I kind of wanted to get into astronomy. I have a really good pair of binoculars, but I wear glasses so it's hard to use them. I'm also surrounded by trees, so I have to lay on my back and look up!
I wish I knew someone who knew what they were doing so I could try their telescope and have them show me everything.
The best way to get started is with binoculars! I used binos for many years before I got my first scope. If you use binos, mount your binos to a camera tripod (most binos have a 1/4"-20 thread for attaching to tripods (or a monopod). It will help stabilize them so the object isn't jumping all over your field of view.
Go to a bookstore and get Sky and Telescope magazine. Every month they have a pull-out all sky map that shows you where all the major objects are, as well as a monthly article on what best to look at that month.
Also, you can get a planisphere. It's a round dialable map of the night sky that you can use any time of the year. The first thing you should do is learn all the major constellations and asterisms (parts of constellations). Once you learn them, they become a sky map themselves that allow you to find objects by hopping from one star to another to find what you are looking for.
A very good object to view this time of year is the Orion nebula. It is a nebula that is larger than our entire solar system, and it can be seen with the naked eye...and it's high in the night sky this time of year. Even from my light polluted back yard, I can see the Orion Nebula with the naked eye. Binos won't show you too much more, though it should allow you to see that it just isn't any other star.
Look for the constellation Orion. It is quite obvious in the SW part of the sky. You'll see three stars that are in an almost perfect row (those are known as Orion's belt).
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When you find that, hold three fingers together (all the way out at arm's length). Hold your fingers just under the star on the left. Just under your fingers you will see two faint, fuzzy stars (very dim and fuzzy). The one on the top isn't a star, but many stars within the Great Orion nebula (NOTE: It is the red one in the above photo, below the left star of the three in a row). It is a huge cloud of interstellar gas that is actually a star factory where many new stars are forming.
It looks like this through a telescope (of decent aperture). Though it will be fainter, less detailed and not this red.
Just remember that everything except planets will not show their true colors to your eye because your night vision can only see blues and greens. Photos can keep adding colors as they develop, but your night vision can't see reds, orange, yellow, etc. very well at all.
Also, no matter what telescope you ever get, no matter how big, you will never see anything through them that looks like the Hubble pictures. The Hubble is outside our atmosphere, so it never has to deal with the problems we do with our telescopes on the ground. The pictures in ads and on the boxes of telescopes are showing you Hubble pictures. Everything you see through a scope will be dimmer, less colorful and much, much smaller and it takes years of learning how to "see" details.
Also...one thing to remember...Your night vision takes about a half hour of almost total darkness to get your eyes adapted to see faint objects. Never use a white light flashlight...always cover it with something so it shines red. Red light will not harm your night vision. Avoid street lights and car headlights, as it will take another half hour for your eyes to adapt again.
A good beginner's book is "Turn left at Orion", which explains alot to beginners.
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