Tutorials

These tutorials and guides offer helpful step by step advice on equipment and observational techniques. You can search by topic and difficulty level, from starting out to advanced. For those new to astronomy and observation, we recommend our starting out page as a guide to this section.

6 X 50 Telescope Finder, set on a Sky Watcher scope.
Finder telescopes
2020 Jul 5 - Starting Out
Peter Anderson

Drawing the Planets: some tips and anecdotes
2020 Jun 14 - Starting Out
Richard McKim

Getting started in the history of astronomy
2020 May 26 - Starting Out
Mike Frost

Determining the Quality Number of a Sunspot Group
2020 May 2 - Intermediate
Lyn Smith

Loops in the sky
2020 Apr 9 - Starting Out
David Basey

Introduction to VLF observations of solar activity
2020 Mar 15 - Intermediate
John Cook

ARIEL ExoClock pro-am project
2020 Jan 18 - Advanced
Roger Dymock

The Beginner’s Sky
2019 Dec 8 - Starting Out
David Basey

The transit of Mercury: how to observe it
2019 Oct 16 - Starting Out
Peter Meadows, Chris Hooker, Paul Abel and Steve Harvey

Imaging comets: an introduction
2019 Sep 15 - Starting Out
Nick James, Jonathan Shanklin, Peter Carson and others

An introduction to variable star observing
2019 Aug 11 - Intermediate
Roger Pickard

Observing the outbursting comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann
2019 Jun 16 - Intermediate
Richard Miles

Filters for visual observations of deep sky objects
2019 Apr 6 - Intermediate
Owen Brazell

Atmospheric Refraction
2019 Mar 2 - Intermediate
David Basey

The Barlow lens
2019 Feb 10 - Intermediate
David Basey

Arditti_Telescope3
What is the best telescope for an adult beginner?
2018 Dec 27 - Starting Out
David Arditti

Observing asteroid occultations with digital cameras
2018 Dec 17 - Intermediate
Tim Haymes

Astronomical Seeing Part 2.
2018 Nov 22 - Starting Out
Paul G Abel

The size of things
2018 Nov 16 - Starting Out
David Basey