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> I've come to the conclusion that my minimum requirements are to see the Rings of Saturn and the bands on Jupiter.

Go big.

I've a 50 mm finderscope (an auxiliary "rifle sights" scope that sits on top of a much larger scope) that can "resolve" the rings of Saturn if I put a strong eyepiece in it, but it looks like a little dot crossed out by a very thin thread. And this is a high-quality Stellarvue achromat refractor.

Get the biggest aperture your money can buy. That basically means a dobsonian reflector. Someone suggested a refurbished 6" dob. If that's all you can afford, go for it. You may have to get an extra eyepiece for it, something like a 12 mm or even 8 mm.

The smallest dob that is not a compromise in any way is the Zhumell Z8 - the archetypal 8" dob. If you can afford it, it could be a "forever scope". If you can't afford it, just get the biggest dob you can - it's the architecture that provides the most aperture per dollar. Smart 8 year olds can handle a 6" ... 8" dob; they may need a small stool to step on when the 8" dob is vertical, but that will cease being a problem in a year or so, when the kid gets taller. :)

You can sort-of cheat with a small-ish aperture for the rings of Saturn, but you'll see them small. Jupiter's bands, OTOH, are low-contrast features. You could see them on a sub-100mm scope, but they are not very impressive; you can tell they are there, but that's it. There is no substitute for large aperture in that case. Go BIG.

Aperture is king.

BTW, Saturn goes in hiding for the next several months. But Jupiter is on the rise in the East; very bright and pretty, go outside tonight and look east.

> Everyone is familiar with refractor telescopes.

It's easy to make small-aperture refractors, that's why they are popular. But as soon as aperture goes beyond a certain limit, things get flipped over and reflectors rule the game.

A good 4" (100 mm) refractor is a thousand bucks. A good 4" dob is 1/4 of that price.

> Do you think we would be disappointed with the 80mm refractor when trying to view Saturn & Jupiter?

Yes. Anything is disappointing after looking at big colorful space telescope images. Well, almost anything, except over-24" dobs under dark skies with great seeing. :) If your goal is to blow the kid's mind, go big. Forget anything else, features, bells, whistles - hunt for aperture instead.

Make sure you have at least two eyepieces; one at, let's say, 30x ... 50x magnification (for wide images - large but faint objects like nebulae), another at 120x ... 180x or so (for higher magnification - small objects like planets or double stars). Good dobs usually come with two glasses like that included. You'll figure out later when/if you need a more diverse collection of glass. This assumes you get a reasonable aperture; a tiny 80mm scope will fall apart at 180x.

Magnification is like a car's speed. You don't drive your car all the time at 200 km/h; sometimes you drive slow, when you go to the grocery store; other times you go fast, such as on the freeway. Each situation requires a certain speed. Same with scopes and magnification. Don't fall into the beginner's trap and believe that "more is better" for magnification. It is not. However, more is always better when it comes to aperture.

Get Turn Left At Orion - it's a wonderful book that will teach you where and how to find all sorts of amazing objects on the sky. It's perfect for the kid too - not too complicated, lots of pictures.

Install Stellarium on a laptop or iPhone. It's like a map, but for the sky. You could also get the Pocket Sky Atlas after a few months - it's a bit more technical but it's a real sky map like the ones "real" astronomers use.

Keep your scope collimated for best performance. link1 link2

Astrophotography is a hobby in its own right.
For the budget you have listed, you would most likely end up buying a mount that is not up to the task.

I would suggest a nice pair of 10x50 binoculars and this book first.

If you are committed to getting a scope, then this is my suggestion assuming the $1000 budget is all inclusive meaning scope, accessories, and books.

1. Get a dobsonian. 8inches F4.5-5 10" or 12" would be nice but would blow your budget for the necessary accessories. Something like this would be a great place to start. Also nice would be the 10" Meade Lightbridge.
   
