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CIOC project identifier
EPOXI mission identifier
Dawn mission identifier
Deep Impact mission identifier

Beginner's Guide

So, you don't know what an asteroid or comet is, much less how to find and observe one in the night sky! This guide will walk you through the basics. You can do the sections in any order, but if it's the first time you're reading it, it will probably make more sense to go through them in order.

Beginner Astronomy

While this section will go through some of the basics of amateur astronomy, we will be concentrating on how it applies to you being able to see Hartley 2, the target of the EPOXI mission, and Vesta and Ceres, the targets of the Dawn mission. To learn even more about basic astronomy techniques, try the following websites:

Asteroid Track
  1. What is an asteroid?

  2. What do asteroids look like in the sky?
Comet Track
  1. What is a comet?

  2. What do comets look like in the sky?
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  1. Where are the stars?

  2. Finding stuff in the night sky
    (part 1, using a planisphere)

  3. Equipment?

  4. Finding stuff in the night sky
    (part 2, using starcharts)

  5. Recording your observations
         Sketching Tutorial

Updated: 10-Dec-2018