8 Tips I Wish I Knew Before I Started Stargazing

Almost anyone can get a good view of the night sky without specialist knowledge or equipment. However, some things will certainly go a long way to making your stargazing experience the best it can be if you’re a newbie—tips that I wish I’d known before I started!

1

Account for the Moon Phases

Stargazing is best when not much of the moon is on display. In other words, you’re more likely to see more stars when the side of the moon facing away from Earth is illuminated.

A new lunar month begins every 29.5 days or so, and lunar months follow eight phases:

There’s nothing worse than going outside to do some stargazing, only to realize a blazing full moon will scupper your chances of seeing anything faint. Many wall calendars point you in the right direction in this regard, showing a filled-in circle for new moons, an empty circle for full moons, and half-filled circles for the first- and third-quarter phases.

Various websites—such as Time and Date AS—give detailed information regarding the moon’s rise and set times and the lunar phase dates, so check them out when planning your next stargazing session.

2

Get Away From (or Above) City Lights

In the section above, I talked about the impact of natural light pollution emanating from the moon. However, I can’t underestimate the effect that artificial light pollution has on your stargazing endeavors.

Below is an illustration of the Bortle scale, where 9 represents the highest amount of light pollution you often get in the middle of a city, and 1 represents the lowest amount of light pollution that comes with the most rural skies.

Use Light Pollution Map to find out where your current location sits on the Bortle scale and, more importantly, the closest place to where you live that sits within a lower number on that scale. Click or tap anywhere on the map to find the Bortle class for that location.

3

Give Your Eyes Time to Adjust

It takes your eyes some time to adjust to the darkness when you’ve been previously exposed to bright lights. This is because the light-sensitive cells in your retina need time to regenerate a molecule (rhodopsin) that allows your eyes to become more sensitive to dark environments, and your pupils need time to enlarge to let in more light.

The process can take up to an hour to complete fully, so patience is a virtue! That doesn’t mean you can’t start stargazing straightaway—you’ll notice more stars gradually coming into view as your eyes work hard to adapt—but the longer you wait, the better your view will be.

4

Learn the Sky Map

I only learned this tip naturally as I went along, but I wish I’d known before heading outside and looking upward for the first time. Once you learn where one constellation is compared to another, finding more intricate celestial objects—a process known as star hopping—will become a lot easier.

For example, once you’ve located the Big Dipper, an asterism of stars that forms part of the larger Ursa Major constellation, you can use it to locate the North Star, Polaris. Draw a line between the last two stars in the bowl of the saucepan, and extend the line until you reach Polaris, located in Ursa Minor.

Similarly, you can extend the first down-stroke in Cassiopeia’s W-shaped formation to locate the Great Square of Pegasus. Hanging off one corner of this asterism is the Andromeda Galaxy, which is visible to the naked eye in dark skies.

I use three tools to help me learn the sky’s layout. To learn the best star hopping tips, I quickly flick through the relevant pages of The Practical Astronomer. Then, just before I head outside, I review my Philip’s planisphere, as it helps me acquaint myself with what will be where in the sky. Finally, once I’m outside, I use the SkySafari app to help me locate certain objects if I’m struggling.

5

Look for Planets First

If you’re in a dark sky area, the constellations can be easily lost among the magical tapestry of stars pinned to our outdoor ceiling. In this case, you can use some of the planets’ distinguishing features to orient yourself to what’s where, and you can also sometimes spot several planets at the same time.

For example, even though Mars is only around half the diameter of Earth, its red surface, caused by dust from red rock rich in iron oxides, makes it stand out in the sky. On the other hand, when at its brightest, Venus is outshined only by the moon. Its brightness comes from sunlight reflecting from its dense clouds and the planet’s closeness to Earth. Finally, if you have a pair of binoculars, you’ll spot Jupiter’s four largest moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

6

Understand the Motion of the Sky

As well as rotating on its axis once every 24 hours relative to the Sun, forming our day-night cycle, our planet also orbits the Sun once every 12 months, forming our year.

However, confusingly, there is another type of day we experience—the sidereal day. Sidereal means “to do with the stars,” so a sidereal day corresponds to one rotation of the Earth in relation to the stars. It lasts 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds, and this nearly-four-minute difference between the sidereal and solar days means that the stars and constellations appear to move slightly westwards from one night to the next.

If you head outside every day for a week, you’ll spot this slight movement, thus understanding the motion of the sky. You’ll also notice the best time to head outside to see certain planets and constellations before they drop beneath the horizon.

7

Don’t Buy Expensive Equipment (Yet!)

Amazed by what you see with the naked eye, you might be tempted to fork out for an expensive telescope. My advice, however, is to hold off a while and take some other steps first.

The best starter tool for looking further than your naked eye will take you is a decent pair of binoculars. My Celestron Skymaster 15×70 binoculars let me see Jupiter’s moons, the individual stars of the Pleiades, the Andromeda Galaxy, and other intricate objects in amazing detail for less than $200. The benefit of buying a powerful pair of binoculars is that you can also use them for other activities, like planespotting or wildlife-watching.

Then, once you know you’re a dedicated stargazer, add a cheap telescope to your toolkit. I bought a second-hand Seben 76/700 reflector telescope for less than $100, which helped me learn the importance of leveling and mounting, using the finder scope to first locate objects, the impact a Barlow lens has on magnification, and the benefit of a moon filter.

Finally, if you’re in a dark sky area, find yourself outside pretty much every evening, and want to look deeper into space, it’s time to upgrade to a more permanent scope, like a computerized “go-to” telescope, which makes finding and tracking celestial targets much more straightforward.

8

Wrap Up Warm, Be Patient, and Enjoy!

Since the best nights for stargazing are the clearest, they’re often also the coldest. Be prepared for lower temperatures to make your stargazing endeavors far more comfortable. As well as a warm hat and coat, invest in some fingerless gloves, so you can still access your phone, adjust your tripod, or switch the settings on your telescope. I always have a flask of coffee by my side to keep me going (and warm!).

If you want to make the most of your stargazing experience, you can expect to sit or stand outside for long periods. The longer you’re outside, the more chance you have of discovering things you didn’t previously know were there, which is why patience is a keyword in astronomy. So, comfy shoes and waterproof trousers should be towards the top of your stargazing must-haves!

Once you’ve navigated your way around the sky, it’s time to take photos of your best starry views. Using the 500 rule—in other words, dividing 500 by the lens’ focal length—will give you a good idea as to the maximum shutter speed you can use to get clear shots. For example, if you take a photo with a 20mm lens, the maximum shutter speed you should use to avoid star trails is 25 seconds.