The perfect tool for the astronomer on the go, Micro Sky is a tiny planetarium freeware application for mobile phones. It can display 2,500,000 stars, 8,000 deep sky objects, the constellations, the planets, local horizon, 1,000 current comets, and minor planets. Version 3 even has Bluetooth-GPS support and an offline mode—so you won’t run up GPRS charges on your phone.

To use MicroSky on your mobile phone you will need a User and Password to login. You can register here.

You don’t need fancy equipment to appreciate the night sky—even if you live in a crowded, light-filled city.

“One of the oldest and most simple tools people have used to help skywatching is a black tube. The black tube is a useful tool for observing dim objects of deep space. The idea using of a black tube is that it prevents additional light entering your eyes. When the eyesight is narrowed it is much easier to search dim objects.”

If you’d like to use one eye, opt for a black tube sized 3–5 cm; for both eyes, choose one with a diameter of 10–15 cm. The tube can be plastic of even wooden, as long as it’s painted black.

We might not always see what’s right in front of us, but we can easily see Andromeda—located 2.3 million light years from Earth—with a telescope.

“Now, there are various ways to find Andromeda. One pretty good way to find it is that find the W-shape of Cassiopeia first. Now, look at the V-shape on right side. You see that it points down, just like an arrow. Andromeda is about 15 degrees far from the tip of the V-shape, but the arrow does not point directly to Andromeda. In fact you need to search Andromeda from the right side of the line. I think this is the easiest way to find Andromeda.”