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Watching the heavens is possibly the oldest human hobby. Whether tracking the movement of planets for guidance, or simply because you looked up from the campfire to contemplate the smoky blue extent of the milky way, staring at the stars has long been a core of part of the human experience.
With a pandemic raging about us, and the night sky virtually lost to light pollution the stars might seem a long way away. Few of us can see the milky way from our homes anymore, fewer still spend our nights around campfires, staring up at the sky. And that's too bad because there's a brand new comet, Comet Atlas, gracing our night sky right now. My kids an I watched it last night through a lens of a telescope. There was something calming knowing it's out there.
I also have good news for anyone who'd also like to peer up at the stars: it's never been easier, never been better, even if, like me, terms like declination, inclination, and azimuth mean next to nothing to you. This is where Celestron's new StarSense Explorer auto-locating telescope and companion app came in. The StarSense Explorer eliminates the technical hurdles to using a telescope and lets anyone with a smartphone locate stars and nebulas.
###Under The Milky Way
Software on our phone and desktops have long simplified the night skies by mapping out planets, providing guides, even precise locations of objects. My personal favorite is [Stellarium](https://stellarium.org/), which can be used to control a telescope on a motorized mount. Unfortunately, motorized tripods are not cheap, and getting it all set up requires a good bit of effort.
Celestron saw an opportunity to simplify things considerably. The company has taken the power of a star map and combined it with an affordable set of telescopes and mounts. The secret high tech ingredient is in fact, wonderfully low tech and completely fitting: a mirror.
Yes, the magic here is a mount that sticks off the side of Celestron's telescope and holds your phone in place. The app uses your phone's camera, pointed down into the mirror, to figure out where your telescope is pointed, and the direct you which way to move it to find whatever you want to look at.
The model I tested is the [Explorer DX 102AZ refractor telescope ($400)](){: rel=nofollow}. There's also the[ Explorer DX 130AZ ($400)](https://www.adorama.com/cnssedx130.html){: rel=nofollow}, a 130mm Newtonian reflector telescope. The [StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ ($180)](https://www.adorama.com/cnsselt114.html){: rel=nofollow}, a 114mm Newtonian reflector telescope, and the [StarSense Explorer LT 80AZ ($180)](https://www.adorama.com/cnsselt80.html){: rel=nofollow}, an 80mm refractor telescope round out the smartphone-enabled options.
The package arrived in a single large box and I was a little worried about how hard it would be to setup, but fortunately the directions were simple and I had it up and running in just a few minutes. You need to calibrate it using a fixed object at about a quarter miles out (I used a stop sign). Then you download the app and drop your phone in the holder. Officially StarSense supports the iPhone 6 and up and "most newer Android phones". I used a Nokia 7.2, which is not officially supported, but worked fine for me.
I was trying to test this in Athens GA in January and February which turned out to be some of the rainiest months on record. The first few nights I had it were mixed clouds but a full moon, so I started simple: I opened the app, tapped the moon and the arrows guided me around until I had the moon in my sights.
The process of finding an object with the app is simple, you can search or you can pan around the interface and tap something you want to see. Then the app provides arrows directing you which direction to move the telescope. The fastest thing to do is move it by hand until you're close and then you use the provided slow-motion adjusters until the app says you're in the right place.
That first night we managed to see the moon, Venus, Rigel, and Betelgeuse before the clouds took over. A couple weeks later we bright the telescope down to Edisto Island where the skies are significantly darker and it was even more fun. This time I was able to mix naked eye observations, followed by telescope observations in a way that seemed to really help my kids connect the thing in the lens, with the thing in the sky.
I also attempted the opposite, setting up the Explorer right in front of some bright street lights with the sun just barely below the horizon and it had no trouble locating stars I could not see with my naked eye do to light pollution. That said, there are probably light pollution limits worth bearing in mind if you live, for example, in midtown Manhattan.
The app is very well done, and offers plenty of objects to keep you busy for months worth of clear nights. I found that the objects recommended in the "Tonight's Best" menu were indeed some of the best things to observe. The trickiest part for me was my kids pointing up at the sky, saying, let's find that one, and then trying to find it in the app. I won't lie, I faked it once or twice, point the telescope roughly along the line of their fingers, and then picking a star at random in the app to zero in on.
None of that detracted at all from the sense of wonder you get from this setup though. Celestron has done an amazing job of taking something that's very complex and distilling it into an experience that's approachable for anyone. If you've ever wanted to get into amateur astronomy but have been put off by cost or complexity, this is the setup you want. My only caution is that this may well serve as a gateway drug. Lately, I've found myself browsing through listings for far larger, more powerful telescopes.
Right now all Celestron Explorer telescopes are [on sale at Adorama](https://www.adorama.com/l/?searchinfo=celestron+explorer){: rel=nofollow}, or directly through [Celestron](https://www.celestron.com/collections/limited-time-free-shipping){: rel=nofollow}, which is offering free shipping as well. The Explorer DX 102 featured here is [$350 at Adorama](https://www.adorama.com/cnssedx102.html){: rel=nofollow} or [Celestron](https://www.celestron.com/products/starsense-explorer-dx-130az){: rel=nofollow}.
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