It’s January — short days and cold, clear nights, especially during the coldest spells when there is little humidity in the air to make the view of the night sky hazy. What a great time to use a telescope to search the night sky for bright, colorful stars and to see the craters of the moon in shadowed relief.
Really good telescopes are an expensive investment. But you can see quite a bit of detail with a less expensive model — or perhaps with one you make yourself. What could be better than a family project of putting together a 3 3/4-inch Newtonian reflector telescope to scan the night skies? The homemade telescope in this article was made from parts purchased from a company that is no longer in business. But you can find a number of companies that sell optical mirrors and eyepieces on the Internet.
If you build one, we would love to hear how well it works. You can post the results in the comments section below.