behind just to enjoy the view and see the Milky Way stretch across the sky. Next, I wish for one good day on at the marsh on the shorebird flats. Again, I would even leave my spotting scope at home. Just seeing flocks of shorebirds wheeling and dipping over the marsh would bring tears to my eyes. Lastly, a candlelight dinner with someone special would soothe my empty heart. Okay, maybe I'm getting greedy. I'll settle for the candlelight dinner for one and maybe rent a movie. A girl can't have everything.

"Think small" is advice I pass along to customers shopping for a camera to mount behind a spotting scope to do some digiscoping (taking pics through the eyepiece of a spotting scope with a small digital point and shoot camera). It may seem counter-intuitive, but small digital cameras are much better choices for digiscoping than large digital point and shoot cameras or digital SLRs (cameras with removable lenses). The smaller lenses on pocket sized digital cameras are a better match for spotting scope eyepieces. They will produce less vignetting and fewer focusing problems. Smaller cameras are also much easier to handle in the field when mounted to a spotting scope. These days, a small digital point and shoot translates to a model with no more than 4x optical zoom. Again, any small digital point and shoot with a quality lens and 7 or 8MP will do a good job for digiscoping. I've even used older models with only 2 or 3MP with good results. The spirit of digiscoping is trial and error and use what you have, but just keep it small.

Freezing drizzle put an icy damper on the weekend, but I still bicycled over to the lake to look for some birds. No, a bike, especially a road bike, is not the best choice for freezing drizzle and ice, but mine is a special, four wheel drive model (two wheels and two legs splayed out, always ready). What can I say? Biking is one of my true passions and whatb could be better than combining it with another one of ny passions, namely birding?. As for birds, I was hoping to use my binocular and maybe even a compact spotting scope to check for migrating waterfowl, but the darn lake went and froze up on me. Imagine that.

One of the notions that seems to pervade amateur astronomy is that you need a lot of equipment to enjoy it. This I suspect, is much a matter of all the advertising and the obsession that many of us amateurs have with binoculars and telescopes, eyepieces, cameras and so on. Equipment, of course, is part of the fun and amateur astronomy wouldn't be the same without it. The truth, though, is that there is still a lot of astronomy that requires no equipment at all. Some of my favorite nights as an amateur astronomer involved nothing more than tracing the outlines of constellations in the night sky, seeing how many stars I could name from memory (by last count over 150) or simply enjoying the view. This morning was a good example of enjoying the view. As I walked out to my car, around 6AM, I spotted Venus shining like a glorious beacon in the southeast and below it, a thin crescent moon hung as if attached by a long string. The smile it brought to my face was worth a million dollars, but it didn't cost me a thing.

Had more like 6" of snow last night, instead of the predicted 1-3", but can't say I mind. It is so pretty (and, yes, I was still tempted to ride my bike). As for the snow and astronomy, though, snow cover does affect seeing. Unlike open ground cover, which absorbs light, snow cover reflects light and therefore tends to amplify In a light pollution. Still, hard to argue with the beauty of being out on a cold winter night in the snow with a telescope or binocular and looking at some of the superb open star clusters of the winter sky. As north country gal at heart, I would miss my winter observing. Just wouldn't be the same seeing the Pleiades or the great open clusters in Canis Major and Monoceros in shirt sleeve weather. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow …

A question I get from beginners on telescopes, especially this time of year, is "Do I need a moon filter?" The answer is no, you don't need a moon filter to observe the moon, though one helps if you are observing the moon when full or nearly full. However, the moon is best studied when only partially lit, not when full. Best detail is seen at the terminator - the edge that separates the lighted side of the moon from the dark portion. Here is where you will see the most detail. Of course, when full, there is no terminator and details tend to be washed out. A moon filter (sometimes known as a neutral density filter) will help, then, but is not essential, especially if you are using high magnifications (as magnification increases, image brightness decreases) and the moon is one target where you can use a lot of magnification. However, moon filters are cheap and an easy accessory to add when buying a telescope as a gift.

This time of year, I get a flood of calls from parents and grandparents wanting to buy a microscope for a child. The first thing a parent or grandparent needs to do when buying a microscope for a child is to decide whether to buy a toy microscope or whether to buy a student microscope. Each has its place, but a parent or grandparent needs to tailor their expectations, accordingly. Paying the price for a toy, then expecting the performance and quality of a student microscope is simply unreasonable. A parent needs to use some judgment and buy according to the abilities and interests of their youngster.

A toy microscope is designed to introduce a youngster to a microscope and spark an interest in microscopes, but a toy microscope is not designed with the quality or features needed for extended or serious use. That calls for a student grade microscope. However, if a toy microscope achieves its intended purpose - fostering an interest in microscopes and science - it may be money well spent. On today's market, any microscope under $100 is a toy microscope, regardless of the advertising or labeling. No amount of hype will turn a toy microscope into a student class microscope. You get what you pay for.

A student microscope is designed with enough quality for extended use and will have at least some of the features need for serious use. For a microscope with the quality and features of a microscope used in a middle school or high school science class, expect to pay in the neighborhood of $200. A good example is the Celestron 44104 or Konus Academy. You can get models with enough quality for extended use from $100 to $150, but these will typically lack of few of the features needed for serious work. Most often, this means sacrificing a built in light source and going with a mirror. A mirror in conjunction with a desk lamp or auxiliary light source will work, but is not as desirable as a dedicated, built -in light source. A good choice in a student microscope for a parent on a budget, then, is the Celestron 44102 or Konus College. Better to buy a student quality microscope for $100 to $150 with a mirror than it is to buy a toy microscope for $50 that is supplied with a tiny LED light. Cheap little LED lights found on many toy microscopes do not qualify as a useable lighting system for a microscope and most have a predictably short lifespan.