As a very intermittent observer (ie time challenged / lazy) ,I find  identifying and locating celestial objects hard going. I would love a Heads Up Display that could identify whatever object I happened to be looking at and could also tell me how to find specific objects by following my gaze and giving simple instructions  (‘up a bit’, ‘left’, ‘up more’, etc …) . I am happy so say that the Celestron Sky Scout seems to do the trick.

The device is a squat viewfinder roughly the shape of a brick with a text-capable screen, a rocker and a few buttons along one side. It does not enhance the image in the viewfinder in any way I could discern. But that doesn’t matter. Thanks to GPS and other technologies it knows how it is oriented in space. Combining this with an internal small database of the night sky, the Sky Scout basically knows what you should be seeing when you look through the viewfinder.

Setting up the Sky Scout just involves turning it on and giving it a few minutes alone to find its bearings.  It runs off two AA batteries so no wires apart from the basic headphones supplied with it.

The device has two basic modes: ‘identify’ and ‘locate’.

In ‘identify’ mode, you center the viewfinder on an object of interest and press a button, almost like taking a photo with an ungainly camera. The text display lists the objects you that were in or very close to the center of the viewfinder when the button was pressed. You select an entry (almost certainly the first one in the list) and information about the object is displayed. You can also opt to listen to a description of the object instead using the headphones supplied.

In ‘locate’ mode, you select an object, using a rocker switch and the display and then look through the viewfinder. Small red lights appear in the direction (or directions) in which you should move the viewfinder in order to locate the object (‘up’, ‘right’ etc). The lights provide feedback in real time as you  move the viewfinder in a simple but intuitive way. When the object in question is centered in the viewfinder, all the direction lights flash briefly to let you know.

The Sky Scout has other features too such as a guided tour of items of interest that you can see from your current location, but I have not yet spent much time on them. Being able to very easily identify objects and to find objects in an simple intuitive way is really helping me learn how to find my way around the night sky. Being able to immediately read (or listen to) information about the currently centered object makes the viewing much more engaging than simply being told the object’s name or just admiring an anonymous whitish dot. Objects are not limited to planets and stars but include galaxies, nebulae and constellations.

I have found the device  makes the night sky a lot more accessible for beginners like myself and the relatives and friends I persuade to try it out. The down side is the price. Mine cost a little over 200 euro from Amazon UK.

Now that you know such a thing exists, go check the web for more technical reviews and make up your own mind. Here is a link to the product blurb of the manufacturer.