'First star I GPS tonight'

Author: * Sokni Hvitaskald - 5 Posts on this thread out of 1,073 Posts sitewide.
Date: May 8, 2006 - 23:25

Emily Mathieu, Financial Post
Published: Saturday, May 06, 2006

If packed summer patios prove anything, it's that Canadians love spending a night under the stars. But unless they've read up on astronomy (or astrology, for that matter), not many people know what they're looking at.

Celestron, a California manufacturer of telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes and microscopes, has created a "personal planetarium." The SkyScout is a hand-held GPS system designed to help the astrologically-challenged navigate the universe.

It's simple: Plant yourself under the starry sky, aim the SkyScout at the constellation in question and hit a button.

Based on your location, the SkyScout will identify 6,000 stars, 1,500 binary and variable stars, 88 constellations and more than 100 galaxies, nebulae and star clusters.

It offers audio descriptions for several hundred of them. It also guides users, with little red arrows on the viewfinder, to the celestial body of their choice. In other words, it is like a crash-course on one of the most complicated hobbies in the universe.

"There is a big interest in space phenomena, constellations and the stories behind them," says Jennifer Adams, marketing manager with Celestron.

Because it's a GPS unit, the SkyScout offers a Top 20 list of constellations the user can enjoy based on where he or she is standing at a given date and time. Say you are standing in China and a star in your field of view is particularly bright that evening, the SkyScout will let you know.

A built-in field guide offers information on famous astronomers and the "coolest" objects man has sent into space, such as the Hubble telescope. However, Ham the "Astrochimp," the first primate launched into orbit on Jan. 31, 1961, is not on the list.

While the SkyScout offers a dizzying amount of information, it's also a primer. "Once you learn the constellations, that is really how you learn to locate things on your own," says Ms. Adams.

You can order the SkyScout from Celestron's Web site (US$399, celestron.com). The unit will start appearing in stores in June.

You can also learn more about the night sky by picking up a copy of Starmap for Beginners: 50th Anniversary Edition by I.M. Levitt (amazon.com, $11). Or, visit the StarLab at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto (ontariosciencecentre.ca).

The Telus World of Science in Calgary offers adult-level astronomy courses (403-268-8307). In British Columbia, you can visit the H.R MacMillan Space Centre (hrmacmillanspacecentre.com).

Or, you can take a trip through the universe on your home computer with Starry Night, an interactive guide to the galaxy. (see starrynight.com for prices, program and ordering details).

From:
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=c6ba7b48-5e0b-489a-bc2a-eef62341745b&k=73616