Tips & tricks

Start with bright objects

You should begin with brighter objects that are findable with the naked eye.

Target objects close to a bright star

Choose objects that are fairly near a brightish star in a constellation, so you don't have to do too many 'hops'.

Use a star chart

Use a good quality star chart with star magnitudes down to 8.0, or print from desktop planetarium software.

Draw on transparent material

You can draw circles for fields of view on transparent acetate film, rather than directly onto your star chart.

Use a red torch

Use a red dim torch to read your star chart to keep your night vision.

Begin your tour of the heavens

Star hopping is fun and easy to do once you have grasped how to prepare for it properly and take your time to enjoy it.