   2)The skywatcher comes with 2 eyepieces (25mm and 10mm IRC) THe light bridge comes with one. In either case I would invest in a NICE barlow like this one Barlows are an inexpensive way to improve your options. A 24 mm EP in a 2x barlow becomes a 12mm a 10mm becomes a 5mm. Its not as great as discrete eps in those sizes, but it is an economical way to get more versatility out of your existing eyepieces. I also can't talk enough about the Televue Panoptic EPs. They are affordable and incredibly nice. Eyepieces are something that will last through many scopes. I have 10 or so but only ever use about 3 of them.
   Get a Telrad or a Rigel finder. The Skywatcher has a finderscope, the meade has a red dot finder. Personally I hate red dot finders. I think they are complete junk. Telrad is the defacto standard for zero magnification finders, I prefer the rigel for its smaller size and built in pulse circuit. They are both about the same price. You will need to collimate your scope, a cheshire works great, or a laser collimator will do as well. Many folks use a combination of both. I have gone both ways, cheshire is fine, laser is fine, a combination of both is also fine. Accessories can go on forever, the only other must have that I can think of is a redlight flashlight. This is a good one or you can add red film to an existing flashlight you have or you can do what myself and many others have done and get an LED headlamp and replace the white LEDs with red ones.
   
   
2. books
   
   

• Nightwatch
  
• Turn Left at Orion
  
• The Backyard Astronomers Guide
  
• The Pocket Sky Atlas
  
• The Collins Guide to stars and planets as a pocket field guide I prefer this to the petersen field guide.
  
• The Ultimate Messier Object Log Its free! Has Telrad charts for all the Messier objects and you can download a PDF and print it out. A few years ago I printed a portion of the PDF out, laminated it and took it to kinkos and had it spiral bound. FANTASTIC resource and is my goto for finding messier objects.
  
  I would start with the backyard astronomers guide. Buy that first before you buy anything. It has some very good sections on scopes and observing that can help you answer some questions.
  
  

4. find a local club. Join it. ask questions and goto meetings. Check out Cloudynights.com. Remember that this is something you are doing for FUN.
   
   Lastly I always say go with a dobsonian scope. They are easy to setup and use and they force you to learn the sky. Once you are comfortable operating a scope and moving around the night sky, then I would think about investing in an equatorial mount and scope for astrophotography use.
   
   Good luck and Clear Skies!

Getting your first scope is so exciting! I'm very much an amateur and casual observer myself, but my dad and I have been into astronomy for about four years now.

First, I recommend looking into some space/astro societies in your area, there's Tacoma Astronomical Society and Rose City Astronomers in my area for example! Each club has different resources, but they can be super helpful. You can meet locals and see if they have resources you can rent- like telescopes, or books and whatnot. It's saved me a dime or two. Sometimes they have online forums too. I also highly recommend going to star parties, it's where I've learned the most! You can see other people's set ups, ask loads of questions, and get a better sense for what you might want. We did this for about 6 months before getting our first scope, and before that we nabbed a pair of nice binoculars .

Now, you have to consider, when you get a scope you aren't just getting a scope. You're probably getting filters, eye pieces, protective gear, batteries, red lights, etc. etc. and then probably a tool box to carry all of this- which you might want to customize with foam or something to keep everything safe and tidy. It's an Investment. Now, looking at jupiter and saturn won't require much, but eventually you might want to look at the moon (needs filters), or special eyepieces that let have more magnification, or there's even filters that let you see some colors, etc!

I, personally, would highly recommend getting a manual (specifically, Dobsonian *) scope for your first one- not computerized. Learning the sky and it's constellations is part of astronomy, and having to find stuff yourself is really helpful- and rewarding! Plus, computerized scopes require pretty hardy batteries, especially if you want to take it out to darker skies which usually means more rural aka no plugs. They also require certain stars to be be visible to be able to calibrate. Manual scopes require no plugs, no consistent power source, and no learning computer programs-NexStar can be a pain imo, some reading required (plus Jupiter and Saturn are pretty easy to spot with the naked eye anyways). Plus it's fun being able to point out stuff to friends just by knowing where a few stars are. We only got a computerized equatorial mount (meaning it tracks objects) when we wanted to try out long exposure astro- photography. This 8in dob was our first scope, and I still love it- it's the go-to (Craigslist, amazon used, and other shops are worth a gander too).

*I'm 99% sure dobsonian and newtonian telescopes are the same, except for the mounts they're on (newtonian is tripod, dobsonian is a base that can move up down and in a circle)

Also, I consider Sinnott's Sky Atlas a must!

Lmk if you have any questions!

(Edit: sorry if this is repetitive- reddit says there are four comments, but isn't letting see me them atm.)

For some reason, Im drawn to these black trees for some sort of decoration, depending on how tall they are, they could be centerpieces maybe?

I like this wristband bracelet for bridesmaids to wear, if you have some, or even yourself, depending on your dress color.

