Tap “Choose from List” to see a list of locations, sorted by country. You can also search for any location in SkySafari’s database by entering its name in the search field above the list of countries. If SkySafari finds more than one location which matches the name you entered, it will list all matching locations, and you can choose the one you want.
Mars through 8 inch telescope will give you great views but don’t be too disappointed if you have something smaller. You can still see major dark surface areas and polar caps of Mars with a 3 — 5″ aperture, with practice and training of mind and eye over several sittings. Looking for a telescope to view Mars with enough power to see its surface features? At different times of the year, you’ll see Mars in the night sky rising above the horizon. It’s a good idea to check online schedules for when best to see Mars for your specific location.
Two distant objects can appear as the same object if they’re close enough together. Like our eyes or even a telescope, every light sensing device is characterized by a quantity called resolution. The better the resolution, the farther can the two objects be while still appearing as separate. The Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope takes the best features of both worlds.
Our chosen landing spot in the simulated view shown above is Gusev Crater, the expected landing site of NASA’s Spirit rover, one of two probes the agency has arriving in January. Mars is so dusty and full of haze that it will take a night of good seeing, plus a skilled photographer that can process stacked images to make the planet look like it does in pictures. During Solar Transits – With a proper Solar Filter, Venus is large enough to be seen as a black dot moving across the Sun even with the naked eye!
Here amateur astronomers give tours and introductory lectures, and guides point out the constellations and let visitors gaze at stars and planets through a number of small telescopes. Everyone can marvel at the view of star clusters and nebulae through the observatory’s 30-centimeter (12 inches) telescope. Since the late 20th century new products have revolutionized amateur astronomy. Discover the best telescope for beginners right here! is the GOTO (for “go to”) computerized (and usually motorized) telescope mount. In the past, one often had to consult detailed star charts to find faint objects.
If your observing list doesn’t appear in SkySafari, make sure it’s a valid SkySafari observing list file, and that its name ends with “.skylist”. If all else fails, you can email your observing list to Simulation Curriculum technical support, and we can try to debug it for you. To export an observing list (.skylist) file from SkySafari, drag and drop it from the list of SkySafari documents to your computer’s desktop.
Constellations, and even individual stars have these stories, varied across cultures and times. Obviously, don’t look right at the sun because it will injure your eyes, but learn it’s patterns. Not only that, but there is so much detail and nuance to learn about the Earth’s lone natural satellite. So while you observe it, learn about how it formed, why it’s cratered, why we only ever see one side of it. A quick internet search should turn up local, state, and national parks near you. Those are going to be your best bet for finding a nice, dark spot from which to see the stars.
In SkySafari Plus and Pro, note that the horizon is not visible if you are not displaying the sky chart using horizon coordinates! Local Sidereal Time is displayed near the bottom of the Date settings view. This indicates the hour of right ascension that is currently on your local meridian, and is sometimes used for aligning a telescope. The Date & Time view can be set to use the current time, or can be set to a specific time/date in the past or future.
Again, both of these are on alt-azimuth mounts (which in turn are set on tripods). I can reliably find and track objects manually without any fuss. On the other hand, if you, or the intended recipient is super-serious about the stars, then feel free to forgo my advice and head straight for a serious telescope. Check out the gray blotches on the moon – named maria – that early astronomers thought were seas. They formed 3.5 billion years ago when asteroid-sized rocks hit the moon so hard that lava seeped up through cracks and flooded the impact basins. These lava plains cooled and eventually formed the gray “seas” we see today.