Stargazing Preparation

Recommended apps and websites While we’re not going to be with you to point out objects in the sky, there are plenty of ways to find them yourself. Technology has become pretty amazing in this regard! One thing: if you’re going to be using your phone to find options, you should turn on redshift (explainer here for iPhones). Otherwise your phone screen will ruin your night vision and keep you from seeing the things you’re looking for! Here are some apps I recommend:

● Star Walk 2 is a phone planetarium for three dollars. It has lots of detailed information about when stars and planets will rise and set, and has an artificial reality mode that will tell you what objects are in the direction that your phone is pointing towards. It also has a time function, allowing you to see what the sky will look like in fifteen minutes, an hour, or next month. (These are common features of any good stargazing app – Star Walk 2 just has nicely polished versions.)

● Night Sky is another great phone app. It’s slightly less intuitive than Star Walk 2, but it’s free (albeit with a few features locked behind a very expensive premium option) and has an augmented reality function. It’s also useful for identifying satellites, be they a Starlink

or the ISS. Its biggest con is that it has so many objects that it can be a little overwhelming and you can lose your overall view.

● Sky Map is a nice simple free phone app. It still will show you all the major constellations, stars, and planets, but less of the satellites and other smaller details. It’s particularly great for general situational awareness of the whole sky, since it allows you to zoom out all the way out and see the bigger picture. Getting oriented like that is super helpful!

● Stellarium is the best thing to use before you go stargazing. It’s a free and easy-to-use computer app that has a TON of data about everything in the sky — most my dark sky trips are planned based on what Stellarium has to say!

Equipment

It is entirely possible to do your own dark sky trip without any equipment and just appreciate what you can see with the naked eye. However, if you do you want to bring any optical aids, I have some suggestions. To begin with, I highly recommend starting with a pair of binoculars instead of a telescope. They’re easier to aim at an object, and help you get a feel for what some magnification might offer at a cheaper intro price. A decent intro pair can be had for around $30 dollars . Anything from 7x to 10x magnification is reasonable and will allow you to see more detail in certain celestial objects. If you are set on a big telescope purchase, make sure to do your research! Many an astronomy hobby has been killed by people enthusiastically purchasing a telescope that isn’t right for them. There are plenty of hobby groups online - you can look into joining the email list for a local astronomy group (maybe even in your hometown), as people there are always happy to help out a newcomer. There are also plenty of online communities, particularly on Reddit; check out r/telescopes, r/astrophotography, or r/astronomy (most of them have links to wikis in their descriptions with plenty of fun tips). This thread ( https://www.reddit.com/r/telescopes/comments/i0tzkw/an_absolute_beginners_quickguide_to_choosing_your/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) is a particularly good introduction to choosing a telescope.