I like the idea of black candelabras everywhere, I feel like they are very romantic/dark, if done right. Something like this minus the fake spiders, and these Bleeding candle sticks are very cool.

If you're serving punch, an intricate black punch bowl would look great. Maybe a bowl on every other table, since they're little?

Satin flower girl basket, but I think there is a whole set for this, with a guest book and ring pillow. The gems are white, but it looks like you could easily pop them out, and place them with purple.

Instead of having guests sign a guest book, you could frame this Map of Europe and take the glass out and have people sign it. It would look amazing with all the well wishes on it, but still have a neat background to it.

A set of these Apothocary jars, filled with candy or matches, placed at the bar, or around the cake table, just as little accents. And you could wrap them with a band of purple ribbon to help tie your colors together.

And lastly, I always love candles at a wedding I feel like they are the symbol of romance. Lots of candles, everywhere. They give off just the right amount of light.

Good luck, hope Ive helped just a little. <3

Thanks for the contest! I hope to see pics of how the wedding decorations look!!!

I would say that the best thing that you can probably do is to join a local astronomy club. They're more than likely going to have "star parties" where they all bring different telescopes and look at different things in the night sky. It should give you a good taste of what you can see, the pros and cons of different telescopes, and real world experience. You're also going to have a ton of experienced observers who you can ask questions and talk with.

Besides that, I would probably pick up a book called Turn Left at Orion and a star atlas (my personal favorite is Sky and telescope Pocket Sky Atlas). Turn Left at Orion is essentially a beginners guide to amateur astronomy. It tells you what the best things to observe are during different times of the year, descriptions of them, how to find them, and other things. A star atlas is essentially a map of the night sky. I would also look into Stellarium. It's a free program that shows you what your night sky looks like based on your date, time, and where you live. It's pretty much an interactive star atlas. Also, if you have any book money left over, you might consider getting RASC's 2017 Observer's Hand. It tells you, in detail, what important things are going to be going on above our heads in 2017. It also has some nice articles for beginning astronomers, a bunch of nice maps, and a lot of helpful charts. I wouldn't call it a necessity, but it's really nice to have.

I would also recommend joining an online astronomy forum. Cloudy Nights is my favorite. The folks there are all passionate about astronomy, very nice, and very knowledgeable.

Lastly, and this is the most important piece of advice I can give, is to just get out there and start observing. You don't need a telescope or even binoculars. Go out and try to find constellations or try to find where the planets currently are or see if you can see some of the brighter Deep Sky Objects (those are essentially anything that isn't a planet or the moon). The Pleiades and the Orion Nebula are great first things to look for, for instance. Just enjoy being out there under the stars. It's a great feeling.

Clear Skies!

Wow, I have no idea what that scope is, but it seems like a great deal for $50. Grats!

Definitely collimate it while at home. You'll have to recollimate at your destinations, but hopefully it will be minor, and you don't want to waste precious dark sky time learning how to do it or realizing there's a problem.

As far as gear goes, ergonomics are important! You'll need a good chair, preferably one with some height adjustment. Also, I personally like to use an eye patch for extended viewing sessions. Just pick up a cheap one at a dug store.

Print out a sky map for the month you will travel.
http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html

Google sky is good, but you should also get a good sky atlas. It's a good investment. Sinnot's Pocket Sky Atlas is excellent:
http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Telescopes-Pocket-Atlas/dp/1931559317

Check the weather report and what the moon will be doing during your trip. And one thing about the desert is that high winds can ruin your viewing (vibrates your scope), so you might want to choose a sheltered camping/viewing spot.

As far as the actual viewing, planets are pretty easy targets in general, even in light polluted places, so I would take advantages of those dark skies to see some DSOs. Then again, it all depends on what the skies will be showing during your trip.

Good luck and have fun!

>good books to read

The Backyard Astronomer's Guide is a solid book. Covers all sorts of telescopes, mounts, eyepieces, and cameras. I own a copy.

Turn Left at Orion is a good observational book. I don't own a copy.

Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas is indispensable for observing if you don't have an electronic guide (e.g., you're battery is dead.) I own a copy.

​

>a good telescope I could start with that I could do some astrophotography with in the future once I

Generally speaking, every telescope is capable of astrophotography. Almost all are very good for it. The single most important piece of equipment for astrophotography is the mount. The longer the focal length you'll be imaging at, the better mount you'll need and quality mounts are expensive.

