Top 20 Astronomy Tips

Our top astronomy tips to help you get the best from your telescope and enhance your enjoyment of the night sky. For purchase links and index scroll down.

You can go straight to the topic that interests you on the timecode index below, and you can explore any of the tips in more detail in a back catalogue of videos on our channel.

RED flashlight or torch: Beware, most are vastly too bright for astronomy. Our favourite red torch, (branded Celestron or SkyWatcher) has switchable red and white light LEDs and has adjustable brightness:

To purchase on Amazon.com
Red and white LED flashlight. https://amzn.to/3sRKSaD
Or https://amzn.to/3f5Xarb

To purchase on Amazon.co.uk
Red and white LED torch. https://amzn.to/39ffNFS

For a Moon or neutral density filter, ideal for telescopes over 100mm aperture, the Celestron and SvBony brands fit all 1.25" eyepeieces, and both have good quality glass filters:

To purchase on Amazon.com
Celestron. https://amzn.to/3ocRsEZ
SvBony. https://amzn.to/2M2Bbpg

To purchase on Amazon.co.uk
Celestron. https://amzn.to/3sSV2rr
SvBony. https://amzn.to/3sVxoL2

For the "Swiss army knife" of filters, a good quality 80A blue filter, ideal for telescopes over 100mm aperture (for over 100mm see 82A filter below):

To purchase on Amazon.com
80A blue filter. https://amzn.to/2Y4y7va

To purchase on Amazon.co.uk
80A blue filter. https://amzn.to/2MlGjV2

For telescopes under 100mm aperture an 82A blue would be better as it's a little less dense:

To purchase on Amazon.com
82A blue filter. https://amzn.to/2MftYlq

To purchase on Amazon.co.uk
82A blue filter. https://amzn.to/2Y6UEYj

For an observing log (an old page per day diary works well - and just date pages as you go) but if you'd prefer something new and bound, we've found a few here:

To purchase on Amazon.com
https://amzn.to/2YiIE67

To purchase on Amazon.co.uk
https://amzn.to/3omXeUL

Disclosures: All opinions are our own. If you click on one of the product links above and choose to make a purchase, our channel will receive a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate/Affiliate, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

00:00 Hello
00:39 Love the dark
01:02 Get a red torch - see purchase links below
01:33 Dark-adapted vision
01:46 Smartphones?
02:18 Swedish Chef dress code
02:30 Setting up your telescope
03:09 Take the whole cap off
03:30 Setting up tripods
04:08 Optimising tripods
04:21 Use both eyes (a Cyclops can skip this)
04:41 Toffee apple syndrome
05:28 Temperature acclimatisation
06:05 Observing the Sun safely
07:46 Collimation
08:10 Improve focussing
09:28 Make a focus mask
11:10 The safest solar finder
12:11 Moon filter: less in more - see purchase links below
12:31 The Blue #80A - the Swiss Army knife of filters! See purchase links below
12:58 Hacks for using filters
13.27 Make deep-sky fuzzies pop
14:02 Eyepiece tray upgrade
14:31 Improve your views of the Sun
15:11 Things to do with card when you're board
15:49 Rock your scope!
16:24 Averted vision technique
17:00 Keep an observing log

Warning: Making telescope accessories out of cardboard could seriously damage other peoples wealth (Do they mean me? RJD).


A short note on the topic of numerical inexactitudes.
Before some of you start thrashing your keyboards to shrapnel - yes, we know there are over 30 tips not just the 20 of the title! But we thought 20 sounded so much friendlier than 34! 20 is such a flouncy-bouncy sort of number, so much more rounded, less angular and awkward than 34. And we were worried you might not be able to stomach the idea of 34 astronomy tips in one sitting! But this means we gave you 70% more than you were expecting to get in the 18-minute video! Wow, this means you got two astronomy tips per minute -- that's got to be some sort of YouTube record!

Clear skies,
Robert

Presented by Robert J Dalby FRAS

Produced by DB Video Services for Astronomy and Nature TV