Am I the only one who thinks star charts are overrated for backyard viewing?

Everyone always says to start with a planisphere or app to find stuff, but I spent 6 months just looking up at my yard in Phoenix without one. I learned the constellations better by just memorizing Orion and working outward each night. A chart actually distracted me from noticing the faint stuff like the Crab Nebula. Has anyone else had better luck just winging it?

3 comments

3 Comments

xenawhite5d ago

Same here. Ditching the chart helped me spot way more.

jesse_craig265d agoMost Upvoted

I used to swear by the chart, @xenawhite, until I tried your way and it clicked for me.

tara7454d ago

Six times I checked my chart before I realized I was just wasting time staring at lines instead of looking up. It wasn't until I forgot my chart at home one day and just went by sky color and wind that I saw a bald eagle circling right above me. I get the point of the tool for beginners but people act like tossing it is some huge breakthrough. You're not curing cancer you're just birdwatching. Maybe we should all calm down and just enjoy what we see.