You can easily spend $10,000 on a great mount and another $5,000 on scope + accessories, plus another $5,000 on camera and filters. My advice, don't even thing about astrophotography yet.

​

>A friend of mine sold me an old Meade 175C telescope for cheap today and I was able to get it set up.

That's probably good to experiment with. Might be decent for planetary or lunar work (or if you get a proper solar filter, the sun.) You're ability to see faint fuzzies will be severely limited. So, use it, get familiar with it but I would recommend something else as a starter.

It can be tempting to pick up a an all-in-one combo. Mount + scope + eyepieces all together for $299.99, but it's going to be so low quality that you'll not have a great experience and your views will be compromised. It will end up in your garage or in the garbage within a year.

I would highly recommend a shorter focal length refractor and, as tempting as the price is, I would stay away from achromatic refractors. My first was an achro and it's sitting in my closet and hasn't been used in years.

My most used telescope is an 81mm f/6.6 APO refractor. It fits in my photo backpack, sits on a heavy duty photo tripod, and is attached to a lightweight mount designed for telescopes. It's superb for all the the larger objects, lunar/solar work, and the Messier catalog. It's only so/so for planetary work. It's also great for astrophotography and daytime photography.

​

>Unfortunately the skies are too overcast tonight to do anything with it.

This is the problem with astronomy and astrophotography. You can spend $20,000 on gear and only get it out 5 times a year. You get more bang for your buck if you live in the right area and if you permanently mount your equipment at home.

​

>Would I be able to attach my dslr to it or no? I know I have to get a t ring and a few other things to do it, but I guess what I’m asking is, is it worthwhile to try with this older telescope once I learn how to find things or should I save up and get a different one?

Don't bother trying to do astrophotography with that scope. Save up $1,000 and get a good quality APO refractor (Explore Scientific and William Optics both make some good scopes.)

For reference achromatic means it has two lenses which means it only focuses two wavelength of light at the same time (usually red/green.) Then means stars will tend to have purple/blue halos. Tolerable for visual use on galaxies but horrible for planets or any type of photography. An ED APO is often a two lens achromat but uses extra low dispersion glass. Still an achromat but with much less dispersion. Good for visual use, tolerable for intro astrophotography. A 3 lens systems is called apochromatic and gets all the visible spectrum in focus. Excellent for visual use and very good for astrophotography. You can also get a 4 lens refractor which contains a flattener which is excellent for visual and photographic use.

This can be the most discouraging advice to give a newcomer but if you don't get that good scope first, then you're going to buy the cheap option, find you're limited, then by a slightly more expensive option, find you're limited, then buy the good quality option. Now you've got a bunch of junk in your closet (or in the local landfill) taking up space.

Just my $0.02.

I plan my observing sessions using a combination of:

• CalSky - great way to "frame out" the observing session with sunset, astronomical twilight, and the rise/transit/set times of certain objects (like the moon). Also shows iridium flares and ISS passes, which are nice to slip into the observing plan. Not very good for choosing what to observe, though.
  
• Stellarium - for figuring out what's going to be visible at what time of night. I plan to observe 4 objects per hour starting at astronomical twilight. My primary tool as I build out the observing list.
  
• Messier & Caldwell catalogues -- great list of "showpiece" objects that form the "backbone" of my observing list
  
• Sue French's "Deep Sky Wonders" column in Sky & Telescope -- I usually use the previous, current, and next month's issue and cherry-pick a handful of these objects as "challenge" objects.
  
  For each object I choose to observe, I pick the time to observe it (slot it into one of the four slots per hour), trying to observe it when it's near the meridian, if possible. I try to generally bias my observing list with starting in the west and moving east throughout the night, finishing with objects that are just starting to rise at the end of the session.
  
  I also note for each object, the chart number in my Pocket Sky Atlas. The PSA is an excellent first atlas, and is honestly everything you need to avoid looking at a screen out on the observing field. Be sure to make yourself a Telrad overlay with a piece of transparency film -- this makes it MUCH easier to find objects.
  
  Recently, I also added the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas to my observing kit. It's an expensive chart, but holy cow is it fantastic. It's designed from the ground up as a visual observer's chart. So all of the objects listed are actually visible with your scope. It even marks whether objects are visible in a 4", 8", or 12" scope.
  
