Planning for The Moon
If you want to plan your trip around stargazing, it’s best to plan around the Moon. New Moon through First Quarter offer the best conditions for stargazing. After Full Moon, the Waning Moon rises later every night. Typically, the Moon is not up during our tour time within three days of the Full Moon. If you have a question about a specific night, contact us and we will gladly check the specifics for you. Here is a look at the Moon’s phases in 2025:
Planning for Planets
As we move through our orbit, the stars we see change through the year. For the stars, what we see on any particular date will be the same year to year. The rest of the planets in our solar system are also in orbit around our star, and that makes their schedule more dynamic. if you want to plan your trip around seeing certain planets, we have some tips for late 2024 through 2025.
Winter (December ‘24 - February ‘25)
Jupiter: High in the evening sky, shining bright and showing off its four largest moons.
Mars: Visible most of the night, with its reddish hue making it easy to spot.
Venus: Starting to appear in the western sky after sunset by late winter—look for its brilliant shine!
Saturn: Sets shortly after sunset until mid February.
Spring (March ‘25- May ‘25)
Mars: Visible in the early evening sky as it begins to set earlier each night.
Venus: Dominating the western sky at dusk, often the first "star" you’ll see.
Mercury: Best chance to catch it is in April, low on the western horizon just after sunset.
Summer (June ‘25- August ‘25)
Saturn: Rising in the southeast by late evening in June, becoming prominent throughout the summer.
Jupiter: Rising later in the night, but by August, it’s visible earlier and brighter.
Venus: Visible in the early evening sky, especially bright at sunset.
Fall (September ‘25 - November ‘25)
Saturn: Already high in the evening sky.
Jupiter: Reaches opposition in early fall, meaning it’s visible all night and at its brightest.
Mars: Dips below the horizon early in the evening, so catch it while you can.
Every once in a while, there are periods when no planets are visible from the northern hemisphere after sunset—leaving the Moon as the only solar system object to keep you company in the night sky.
These planet-free nights are a perfect opportunity for deep-sky stargazing. With no bright planets dominating the sky, it’s easier to focus on star clusters, nebulae, and distant galaxies, which often get washed out by the brighter solar system objects.
Even when the planets take a break, the night sky is still full of wonders—especially under the dark skies of Joshua Tree!
telescopes are incredible tools.
We use two different telescopes for our tours, they work differently and make a great team.
Celestron CPC 1100 StarBright XLT GPS Telescope
The Celestron CPC 1100 is a high-performance Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. With an 11-inch (280 mm) aperture, it gathers a significant amount of light, offering exceptionally clear and bright views of celestial objects. A Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT) is a type of compound telescope that combines the benefits of both refractors and reflectors. It uses a combination of lenses and mirrors to focus light. This design allows for a long focal length and high magnification in a compact, portable form.
Here's how it works:
Light enters through a corrector lens at the front, passes through the tube, and is reflected by a curved primary mirror at the back.
It then bounces off a smaller, secondary mirror toward an eyepiece at the back of the telescope.
This creates sharp, detailed images of celestial objects while keeping the overall telescope size manageable.
Unistellar eVscope 2 Odyssey Pro
The Unistellar Odyssey Pro is an innovative, digital telescope designed for both amateur and experienced stargazers. It’s a compact, smart telescope that uses a combination of enhanced optics and digital technology to deliver clear, bright views of the deep sky objects and produce photos we share with you.
Here’s how it works:
Enhanced Vision Technology: This technology uses a low-light sensor and real-time image processing to reveal details of deep-sky objects, such as galaxies and nebulae that are often invisible through traditional telescopes.
Smartphone Integration: The telescope connects seamlessly to a smartphone or tablet through the Unistellar app, where we can control the telescope, access a database of thousands of objects, and share photos from the scope with our guests.
Citizen Science Ready: The Odyssey Pro is designed to support citizen science initiatives, allowing us to participate in projects like detecting exoplanets, tracking asteroids, or contributing to SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) programs.
You can stargaze from ANYWHERE
A basic pair of binoculars can take you to space. Look for binoculars with specifications like 7x50 or 10x50—the first number represents magnification, while the second is the diameter of the objective lens in millimeters. Larger lenses allow more light in, making objects brighter and clearer. On our tours, we use 8x42 Nikon Aculon binoculars, which are well-built and durable enough for nightly use. When you find a pair you like, keep in mind that steady binoculars offer clearer views. Rest your elbows on your chest, lean against something sturdy, or use a tripod mount if you have one.
Find a spot with minimal light pollution, like a park or your backyard with the house lights turned off. Allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness for 15-20 minutes.
The Moon is an excellent first target—it’s bright, detailed, and easy to find. Use binoculars to observe craters, mountains, and the maria (the dark, flat plains on the Moon’s surface). You can also spot planets like Jupiter, with its bright disk and four largest moons, or Saturn, whose rings may appear as a faint band. Venus and Mars are also great targets, appearing as bright, steady lights.
Binoculars are ideal for observing star clusters like the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) or the Beehive Cluster, as they offer a wider field of view than telescopes.
Whether you prefer a physical star map or a stargazing app, having a guide helps you identify constellations, stars, and other celestial objects. We recommend Stellarium, but there are many great apps out there, so try a few to see which one you like best.
Stargazing is a meditative experience—take your time, adjust your focus, and let yourself get lost in the stars. The longer you observe, the more you’ll see!