New Online Course Helps Southern-Hemisphere Star Gazers Learn The Night Sky

Sept. 13, 2011 - PRLog -- To help beginning star gazers in the southern hemisphere learn the night sky, the popular astronomy website One-Minute Astronomer has released a new course entitled "Stargazing for Beginners: A Binocular Tour of the Southern Night Sky".  With detailed maps and instructions, the course takes star gazers through a complete year-long tour of the bright stars and constellations of the deep-southern night sky, and shows how to find hundreds of stars, star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae using only a simple pair of binoculars.  The course is ideal for new star gazers who wish to learn the night sky as seen from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and South America, for example, or for northern star gazers who wish to know more about the southern night sky.  More information about the course is available at One-Minute Astronomer http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/southern-sky/

"Star gazers in the southern hemisphere are blessed with perhaps the finest sights in the night sky", says Brian Ventrudo, publisher of One-Minute Astronomer.  "The Magellanic Clouds, the richest section of the Milky Way near the Southern Cross, the star clusters of Centaurus… these are amazing sights without equal in the northern sky.  But until now, there have been few guides to the deep-southern sky, and no comprehensive online course to help new star gazers find their way around."

As the publisher of the One-Minute Astronomer, Ventrudo noticed the enthusiasm of his southern-hemisphere subscribers and their keen desire to know more about the southern sky.  "More than a quarter of the 22,000 subscribers to One-Minute Astronomer live in the southern hemisphere, and I've found most are impassioned star gazers", says Ventrudo.  "Many are frustrated with a lack of online information about the southern night sky and demanded a more detailed guide."  

"Stargazing for Beginners: A Binocular Tour of the Southern Night Sky" covers every constellation visible from mid-southern latitudes, along with dozens of bright stars and more than a hundred deep-sky sights visible in binoculars.  The course includes downloadable notes in PDF format, more than thirty detailed star maps, and audio notes to play with an iPod or MP3 player.   No previous knowledge of astronomy or the night sky is assumed.  More information about the course is available at http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/southern-sky/

About One-Minute Astronomer

One-Minute Astronomer is an online magazine that publishes short, easy-to-read articles about star gazing for beginning and experienced amateur astronomers.  Subscribers receive emails each week with a link to a brief informative article about fascinating celestial objects, tips on how to select and use equipment, and interesting historical vignettes about famous astronomers and their discoveries.  Each article takes only a minute or two to read and is suitable for even the busiest astronomy buff.  Subscription to One-Minute Astronomer is free, and all back-issue are available in an online archive.  To get more tips on observing the night sky, visit http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/sign-up/