  Here's an example of a recent observing list: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1PZMu2tcjgdZTZ3wA6SjJPrPdu9LU_nX9
  
  For each object, you'll note some shorthand:
  
  
• Object name, as shown in the charts (sometimes Caldwell objects are only listed as NGC, for example).
  
• In square braces, the constellation, the PSA chart number, and the Interstellarum chart number
  
• Object type/name
  
  Out in the field, I illuminate my table with a dim red light. I use nothing with an LCD/LED display at all. Just a red light, my observing list, and my paper charts. It's really fantastic. I never have any trouble with my night vision getting blown out. And locating objects using a chart is just as easy (I might argue easier) as using a computer. All you really need is some transparency film with scaled Telrad rings (or Rigel rings, if that's what you use) and some scaled circles for your most commonly used eyepieces' TFOV.
  
  Paper charts are a lot easier to get oriented in the sky -- you can pick them up and hold them over your head to orient yourself in the constellation. And the PSA shows just the right number of stars to make star-hopping with a Telrad painless. With a pre-planned observing list, you'll never have FOMO and will be relaxed and entertained the entire observing session. I highly recommend it.

GoTo mounts (counterintuitively) aren't useful until you're somewhat familiar with the sky, but they are absolutely fantastic when trying to share your views with a group.

I'll second the book recommendations above (I own TLAO, and borrowed Night watch). In my opinion, Nightwatch did a better job explaining the hardware, though they're both great.

After going out a few nights, if you enjoy it, I emplore you (and everyone else here for that matter) to pick up Sky and Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas. When you outgrow the beginner books, and get fed up picking random objects from the GoTo, this thing is absolutely brilliant.

Hmm, I've slowly learned from many sources, mostly books. And more about Washington/Seattle, since I live there—although Oregon has a rich tradition of being interested in its history. For online stuff there's

• HistoryLink; Washington-centric; has hundreds of articles on many topics.
  
  
• Oregon Historical Society; (OHS) Oregon-centric.
  
  OHS publishes the Oregon Historical Quaterly. I think at least some of that is online. They also publish a mighty place name tome, with more detail than you probably ever want to know about Oregon place names: Oregon Geographic Names. But it isn't online and is expensive to buy new. I found a used copy for cheap though.
  
  
• BC Geographic Names is BC's place name database. Some pages have tons of info about a particular place name. Some pages have very little. Kinda hit and miss.
  
  
• The Volcanoes of Lewis and Clark is a surprising detailed USGS website about more than just volcanoes.
  
  
• Columbia River History.
  
  
• Center for Columbia River History.
  
  For books, some of which are previewable on Google Books:
  
  
• Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest, by Derek Hayes, is very good and covers the whole PNW, from Alaska to California to Montana and more.
  
  
• The Atlas of Oregon is very good, although it is only has a couple of history sections. Also it is expensive (again, can be found used for not too much). Obviously Oregon-centric.
  
  
• Murray Morgan's Skid Row and Puget's Sound are about Seattle and Tacoma respectively (or more generally north and south Puget Sound area).
  
  
• Native Seattle, by Coll Thrush, is an excellent Seattle-centric book about the long history of Indians and Seattle (and beyond, ie, the famous totem pole in Pioneer Square is from Alaska).
  
  
• Range of Glaciers, by Fred Beckey, is a hugely detailed history focused on the exploration and survey of the North Cascades. Everything you could possibly want to know about the US-Canada border survey through the mountains—exciting, right? But also lots of stuff about early fur traders, gold prospectors, railroads, etc.
  
  
• The Great Columbia Plain, by D.W. Meinig, focused on eastern Washington and northeast Oregon.
  
  There are many books about the very early history of Spanish exploration, British fur trading, and so on. Many are poorly written or very scholarly. A few I've liked:
  
  
• At the Far Reaches of Empire, by Freeman Tovell. Focused on the life of Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, who was the Spanish commander on Vancouver Island in the late 1700s, when war with Britain almost broke out over events there, and when George Vancouver came by, etc. This book gives a good picture of the peak of Spain's reach into the PNW. Spanish PNW history kinda got the shaft by British and American historians. We remember Captain Cook and Vancouver but not people like Bodega y Quadra and Malaspina. Yet Bodega y Quadra's accomplishments exceed Vancouver's, I think, and he was all around a better person; and Malaspina's was similar to Cook in many ways.
  
