Instead of a small optical scope, his StarPointer is an electronic device that can determine the orientation of the telescope it’s mounted to. Even if your target is too small or faint to see in the finderscope, just being able to get your primary telescope pointed at the right celestial neighborhood is a huge help.īut still thought he could improve on things a bit. The low magnification of the finderscope offers a far wider field of view than the primary telescope, which makes it much easier to find small objects in the sky. Its name has nothing to do with what it is-a hyperlocal weather forecasting app-but since a clear sky is as important as a dark sky it’s an important part of a stargazer’s toolkit.On astronomical telescopes of even middling power, a small “finderscope” is often mounted in parallel to the main optics to assist in getting the larger instrument on target.
It’s great for meteor showers, but only if they’re happening away from a full Moon. Figure on going at least 40 miles from a major city.
If you’re prepared to travel to dark skies to get the most our of stargazing then consider the Light Pollution Map, which will show you the dark spots between light-polluted area. It’s also got a great news and explainer section that will help you become a more skilful stargazer. Sky Guideĭesperate to see the aurora but don’t live in the far north? This beautiful-looking app puts fake aurora into the night sky as well as 24 famous constellations, 100 deep-sky objects and movements of the International Space Station. Users can focus on deep-sky objects and, most usefully, simulate the effects of Earth’s atmosphere to show a more realistic-looking night sky. This free and open source planetarium software is one of the most comprehensive with new versions looking ever more polished.
0 kommentar(er)
