Stargazer's Atlas Astronomy Tools & Reference
v1.0.0

Reference

All 28 tools

Every piece of equipment covered on this site, filterable by category and observing stage. Nothing here is sponsored and nothing is for sale — the descriptions say what each item does to the light and where it fails.

Technical line drawing of a refractor telescope Refractor Telescope A lens at the front, an eyepiece at the back — the simplest and most robust optical path. Telescopes & Mountssetup Technical line drawing of a reflector telescope Reflector Telescope Mirrors instead of lenses — the most aperture per unit of money, at the cost of collimation. Telescopes & Mountssetup Technical line drawing of a catadioptric telescope Catadioptric Telescope Lenses and mirrors folded together — long focal length in a short, portable tube. Telescopes & Mountssetup Technical line drawing of a equatorial mount Equatorial Mount One axis pointed at the pole, so tracking a star needs only one motor. Telescopes & Mountssetup Technical line drawing of a alt-azimuth mount Alt-Azimuth Mount Up-down and left-right, which is how you already think about the sky. Telescopes & Mountssetup Technical line drawing of a tripod Tripod The least glamorous component and the one that most often limits the view. Telescopes & Mountssetup Technical line drawing of a plössl eyepiece Plössl Eyepiece The symmetric four-element default — clean, cheap, and honest about its limits. Eyepieces & Opticsobserving Technical line drawing of a wide-field eyepiece Wide-Field Eyepiece 60° to 100° of apparent field — the whole object, with room around it. Eyepieces & Opticsobserving Technical line drawing of a barlow lens Barlow Lens A diverging lens that multiplies the effective focal length of everything behind it. Eyepieces & Opticsobserving Technical line drawing of a focal reducer Focal Reducer Shortens the effective focal length: wider field, faster optics, shorter exposures. Eyepieces & Opticsobserving Technical line drawing of a star diagonal Star Diagonal A mirror or prism that bends the light path 90° so you are not lying on the ground. Eyepieces & Opticsobserving Technical line drawing of a finderscope Finderscope A low-power sighting device — because finding things is harder than seeing them. Eyepieces & Opticsalignment Technical line drawing of a uhc filter UHC Filter A wide-ish narrowband passband tuned to the lines emission nebulae actually emit. Filters & Solarobserving Technical line drawing of a oiii filter OIII Filter A tight passband on doubly-ionised oxygen — the most aggressive nebula filter. Filters & Solarobserving Technical line drawing of a light pollution filter Light Pollution Filter Blocks the specific emission lines of sodium and mercury street lighting. Filters & Solarobserving Technical line drawing of a solar filter Solar Filter The only piece of equipment on this site that protects your eyesight rather than your image. Filters & Solarsetup Technical line drawing of a herschel wedge Herschel Wedge A prism that dumps 95% of the light out of the back — full aperture, true colour, no film. Filters & Solarobserving Technical line drawing of a cmos camera CMOS Camera The sensor that replaced DSLRs for serious imaging — cooled, monochrome or colour. Imaging & Astrophotographyimaging Technical line drawing of a dslr adapter DSLR Adapter The cheapest way to start imaging with a camera you already own. Imaging & Astrophotographyimaging Technical line drawing of a guide scope Guide Scope A small second telescope that watches a star so the main camera can expose for minutes. Imaging & Astrophotographyimaging Technical line drawing of a autoguider Autoguider The software and interface loop that turns star drift into mount correction pulses. Imaging & Astrophotographyimaging Technical line drawing of a filter wheel Filter Wheel Motorised slots so one imaging run can cover L, R, G, B and narrowband without touching the rig. Imaging & Astrophotographyimaging Technical line drawing of a dew heater Dew Heater A resistive band that keeps optics a couple of degrees above the dew point. Imaging & Astrophotographysetup Technical line drawing of a star atlas Star Atlas A printed or digital map of the sky — still the fastest way to find anything. Observing Accessoriesobserving Technical line drawing of a red flashlight Red Flashlight Preserves the dark adaptation that took twenty minutes to build. Observing Accessoriessetup Technical line drawing of a observing chair Observing Chair Keeps your eye at the eyepiece height — you see more when you are not contorting. Observing Accessoriesobserving Technical line drawing of a lens cleaning kit Lens Cleaning Kit For the rare occasion when optics genuinely need cleaning — not for dust. Observing Accessoriessetup Technical line drawing of a planisphere Planisphere Two discs and a rivet — the whole visible sky for your latitude, right now. Observing Accessoriesobserving