  
• The Nootka Connection, by Derek Pethick, is a somewhat drier, and more British/Canadian-centric account of the late 18th century ship-based stuff, detailing the Russian, Spanish, British, American, French, etc, ships that explored the PNW coast. He wrote another book, First Approaches to the Northwest Coast, that covers a slightly earlier period.
  
  
• Trading Beyond the Mountains, by Richard Mackie, focuses on the land-based fur trade that dominated the PNW from the 1790s to the mid-1800s. Mackie focuses on the British fur traders, who basically controlled the PNW until about 1840.
  
  Finally, there are hundreds of good references on some Wikipedia pages, like Columbia River and Maritime Fur Trade.

Others have already mentioned it but join an astronomy club and download Stellarium. Here's a couple book suggestions:
Turn Left at Orion will get you familiar with some of the more interesting objects to look at in the night's sky. This is definitely a good place to start. You also want to pick up a star atlas to help you navigate the sky and find some of the dimmer objects in the sky. A favorite is Sky and Telescope's Pocket Star Atlas. Another favorite for new astronomers is Nightwatch which will educate you a bit more about astronomical bodies and the night sky.

Hi Everyone OP here. This project is something I wanted to do for years but I wanted it done right. I'm not super skilled in the DIY area so I wanted to make this process as simple as possible and I think I accomplished that! Feel free to post any questions about this and I will respond as quickly as possible. However, here are the very high level steps outline below.

How to Make a Framed Corkboard Map
1.Purchase corkboard, map, and map pins from Amazon or somewhere else
2.Unscrew corkboard frame
3.Tape map every 2 to 3 inches to the corkboard on all four sides
Note: Start at the top, and then move clockwise.
4.Place frame back on corkboard. Be careful not to snag the map
Note: This process may take a little finesse and time. For me it was easier to put the top and bottom on first the fit the sides.
5.Screw the corner brackets back in
6.Apply pins as you wish!

Edit: formatting
Edit2: links

Nightwatch is a pretty good book for beginner level that I find is better for those that don't have a telescope or binoculars. Helps give you the basics.


Turn Left At Orion is another good book for beginners, but it is better if you have a telescope or pair of binoculars to get the full use out of this book. It is probably the most detailed beginner book IMO.


Sky and Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas is a very good star map to use, though it is only that.......star maps. So it is good to use once you learned the basics.

I have the same scope and I use the Telrad as well as the 8x50 included with the scope.

If you can't see any constellations with the naked eye, and you don't plan on doing to darker sites, then the Telrad won't be very useful to you. If the constellations are visible but you can't make out what ones they are, the best advice I can give you is to purchase a star chart like this and use it in conjunction with monthly star charts you can print off. those will help you identify the major constellations visible to you on that particular night and the Telrad can help you move from star to star until you find what you need.

By far my favorite area of the sky to explore with binoculars is Sagittarius, as another commenter said below.

Buy yourself a good sky atlas (the de facto standard for my club is http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Telescopes-Pocket-Atlas/dp/1931559317) and get to know how the charts map to the sky. That book is good because it holds up to the elements, is spiral-bound, and if you hold it at arm's length, the distance scale should be about the same as what you see in the sky.

Cruise around the sky and find some of the easier objects and that will give you a good feel for star-hopping and what you can expect to see from your equipment.

Clear skies!

While winters in CA are pretty mild, they can be pretty wet for the SF Bay Area. I doubt you'll be where snow falls, so tire chains probably won't be a necessity unless you're planning on going towards Tahoe or into the High Sierras.

Most Americans only take a week or so of vacation time when they do get away from the grindstone, so 7-10 days is pretty much what we're used to.

A travel tip to help you orient yourself: Even numbered highways run East/west, Odd numbers are North/South, for example Interstate 5 goes through California, Oregon and Washington, while Interstate 80 crosses entire the country, pretty much coast-to-coast. (In Sacramento, there's the 80/80 split - Business Route 80 runs through Sacramento, I-80 cuts around it for a shorter trip).

If you want to save a few bucks, consider renting a car that's long enough for you to sleep in. Car Camping isn't an uncommon practice, and your car will probably be better insulated than a thin nylon-skinned tent.

Also consider buying a Thomas Brothers guide, as relying on your phone for maps/directions can be an issue in the more remote areas (and using a phone internationally can be very expensive).

