Stargazing guides for beginners
Practical guides for getting more out of a night outside: when to go, where to look, what to bring, and how to photograph what you see. Each one links to the live tools on this site, such as your city's score for tonight.
How to Watch a Meteor Shower: A Beginner's Guide
How to watch a meteor shower: the best hours, where to look, why you don't need a telescope, how the Moon and city lights cut rates, and what ZHR really means.
How to See the Northern Lights from the US
How to see and photograph the northern lights from the US: reading the Kp index and NOAA G-scale, when and where to look, and phone night mode settings that work.
Photographing the Night Sky with a Phone or a Camera
How to photograph stars, meteors and the Milky Way with a phone or a camera: steadying, focus, night mode, the 500 rule and starting settings from NASA and others.
Binoculars vs. Telescope: Which Should a Beginner Buy?
Binoculars or a telescope for stargazing? What each shows, what 10x50 means, why aperture beats magnification, and what NASA suggests a beginner buy first.
How to Find Planets in the Night Sky (and Tell Them from Stars)
How to find planets in the night sky: which you can see without a telescope, how to tell a planet from a star, when each is best, and how to use our planet pages.
Dark Adaptation: How to Get Your Night Vision for Stargazing
How long your eyes take to adjust to the dark, why a glance at a bright screen undoes it, why stargazers use dim red lights, and how averted vision helps.
The Bortle Scale: How Dark Is Your Sky?
What the Bortle scale is, what each of its nine classes looks like, how it compares with SQM readings, and how to find a darker sky near you for stargazing.
How to See the International Space Station
How to see the International Space Station: what a pass looks like, why it only shows near dawn and dusk, how to read pass times and which way to look.
Moon Phases Explained: Why the Moon Changes Shape
Why the Moon has phases, the eight phases in order, what waxing and waning mean, when each phase rises and sets, and which phases are best for stargazing.
The Best Time to Stargaze: Hour, Moon, Season and Weather
When to stargaze: when the sky gets fully dark, why moon phase matters most, how seasons and weather change things, and how our nightly sky score works.