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The Hiker’s Guide to Finding a Good View of the Stars
If you’re not just hiking, but camping, then at some point, you’re going to find yourself looking up at a dark night sky. That is, if you can even get out of the wilderness for a little bit to find a good view of the stars. If you’re an astronomy nut and want to bring your telescope out to a location far away from the city so you can finally get a great, unobstructed view of all the stars up there, you’re not alone. But you’ll need a few tips to help you avoid some of those trees that might be hiding a few constellations.
Remember that preparation is the key. If you’re hiking in the woods and decide to come back to your camp area where there isn’t a great view of the night sky, you probably didn’t do a whole lot of preparing. Instead, take a few hiking trips where you enjoy hiking, and do this during the daytime. Try to find a view that exposes a lot of the sky: take a look around the horizon and imagine that it’s night time. If you notice a lot of trees blocking the views around the sky, just make a note of that location and see if you can find something better.
If you live in the city, finding a weekend campsite that gives you a clear view of the stars can be a real treat, so don’t give up very easily if you don’t find a site like that right away. Sometimes, even a partially-obstructed view of the night sky is amazing compared to what you might get in the light-filled city.Next, remember that it’s not a good idea to go exploring at night. If you want a good view of the stars at night, it should be where your camp site is, or at least somewhere where you can easily navigate to and from. Do all of your exploring in the day time, and don’t venture too far off the beaten path.
If you live in the city during the week and can’t do any exploring, then check out web sites that show you the positions of the stars given your time of the year and location. This will help you to identify the stars you do see when you’re looking at a more clear sky; you’ll also find this even helps you navigate – though you shouldn’t need the stars to navigate while hiking!
Photo Credits: VinceHuang
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The Beginner’s Guide to Stargazing
Part of the fun of camping, especially for the city slickers among us, is getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Living near the bright lights of a major urban area also have one drawback – the light from the city drowns out your ability to see stars at night. This is an unacceptable situation for the stargazing nut, but if you’ve never been much of an amateur astronomer, you can get started on your next camping trip. Here’s a quick guide for getting your feet wet.
Use Binoculars, Not a Telescope
There’s no sense in buying a $600 telescope if you can’t even identify the North Star. Bring along binoculars for your stargazing. You won’t exactly be able to see the footprints on the moon, but you will get a better view of the night sky, including stars behind brighter stars that the naked eye can’t quite make out. Buying a telescope before you can identify various points in the sky will probably be a frustrating experience.
On a clear night out in the campground, you should be able to make out plenty of constellations with your naked eye alone. Spotting even one or two constellations you weren’t aware of before can be an amazing experience, like the night sky is revealing something that was there all along.Identify the Easy Constellations First
It will help to bring a skymap that shows where the constellations are at a given time in the Earth’s orbit (for example, summer). Once you do this, however, try to start with the constellations that are the easiest to find. In the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, you won’t have much trouble identifying Ursa Major (including the Big Dipper), the North Star, and the Summer Triangle. For example, if you lay flat at night with your feet facing south, you shouldn’t have much trouble seeing the Summer Triangle in the left side of your view. Directly above you will be the constellation Hercules.
Finding constellations isn’t as hard as you think, it just takes a little persistence and a little knowledge of the sky. Try to study up a little bit before heading out camping this summer.
Once you know where a few constellations are, you’ll have reference points to discover all sorts of other constellations while camping in the summer. If nothing else, knowing some of the constellations and being able to star gaze will give you something to tell your kids about later in life.
Photo Credits: xamad
