Enjoying the beauty of the heavens

This is about the biggest stretch for a wine writer, but bear with me. It’s a leisure activity just like wine (sort of). But do let me bring wine into the picture. Enjoy a glass of sparkling wine as you peer into the heavens with binoculars, telescope or via high res photos on the web. Allow me to share a few good places to start.

Wine:

Depending on your mood, try a Prosecco, Cava, or Champagne. Pour a glass, and settle in to the topic at hand.

Viewing Technique:

Unless you’re already an amateur astronomer with a telescope (lucky you), consider buying a pair of Orion 20X80 astronomy binoculars. You’ll need a tripod to steady them. Here’s a handy guide on how to enjoy sky-gazing from Sky & Telescope. Be sure to download the excellent PDF there.

Online Resources:

Another great way to star gaze is simply from your computer or smartphone. Consider them a portal to the best telescopes. Here are links to my favourite image galleries.

• Hubble (home page) | (images)
• ESO (home page) | (images)
• Cloudy Nights (Astronomical Community with photo galleries)
• See The Glory (Christian astrophotographer)
• Astrophotography Bob & Janice Fera (quality amateur images)
• Messier Objects (Hubble’s catalog) | (Wikipedia’s list)

by The Wine Baron