Oh.. I forgot. My all time favorite:

http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Wall-Map-tubed/dp/0792280946

"The Earth's Moon" as published by National Geographic around 1967. I had one of these on my wall for almost my entire lifetime. I remember seeing it as a major prop on the old "Mary Tyler Moore Show," it was on the wall behind Lou Grant's desk. My map became so old and decrepit with age, it finally fell apart. And then somehow, almost like magic, I came across an untouched copy of the issue of NatGeo that it came in, complete with map. I'm going to hang it on my wall again someday.

National Geographic maps are totally awesome. I particularly like their modern Earth map with oceanographic features of the bottom of the sea. I have a copy of that in a drawer somewhere, haven't had it up since I moved to this apartment. My friends used to always call my office "The Map Room."

I have to do a welcome back bulletin board for my residents when I get back to school. Because I'm such a crafty turtle, I'm going to do a board with a map of the United States that has little pins at each resident's home town. Each pin will have a string attached to it, and all the strings will meet at the location of our campus! To do this, I need both map pins and the map.

Great contest! Thank you!

go for it! I used this map; it's 24"x36" but they have larger sizes too. And if you're only interested in Europe, they have a Europe specific map. I would watch a few videos about modge podge if you haven't done it before because it can get messy, especially when dealing with larger prints. Also, make sure your cork board isn't too thick for the frame; I think I used 1/4" thick cork board. This was the original inspiration for my map

I usually stop around 3-4:00 PM and figure out where I want to stop that night, then call ahead if I'm getting a hotel room and make a reservation somewhere. You can also read-up on camping on BLM or NFS lands, either campgrounds or remote. State parks also may have campgrounds.

I carry a tire plug kit. This will save you massive amounts of time if you get a flat in a remote area. Watch a few youtube videos if you've never used one and you should be fine.

I also carry a small 12v cigarette-lighter-powered air compressor for reinflating the tire, and a tire pressure gauge because I don't trust the ones on the cheap pumps.

If you are going to travel through remote areas in the west always carry some food and water.

Buy one of those sponges with the nylon netting on the outside or a loofah or one of these. You'll probably want to clean the windshield of dead bugs more often than just when you get gas. Bring a jug of water to assist. Carry an extra jug of wiper fluid.

Research the historical day/night temperatures if you will be traveling in the inter-mountain west. It can actually get quite cold at night if you're camping. Pack appropriate clothing. Monsoon season in the desert southwest can go to early October. Assume you might get rained-on a bit.

Check state DOT websites for conditions ahead at high mountain passes in the Rockies and the Sierras. Some of them start closing due to snow by mid-September.

If you are going to more than two or three national parks buy the annual pass for $80 at the first park you go to. It will pay for itself several times over.

IMHO carrying a bunch of spare parts or tools is overkill but a spare headlamp bulb and a package of assorted zip ties aren't a bad investment. Make sure your brakes are in good condition before you leave if you are driving in mountain areas.

I carry a paper road atlas as I find it useful for longer-distance planning than zooming in/out on an ipad or phone. You can get Rand McNally Road atlasses near the checkouts at a lot of Walmarts.

You'll find that the octane levels of gasoline sold at high altitudes is a few points lower than at sea level. Using 85 octane in a car that usually uses 87 is fine, etc.. Pay attention to the labeling on the pumps elsewhere. At certain places in the Midwest gas stations sell high-ethanol mixes that are inappropriate for non flex-fuel cars. They will still sell the regular stuff, just pay attention to the labels.

Know that this sign means that you can come upon cows standing in the road at any time. Avoid driving these roads at night, or at least keep the speed down and be prepared.

I thought they said that there was no way of knowing when the page had been torn out because it also covered the area she would be driving most. I'm pretty sure had one of those map books and it is often easier to just rip out a page (or after awhile it comes out) that you use a lot rather than trying to juggle the whole book. This is a link to that on Amazon. LOL if you read the review it says I have a much used one in the car. http://www.amazon.com/Baltimore-City-County-Maryland-Street/dp/087530043X

• Turn Left at Orion book
  
  
• You can print out free skymaps at Skymaps.com. They create a new one every month, have different versions for different viewing latitudes, and show where the planets are as well.
  
  
• Free Stellarium software
  
  
• A $12 Planisphere
  
  
• Nightwatch book
  
  
• Pocket Sky Atlas
  
  
• Astronomy Picture of the Day website
  
  Also, maybe some 10x70 or 15x70 binoculars from Orion or Celestron (less than $100).
  

