Astronomy Under Light-Polluted Skies: What's to See?
If you live where the glow of city lights washes out the starry sky, you may think that astronomical observing with a telescope would be about as exciting as snorkeling in a muddy river. What could you possibly see? As it turns out, plenty.

Filter Types
What do you do on a sunny day? Chances are you slip a pair of polarized sunglasses over your eyes. They cut down glare and appear to make colors, such as a cobalt-blue sky, look snappier. Backyard astronomers do the same thing when they thread filters into an eyepiece to, say, cut the Moon's glare or bring out cloud bands on Jupiter.

About Finder Scopes
What does a finder scope do and what's the best way to use it? We aim to explain in this informative article.

Telescope Mounts
Do you know an equatorial mount from an altazimuth? We review the different kinds of mounts, a critical component in any telescope setup.

Choosing Eyepieces
Opticians have been designing eyepieces for more than 300 years. Many classic designs (Huygens, Ramsden, Kellner, Orthoscopic, Plossl) are more than a century old. There are also some new, proprietary eyepiece designs that offer wider fields, sharper images, and/or longer eye relief.

Dealing With Dew
Dew forms on any surface that is sufficiently colder than the air temperature. The dew point varies with both temperature and humidity. Odd as it may seem, the temperature of an object exposed to the night sky rapidly becomes colder than the ambient air.

Illuminated Reticle Eyepieces
An eyepiece with an illuminated reticle (crosshair or grid) has many uses for the astronomer.

Benefits of Barlows
One of the more useful and cost-effective tools in an amateur astronomer's accessory case is a barlow lens. There are several important benefits in using a Barlow lens.

History vs. Starry Night
Sometimes there are surprises, situations where Starry Night seems decidedly wrong. Geoff Gaherty investigates such a surprise and finds that Starry Night's accuracy is vindicated.