Astro Minute

Here are some of the tools you'll need to find your way around the night sky.

What is Astro Minute?

Welcome to the Astro Minute! I'm Lauren Smyth, and with the help of astronomer and teacher Kelli Smyth, I'll be your tour guide as we explore the secrets of the night sky sixty seconds at a time.

Welcome to the Astro minute, where we’re exploring the universe sixty seconds at a time. I’m Lauren Smyth, and today we’re focusing on focusing on the night sky.

You can explore the night sky with no gear at all, but you’ll dramatically improve your view with a red flashlight, a planisphere, and binoculars. A red flashlight protects your night vision, which is reduced for at least twenty minutes by any other color of light, including that of your phone. Use the red flashlight to avoid stepping on nocturnal desert rats and also to see your planisphere, a circular wheeled chart of the sky. Turn the wheel so that your current time and date are aligned. Lie on your back and hold it above your face flat against the sky with the chart side facing you. Point the arrow marked “north” to the north. Compare the chart to the sky and see what’s up. And finally, binoculars! Even a simple pair of binoculars will startle you with what they reveal!

That’s your astro minute!