If you need some help, there's a planetarium program called Stellarium that shows you most objects in the night sky. You can put information like your telescope and eyepiece to simulate your field of view and magnification.

You can also buy a sky atlas, such as the Sky and Telescope's Pocket Atlas. I've used the Pocket Atlas to find the crab nebula and some small galaxies with my 10 inch dobsonian, so it really helps.

the TIMES do a pretty fantastic atlas: http://www.amazon.com/Times-Atlas-World-Tenth-Comprehensive/dp/081293265X

You can find them cheap on ebay and most bookshops will have a copy as it's an international release.

The history section isn't really in there but there is a cool solar system map and some cool 3D infographic / geology visuals.

Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas is great if you're just looking to identify constellations. Turn Left at Orion is geared towards people with/wanting telescopes but is great for showing you how to navigate your way around the night sky.

I'm a hands-on/visual learner, so I personally find lab exams to be easier than written course exams. That being said, I definitely needed to study more than just the Powerpoint notes and lab manual in order to be successful.

My lab assigned this book as a required text, and I found it to be wicked helpful! It has a histology section, and then the rest is all photographs of structures from cadavers.

Hi there, I have this map on my wall and I love it. It has South Sudan and pretty sturdy paper (it's not plastic by any means, though.) It's quite large, about a meter lengthwise.

I can indeed. I did the experiment myself a few months ago as a part of my course so I have the activity handbook. I'll go back and read it again tomorrow my time to refresh my memory and post some details at some point tomorrow. If you don't have one, try to get a star atlas. Stellarium is useful but I find using a book easier.

I use this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Telescopes-Pocket-Atlas/dp/1931559317/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520534912&sr=8-2&keywords=pocket+star+atlas


Will post details of the experiment tomorrow. Am just going out for dinner.

The gold standard for these is Arrow Street Maps. Here's a link to the RI state book, which will have special pages just for PVD:

https://www.amazon.com/Rhode-Island-Street-Atlas-Official/dp/1557514054

You could either pull those pages out and carry them in page protectors, or photocopy them.

And yes, The Map Store up on Main Street should carry this book. This appears to be the current version of it: http://mapcenter.com/store/rhode-island-street-atlas-w-se-mass-se-conn/dp/5771

This is an awesome thing to look at if you're baked. Excuse me for assuming you smoke bud; hookahs smokers usually get down with that.

I want this stellar poster so bad. I figure the odds of winning are astronomical.

If you want something more practical, this is an AC power supply for my telescope.

I cant find the exact, but I ordered it off of Amazon for like ~$11. This is similar and I think the same seller/maker.
http://www.amazon.com/Rand-Mcnally-World-Classic-Wall/dp/0528934767/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418401746&sr=1-12&keywords=world+map

Reviews say the magnets fall off easily. Paper maps with pushpins work much better: https://www.amazon.com/Decorator-Laminated-National-Geographic-Reference/dp/0792283090/ref=pd_sbs_201_19?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BPQ30V68HS9ZA2EKCQ2P

Theres a nice poster-length, high quality map of the trail from i think natgeo. Amazon might have it for sale.

Edit: https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Pacific-inches-Reference/dp/1597755826. They also have at and cdt maps linked from the same page.

I think Sky and Telescope's pocket atlas is a good resource.

National Geographic map off Amazon or the NatGeo website.

Huge version

Large version (what I have)

Medium version

I'd go for any map from National Geographic. I have this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0792283090/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1466813745&sr=8-2&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=national+geographic+world+map&dpPl=1&dpID=61p5k71NQ-L&ref=plSrch

Highly recommended. Has enough information that you can see something new every time you look at it.

To follow up on my earlier comment: in the atlas I referenced, a 5-degree FOV is nearly identical to the diameter of a quarter - so if you go this route, use a quarter to form your circle of wire.

Also -- from my suburban neighborhood (orange according to your map, but probably more likely yellow at the small scale), last year I was able to barely see the Leo Triplet with my 8" Dob so it is possible under your conditions. Just don't expect more than a fuzzy blip for the non-Messier member.

Pacific-centered World Map

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0792293193/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_5ecxxbJXDEAHY

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1597750603/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_bgcxxb58NFPDS

a map is probably the most boring thing I've got, until this morning the answer would have been a single No 2 pencil.