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There are two primary websites amateur astronomers use A LOT:

CloudyNights.com and AstroMart.com

CloudyNights.com is free.  AstroMart.com used to be free, but now has a variety of membership options starting at $15/year.

Both offer similar content, include Classified Ads for buying and selling used equipment.   Both have a ratings system.  Sellers and buyers there want to maintain their 5-Star rating, and a long history of excellent reviews indicates that a seller is likely to be trustworthy.  One could argue that AstroMart buying is "safer" because the fee weeds out lazy scammers.

I've heard arguments that because of the fee the AstroMart forum's activity has decreased over its free-access days.

If I have a question about equipment, there is generally a review, an article or a discussion on CloudyNights.  It's my GoTo source for pretty much everything.

There are a lot of other sites with forums, but those are the two biggies.

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Lunar Eclipse - Sunday May 15, 2022

This lunar eclipse will be a nice one if you live on the west coast.

Here's a detailed general overview:  https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/total-lunar-eclipse-may16-2022/

Here's some details for San Diego:  https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/san-diego

This guide's time and directions is based on San Diego; times will vary by time zone; direction will vary by your lattitude.

Over San Diego, the moon will rise at 7:33p already partially in the Earth's shadow.  You don't need a scope or binoculars, just a site with a view to the southeast. It will rise at an Compass Heading of 114-degrees.  Pick out a site ahead of time with a clear view to the East Southeast (24 degrees south of east (about where the sun will rise that morning).  (Troop 4:  Mt. Soledad; Kate Session's Park?  Crown Point.  The Yacht Club!).   There are two big changes to the moon during a lunar eclipse: color and "phase".   Color: most full moons are stark white once they clear the horizon.  Our atmosphere scatters light, so some sunlight will always get to the moon.  The reddish hues we seen near sunrise and sunset are the hues that get to the moon even when it's fully in shadow. Dark and red. Phase: as the moon enters the full shadow of the earth (the umbra), it appears to go from full to half to crescent to new to crescent to half to full.  It does so over a period of 90 minutes rather than 28 days. Maximum eclispse is 9:17p PST.

Note that you don't need telescopes or binoculars to see the color change or the "phase" progression.   Photos - even with your phone - will capture the changes.

(secret observer hint:  full moons are the least interesting time to look at the moon.  The terminator - the very sharp day/night line - is the most interesting part of the moon to observe.  You can see it move over the course of an hour or so: tips of mountains rise into or sink out of sunlight, valleys grow or receded as the sun rises or sets on them.  Early astronomers were able to estimate the heights of the mountains with a little shadow trigonometry.  Full moons don't have terminators:  no cool shadows!) 

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I originally started this site to support the parents and students at a couple of schools where I was placing scopes (inspired by the NHAS Library Telescope Program and supported by STEM Grants from Bentley Systems.

One of the challenges of getting a telescope is knowing where to point it.  I got my first scope when I was eight years old.  It wasn't until the GoTo revolution that I was able to target anything other than the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Orion Nebula.  

I've participated in Astronomy Outreach events and have helped friends get telescopes.  I'd like to help them "get wondrous" lest their enthusiasm wane.

I'm a long-time intermediate observer, and like other things in my life: I might not know much, but I'm eager to share it.

Enjoy!

-jeff martin

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Checkout Procedures (for school staff)

Check Out

In order to maintain a custody trail, please do not check out scopes to people not listed on the calendar within the dates shown: online calendar to show used/free dates.

Jeff will send an email if any changes are made to the schedule.

Check In

Please notify Jeff when a scope arrives.  We'll need to check "inventory" and perhaps check mirror alignment prior to notifying the next recipients.