Korean Observatory Links
Here are a list of Korean observatories in no particular order. Most are public venues that often cater to kids groups.
International Astronomy Shopping
Proviso
You have to be careful with some outfits. I’ve had stuff sent to me that was clearly second hand. Fortunately, it wasn’t hugely expensive gear. In any case, what can you do 10,000 kilometres away faced with the prospect of shipping costs and a major hassle.
So you have to pick and choose. Here are the ones I’ve used that I recommend for service and that have done everything right by me.
Online Stores I Have Used
I recommend these stores with confidence. (But in life there are no guarantees.)
All Star Telescope - a Canadian shop run by a married couple. Payment is via Western Union money orders up front. I ordered a Barlow Powermate and 32 mm Plossl from them to see how things worked out. My money order was the fast transfer and it incurred a fee of 10%, which was a bit hefty. The store owner, Ken, was very patient and prompt in all of his replies.
Online Stores I Will Consider Buying From
Note: these are not tried and tested.
Scopecity - this is a large chain with a huge stock and stores near US military installations. It even has a store in Guam. This suggested to me that shipping to Seoul could be cheap with them. As yet untried, though. It has a very proactive feel about it, which many astronomy sites don’t give you.
Astroshop- this one is located in Germany and also presents itself as proactive and can-do. It has a very useful shipping estimate key beside each item. As yet untried for service.
I would like to note that I have tried to order from Australian stores but have met fairly lack luster salesmanship. I received my Meade from one but with a second order for accessories, I was disappointed by the result, for several reasons, and will not be ordering from there again. That is why that store does not appear here.
Astronomy Software
Astronomy software I like to use:
Stellarium is my preferred planetarium software for quick look-ups. It’s simply and straightforward, and it gives you plenty of customization options.
It’s a nuisance that a number of steps are involved in setting up telescope guidance, and this may put some people off. Also, it will only work with a limited number of scopes. These are the Meade LX200 or AutoStar telescopes, G11 or compatible, and Celestron NexStar telescopes. In addition, because you have to use subversion and compile the source, it’s easier to do things using Linux.
I’ve tried it and it works well with my LX90 in a room. I’ve yet to try it outdoors.
System: Windows / Linux / Mac.
This is a great program for Linux. It’s got a very nice interface and colour scheme. From what I’ve seen this tends to be used by a great many backyard astronomers.
The telescope guidance is no problem to set up, at least it wasn’t for me. What was a problem was getting the right-click functionality to work. Supposedly, you should be able to perform some of the same operations as the control panel. Well, unless I’m doing it wrong, and I don’t see how I am, the right-click doesn’t work at all. If I select slew, nothing happens, the scope doesn’t move. Yes, I can more it via the control panel.
What this means is that you have to manually guide the scope to a location, you can’t select and location and have it just “goto.” I find this very cumbersome. I’ll have to investigate it further because I can’t believe this is the default.
System: Linux.
This is what serious people use, apparently. The free version has to be compiled. I had a little trouble at first but then sorted it out. How you compile it for Ubuntu without any problems is document on my Linux How-To site here.
I’ve still yet to test it as a telescope guidance system.
System: Linux.
The Meade package. This seem all right, what little I’ve used of it. However, the interface is not as nice as user friendly for me as the two above. I find it a bit awkward at the moment.
System: Windows / Linux using Wine.
This seems fairly basic but it is fast. I was very impressed at how the telescope guidance worked straight away with little fuss in setting things up.
It has a list of scopes to choose from, and while the LX90 isn’t on the list, the LX200 is. I just chose that and everything worked fine. I was very impressed with how easy and accurate it was from the start.
System: Windows / Linux using Wine.
This is free and appears to be quite comprehensive. It uses the ASCOM drivers for telescope control. Graphically, at a quick glance, it seems a lot like Autostar, although has far fewer features.
I’ll be testing it further in due course.
System: Windows / Linux using Wine.
Another nice looking free one. I haven’t comprehensively tested it yet.
Software Links Sites:
Astronomy Books
After some research I settled on the following books to give me some background in astronomy. I have more listed that will be added in due course.
These books were ordered through the What the Book? website. This is the alternative to amazon.com in Seoul, and it delivers free of charge if you spend over 30,000, which I usually do. The book links below will take you to the site’s book pages.
The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide
(ISBN-13: 9781552095072) 42,460 KRW
The Urban Astronomer’s Guide: A Walking Tour of the Cosmos for City Sky Watchers
(ISBN-13: 9781846282164) 39,950 KRW
Astronomy Hacks
(ISBN-13: 9780596100605) 24,950 KRW
The Stars: A New Way to See Them
(ISBN-13: 9780395248300) 11,950 KRW
Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope - And How to Find Them
(ISBN-13: 9780521781909) 23,790 KRW
Nightwatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe
(ISBN-13: 9781554071470) 35,000 KRW
The Cambridge Star Atlas
(ISBN-13: 9780521800846) 25,490 KRW
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