Star Hopping - The Technique

The Technique

Star hopping uses bright stars as a guide to finding fainter objects. A knowledge of the relative positions of bright stars and target objects is essential. After planning the star hop with the aid of a star chart, the observer first locates one or more bright stars in a finderscope, reflex sight, or, at a low magnification, with the instrument to be used for observation. The instrument is then moved by one or more increments, possibly using a reticle to identify specific angular distances, to follow identified patterns of stars in the sky, until the target object is reached.

Using a telescope equipped with a properly aligned equatorial mount, the observer may also follow the equatorial coordinate system on a star map to "hop" or "slide" along the lines of right ascension or declination from a well known object to find a target. This can be assisted using setting circles.

Once an instrument is centered on the target object, higher magnifications may be used for observation.