14
COOL VIEWS WITH YOUR
ZHUMELL ASTRONOMICAL BINOCULARS
You will need a small number of additional resources to successfully
employ starhopping as your night-sky positioning technique. A star
chart or atlas that shows stars to at least magnitude 5 is required.
Choose one that shows the positions of many deep-sky objects
to give yourself a wealth of options. If you don’t already know the
positions of the constellations in the night sky, you will need a
planisphere as well.
Begin by choosing brighter deep-sky objects as your destination.
The brightness of an object is measured by its visual magnitude;
the brighter an object, the lower its magnitude. Choose an object
with a visual magnitude of 9 or lower. Most beginners start with
the Messier objects, some of the brightest and most beautiful
deep-sky objects, first catalogued about 200 years ago by French
astronomer Charles Messier.
Using your star chart, determine in which constellation your
object lies and locate that constellation in the night sky. Turn your
binoculars to face this general direction. Find the brightest star in
this constellation and center your view on it. Consult your star chart
again, and determine the next brightest star between your currently
focused star and your object destination. Move your binoculars
slightly to focus and center this next star. Continue on this course,
using each star as a guidepost for the next, until you reach the area
in the sky in which the object of your hunt should be seen. Center
the object and bring it into focus. You’ve just found a deep-sky
object. If the object is still not in view, retrace your starhopping
steps and start again. Remember, expertise in this hobby will
require both patience and practice.
Good luck out there!
