Page 6 - How To's
Looking to learn how to polar align your mount? How to balance your equatorial mount? How to use a bahtinov mask? Then this page is for you! This page was created to give beginner and experienced astronomers alike new tips and tricks that will improve your astronomy adventure.
- February 23, 2022
There are many ways to improve your astrophotos but beginner imagers should focus on perfecting a few things. One of those things is taking proper calibration frames.
- January 03, 2022
The moons of Saturn have long fascinated astronomers. As of this article being published, Saturn has 82 known moons with the number increasing. However, generally speaking, only eight of these moons can be successfully observed by an amateur.
- December 23, 2021
Variable stars have long been recorded in the night sky, ranging as far back as possibly some 3,000 years ago when the bright star, Algol, might have been noticed as dimming by the ancient Egyptians. Variable stars are stars that change in their luminosity...
- December 20, 2021
Achieving top performance from your Schmidt Cassegrain telescope is easier than most folks realize and certainly worth the effort for obtaining the best views possible from your instrument. Accurate collimation is extremely important for these compound...
- September 29, 2021
A German Equatorial Mount (GEM) can be an absolute game-changer for your astrophotography. This ingenious mount will enable you to take long exposures of the nighttime sky without trailing. With the right preparation, it is guaranteed to help you take...
- July 09, 2021
The Andromeda Galaxy (also known as Messier 31, or M31 for short) is one of the most spectacular celestial sights one can see in the night sky. It’s the only galaxy in the northern hemisphere that’s easy to spot with the naked eye and it lies 2.5 million...
- March 22, 2021
1
Astrophotographers must align their equatorial mounts to the North Star, Polaris. Polaris is currently the closest star to the celestial north pole and the objects in the night sky essentially rotate around this point. Mounts aligned to Polaris can effectively...
- January 19, 2021
Let me share a little-known secret with you….. deep sky imaging is easier than ever before and the necessary techniques that can yield excellent results can be mastered in a very short amount of time!
- January 04, 2021
Of the eight planets in our solar system, only five are visible to the naked eye in our night sky: Mercury and Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The last two planets in our solar system, Uranus and Neptune, are so faint that they were only discovered...
- January 04, 2021
There are dozens of factors that come into play the moment you step outside with your telescope. Thermal dynamics (or thermodynamics), atmospheric conditions, light pollution, and cloud cover are just some of the forces that could work against you.
- November 16, 2020
Congratulations! You’ve purchased your first telescope - an optical time machine that will help you explore our amazing Universe. You may have aspirations of discovering comets or becoming a published astro-imager someday; or you might want to simply...
- July 12, 2019
You might be tempted to wait until the next full moon to get a good view of everything there is to see, but surprisingly enough, this actually isn’t the best time for lunar observation. The Moon is “full” when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon...
- July 12, 2019
While it doesn’t 100% prevent dew buildup the entire night, a dew shield will prevent dew from immediately forming on your front-end lens or corrector plate. The dew shield will also help insulate your telescope, keeping it warmer and the temperature...
- July 12, 2019
We live in an age where it’s all too easy to go outside with your smartphone or a GoTo telescope, point it at the sky, and have it show you where to look. A GoTo telescope can even suggest something exciting and aim itself at that object. But a...
- June 13, 2018
Turn off your lights and head outside on a clear, dark night. Leave your cell phone behind. If you have a planisphere, bring it with you. A planisphere, or star wheel, is a simple way to locate which constellations are up and where they are placed in...
Subscribe to the
New articles every week!
Recent Posts
