Dobsonian Dreamers: Getting Started in the Hobby

Jennifer Miller and her two-year-old son, Linus.

Twenty-eight year old Jennifer Miller is an enthusiastic beginner in astronomy, living in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. A nursing student, Jennifer had wanted a good telescope for a long time, and purchased an Orion XT8 PLUS Dobsonian in November of 2013. She also purchased an Orion StarShoot Solar System Color Imaging Camera IV, which allows her son to see what she is seeing through the eyepiece on her computer monitor. In just a few months' time Jennifer's cell phone shots of the Moon caught our eye when she submitted them to Orion's image gallery. Miller is excited to plan a trip this summer to a dark sky site so that she can have a Messier marathon away from the city lights.

Here is Orion's Q & A with Jennifer Miller:

Q: How did you first get interested in astronomy?

A: The very first memory I have of being interested in astronomy was when I was about four years old. I remember always looking up at the sky and noticing the same patterns of stars. I was fascinated with the Orion constellation, mainly Orion's Belt (for which I had no name at the time). I was given a "toy" telescope for Christmas when I was eleven, but I didn't really know how to use it.

Q: What is it about Astronomy that makes you the most excited?

A: It's (almost) instant gratification! All I need to do is set up my scope in my front yard and I can see other worlds. It just blows me away. It's one thing to see photographs of Jupiter but to see it with my own eyes in real time is beyond anything I've ever experienced. I actually teared up the first time I saw Jupiter through my telescope. It was that awe-inspiring for me.

Q: What are your favorite objects you've viewed?

A: I'm still very much a newbie to astronomy so I don't have very many objects under my belt. But just looking at the Moon's different phases does it for me. Other than the Sun, it's the easiest thing to find and it's always a comforting sight.

Q: What Orion gear do you use?

A: I got my first "big kid" scope this past November. It's an Orion SkyQuest XT8 PLUS Dobsonian in a lovely blue color. I also own a few Orion eyepiece filters (variable polarizing filter and light pollution filter), and also the StarShoot Solar System Camera. That camera was an excellent buy because it allows my son to view real-time images on my laptop. He loves it and gets upset when it's time to go inside!

Q: What does your son think about the night sky?

A: He tries to count the craters on the Moon but gives up after ten. He says his favorite is Jupiter because "It's the biggest planet! It's HUGE!" He's always asking me to show him Pluto, and when I tell him that Pluto is too small and too far away, he says, "Poor Pluto!"

A crescent Moon shot by Miller using her XT8 Dobsonian and iPhone 5.

Q: On any given night, how do you decide what to observe?

A: I'll point my scope at anything I see, even if I don't know what it is. I've literally spent hours outside pointing it at random objects, seeing anything from random blue dots to faint, fuzzy things. I can't wait to find the time to take my telescope out to a dark sky site!

Q: Do you have any tips for beginners who are interested in astronomy?

A: Take it one step at a time. It's easy to become overwhelmed with the vastness of the sky and the insanely gorgeous photos that expert astronomers are taking of galaxies and nebulae. I've been getting to know our closest neighbors first and gradually I'll branch out. Seemingly everyday objects like the Sun and the Moon are absolutely breathtaking up close – and they're very easy targets. (Don't forget the solar filter!)