Star Hopping 101

Star Hopping 101

Good Charts are a Must!

To work most efficiently you need two finders

Charts you will need

Field of View Circles will make your life easier

Easier to Find Stuff in Dark Sky

At the Edges of a City

Paper charts use the convention of north up

Visual Mapping from Charts to the Sky

What it looks like in a Newtonian

Schmitt Cassegrain/ Refractor

Star Hop Example

Locate Auriga in the Sky

Locate Area Visually

Verify Location with Finder

Verify Location and Rotation

M37 View in Eyepiece

If you are in a non-tracking scope finding west is easy

Hop to M36 & M38

Some other hints

How to see stuff

Planetarium Programs

Paper Charts

More References