(In case you missed them, read part 1 and part 2.)

At some point, you’ll probably realize that you’d like to see more than you can with naked eyes, and you’d like to know a little more about what you’re seeing. When that happens, here are the items you should consider getting. You might already have some of these:

(1) A red flashlight with adjustable brightness. Once you’ve got your night vision, you don’t want to ruin it using a bright white light to glance at your star chart or find your drink!

My favorite all-purpose flashlight is the little white-LED Petzl Tactikka Plus headlamp with a red flip-up filter and three brightness settings. A set of AAAs seems to power it forever, and the red filter and adjustable intensity make it useful for all kinds of tasks around the boat or house. In fact, since I moved mine to the boat, I really miss it at home, so I probably need to buy another one.

(2) A pair of good-quality 7×50 binoculars. The reason I recommend 7×50s is that many cruisers already possess a pair. The qualities that make this size so useful aboard a boat are precisely the same qualities that make them a good choice for astronomical work: They offer a wide field of view, so you can find what you’re looking for and keep it in sight. They have a reasonably large objective lense, which gathers a lot of light, allowing you to see more astronomical targets as well as finding navigational landmarks in dim light. They’re not too heavy, so you can use them long enough to really see what there is to see through them. Finally, despite what you might think, 7x magnification is enough to provide enormously enhanced views, compared with the naked eye.

I’m extremely pleased by my ten-year-old Fujinon Mariners. These are just great. Lightweight, plastic-bodied, robust, and very good optics, particularly for the price. Fujinon makes a more expensive metal-bodied binocular called the Polaris, but if I’ve got a $680 pair of binoculars, all of a sudden I’ll feel like I have to be extra careful with them. The Mariners are $200, and if I accidentally damage or lose them, it’s only $200. Because of this, I USE them. I TAKE THEM on trips when there is risk of theft. I ALLOW the kids to use them. As the astronomers say, “What’s the best telescope? The best telescope is the one you have with you!” My beloved Fujinon Mariners have a permanent spot aboard the boat. As with the flashlight, this may mean I need another set for home.

(3) A star chart, or something similar. You wouldn’t go cruising without the proper charts, right? While it’s OK to go stargazing without a chart, sooner or later you’ll probably want one. There are lots of options, from free to very expensive. I suggest the free option, to start with: Heavens Above is a great site. You can generate star charts for any location, for any date/time. You can generate a table of “fly-by” opportunities to view the International Space Station or the Space Shuttle, for any location. Here’s a view to help me spot an ISS pass over Seattle On June 6. It rises near Saturn and heads right through the Big Dipper; I may be able to spot it this time!

Honestly, free online star charts are so useful that it’s difficult to recommend anything else, unless you don’t have access to the internet. In that case, consider printing out some star charts ahead of time for the locations and dates you’ll be cruising. Just choose a time about an hour after sunset, when you’re most likely to be outside. If you’re an early riser, generate charts for an hour prior to sunrise. For the basic stars and planets, you won’t need to generate separate charts for every single day…a single chart will help you identify what you can see for about a week. For fast-moving objects such as comets, it would be best to have a chart for every evening or morning you’re likely to be out observing. Artificial satellites pass overhead so quickly that you need a chart for that specific time.

If you just want to start learning the names of the stars and constellations, and you don’t think you’ll remember to print out online star charts before your trip, consider one of those round plastic star charts that you rotate to index the date and time (hint: these are called “planispheres”). If you’ve got a Pocket PC or Smart Phone, you could run Pocket Stars or Astromist (which also runs on Palm), and generate tiny but usable star charts on the fly.

(4) A tutorial of some kind. Although there are plenty of wonderful books for beginning astronomers, I’m fond of Tom Trusock’s “Small Wonders” series at Cloudy Nights. Each of the 20 or so articles takes you on a tour of a specific area of the night sky. The articles start with easy targets you should be able to spot with the naked eye, and then proceeds to some more difficult targets you’ll need your binoculars or a telescope to find. They’re northern-hemisphere-centric, and you need to select an article you can actually use during the time of year you’re observing. Trusock wrote the first set of Small Wonders articles about once a month, and they tended to focus on whatever constellation would be directly overhead during the hour or two after sunset that month, when most observers would be out viewing. Now that these articles are archives, you might have to do your own homework to figure out which article is most appropriate right now.

This ought to get you started, and could keep you occupied for years. While you might think that all the “real” astronomy buffs own enormous telescopes, many experienced observers actually spend the majority of their time behind a pair of binoculars; they like the convenience, the like using both eyes, and they’re able to see what they want to see.

In part 4, we’ll talk about advanced gear you might consider. In the meantime, print out a star chart and head outside tonight to see what you can see!