This is the eighth of a series of articles about astronomy equipment to help you decide what you might like. If you have questions about a specific piece of equipment, and how it compares to alternatives, send a note to me at and I'll see what I can find out.

The star chart that you use is a very personal and individual decision. Each person finds the charts and tools that work best for them. There are some basic rules of thumb that will help you find what is right for you.

Rule #1: Planispheres. Unless you have a photographic memory, you will need some guide to help you navigate the heavens. The most general tool for this is the planisphere. The planisphere is a rotating disk in a sleeve that you tune to today's date and time. Once tuned correctly, it shows you the sky as it looks over your head. Only the brightest stars are shown, perhaps only down to magnitude 2 or 3. For naked-eye sky watching this is a great tool to find your way. Black stars shown on a white background are easier to see at night under a red light. Be sure to buy one that has the oval set properly for your latitude. They are often available in 5 or 10 degree increments.

Rule #2: Find a tool that has stars down to the magnitude that you expect to see. It can be quite frustrating when you look through a telescope or binoculars and you see many more stars than your chart shows. For naked-eye you need down to magnitude 6, for binoculars you need down to magnitude 9 or so. For my 10-inch telescope I need stars down to magnitude 15.

Rule #3: Paper charts are fine, but computer charts are divine. Even if you print the charts you need to the nights viewing, a computer lets you get exactly the level of detail and area you need. The computer programs are referred to as planetarium software and many are available. Each one is different, has its pros and cons, is oriented towards a certain telescope or astronomical activity, so ask around and see what other people with your type of equipment are using.

Some available for the PC (Windows) are (in alphabetical order so as not to offend anyone or show favorites). Those that I have actually tried are in bold. AlphaCentaure, AstroMB, Astronomica, Atlas du Ciel, Coeli, Coelix, Cartes du Ciel, Celestia, Celestial Maps, CoolSky, CyberSky, C2A, Dance of the Planets, Deepsky 2000, Deep Sky, Deep Space, Desktop Universe, Distant Suns, Earth Centered Universe, EasySky, Electric Astrolabe, Epoch 2000sk, Expert Astronomer, GrayStel, Guide, HNSky, Home Planet, HyperSky, Kagayaki, Mega- Star, MIRAPLA, MoonCalc, MyStars!, NGCView, Nuit, OpenUniverse, PC-Sky, Perseus, Planetarium Gold, PlanetWatch, PRiSM, Power Age Sky Simulator, Redshift, RIA3D Live Solar System, Sky3D, SkyChart III, Skyglobe, SkyMap, SkyPlot, SkyTools, Solar Kingdom, SPICA, STAR Atlas:PRO, StarCalc, Stargaze, Starry, Starry Night, Star- Scape, StarStrider, Stella 2000, Stellaris, Stellarium, TheSky, Touring the Universe Through Binoculars Atlas, Virtual Sky, WinAstronomica, WinStars, and many more. Many are also available for other computer platforms as well.