Short guides for long nights
The Plough · Ursa Major
Seven stars make the Plough, a saucepan to most of us and the hindquarters and tail of the Great Bear. Follow the two at the front of the pan, from Merak through Dubhe, and they point to Polaris. Through the night every other star wheels around it, while the North Star stays put.
How to find the North StarLearnRA 12h 18mDEC +56°
Skip introEverything here takes less than ten minutes to read and works from any back garden. Each guide is written by the people who run our telescope nights.
- First night4 min readHow to find the North StarTwo stars in the Plough point straight to it. Once you can find Polaris, you will never be lost under a clear sky.
- Any telescope5 min readPhotograph the Moon with your phoneHold the phone to a telescope or binocular eyepiece and turn the brightness down. The craters will surprise you.
- Big ideas6 min readWhat a light-year really isNot a time but a distance: how far light travels in a year. Here is how to make the number mean something.
- Buying advice7 min readChoosing your first telescopeIgnore the magnification on the box. What matters is the width of the opening and how steady the stand is.
- First night4 min readReading a star chartWhy east is on the left, what the circles mean, and how to hold a chart so the sky matches.
- Every night4 min readHow your eyes adapt to the darkIt takes twenty to thirty minutes to see the faintest stars, and one glance at a white screen to lose them.
