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Whether you and your nerd live in a city or the country, you can marvel at the night sky. But how do you know what the best conditions are and what you need for stargazing? There are six important factors to look at when beginning to stargaze.
- Weather
- Binoculars or Telescope
- Map App
- Lights
- Moon Phase
- Location
Weather
The best weather for stargazing is a cold, windless, cloudless night. Why cold? Heat can distort the light from stars because heat creates more movement in the atmosphere.
Wind can kick up dust and create a shaky view through your eyepiece. Normally, the wind is not a problem unless it is over 20mph. Sitting down or using something like a car to block the wind can help with alleviating the shaky eyepiece.
Clouds are the obvious enemy of stargazing. Your view of even the closest celestial bodies will be obscured by even thin clouds.
Binoculars or Telescope
After reading my two previous posts, Purchasing Your First Telescope, and Stargazing With Binoculars, you will know if a telescope or a pair of binoculars is the best fit for you. If you are using a tripod make sure it is on a level and safe surface. For stargazing on nights with higher wind speeds (over 20Mph) I recommend using binoculars for better stability.
Map App
Using a Map App is one of the best ways to learn the skies. There are many that are available for both Apple and Android phones. Some of the most recommended apps are:
Night Sky 2 is an iPhone app that can teach you about astronomy as you view the sky. It also provides weather conditions including temperature and wind speeds.
Stellarium lets you see the positions of the planets based on your location. It also has a red night mode to keep your phone’s white light from interfering with your eyes’ ability to adjust to the dark.
Starwalk lets you point your phone at the sky and see what’s up there in real time. If you see something interesting, you can tap on the image to get more information.
Exoplanet is a little more advanced and sends you a notification every time a new planet is discovered. You can also point your phone toward the sky to find a planet.
If you and your nerd are old-school, you can download and print maps, or order a star map. One of the best is the Guide to the Stars
Lights
Light pollution is the artificial light that comes from buildings and streetlights that can make the stargazing experience frustration. For the best stargazing experience, it is important to get out of town and away from light pollution.
Moon Phase
The bright moon can obscure the stars to make the experience challenging. Moon-free nights will help you look at deep-sky objects, such as galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae. The best phase of the moon for looking at deep-space objects is a new phase moon or close to it. That would be in the center of the moon phase photo below. At the new moon phase, the moon is up during the day, not the nighttime.
The glare of the moon can interfere with telescopic views of deep-sky objects, especially around the full moon.
Location
Another thing that contributes to the best stargazing condition is a great location. The best locations are high above any light pollution and where you will have an unobstructed view of the sky. You want as much of the sky visible as possible to give you the best chance of spotting something interesting. Stargazing can really be done from anywhere at any time of the night as long as the sky is dark and clear. Summer is a great time to take the binoculars out for a run because they can be paired with camping or hiking in areas where there is little light pollution and you can have the darkest and clearest views of the sky.
Stargazing is a simple way to bring science alive for your nerd and share with them the beauty of the universe.
So you have your telescope or binoculars, the weather is great, the night is clear. Now what? Next week, we will look at where to start looking for planets, stars, and interesting celestial objects.
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