I think people rely too much on apps for finding planets

Everyone I see on here is always using Stellarium or Night Sky to locate stuff, but I feel like we're losing the actual skill of starhopping with a map. Last month I was out with my 8 inch Dob and helped a neighbor find Saturn just by tracing from Altair through the pattern of Aquila. By the time he pulled out his phone, the battery was dead and the app kept lagging. Has anyone else found that learning the constellations the old fashioned way works better in the long run?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul_owens251mo ago

Yeah but phones die and paper sky maps don't!

claire_butler11mo ago

My husband does this thing where he prints out those free sky maps from the internet and laminates them. He's always dragging me outside to find things with a red flashlight. I gotta admit, the phone apps are nice for quick looks but there's something satisfying about finding stuff without them.