Star Gazing's Electronic Assist

One of our favorite pastimes while on watch at night is to gaze at the sky and pick out planets, constellations, and individual stars. This usually requires frequent consultations of the almanac (and other primitive tools), and plenty of time spent glancing back and forth from sky to page.

Now Celestron has solved that problem with the introduction of the $399 SkyScout. From their website:

The SkyScout is a revolutionary handheld device that uses advanced GPS technology with point and click convenience to identify thousands of stars, planets, constellations and more.

Identify
Simply point the SkyScout at any star in the sky and click the "target" button.

The SkyScout will tell you what object you are looking at.

Locate
To locate a star or planet, select the object's name from the menu and follow the directional arrows through the viewfinder.

Once it has helped you identify the heavenly body you are looking at, the SkyScout will entertain and educate you with facts, trivia, history and mythology. With over 6,000 stars, all 88 constellations, and over 100 galaxies, nebulae & star clusters, a clear, moonless night on passage will pass all too quickly.