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My neighbor said I should stop using my phone for star charts
We were out last Tuesday, looking at Jupiter. I had my phone out with SkyView. He said, 'You're missing it. Your eyes never fully adjust.' He said he uses only a red flashlight and a printed planisphere. He's been doing it since the 90s. I tried it his way for an hour. The sky did seem darker, more stars popped out. But I missed knowing exactly what I was looking at right away. Is the old school way actually better for your night vision, or is having the info on your phone worth the trade-off?
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stella_rodriguez7mo ago
Honestly, your neighbor is right about the light from your phone wrecking your night vision. That white screen is like a mini sun to your dark-adapted eyes. But the cool thing is, you don't have to pick just one way. Most astronomy apps have a true red night mode you can turn on. Use that, and keep the brightness all the way down. It protects your eyes so you can still see those faint stars, but you get your instant info too. Best of both worlds.
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tara7457mo ago
Oh man, this is such a good point. It's like @stella_rodriguez said, we're always told to put our phones away, but the real fix is just using them smarter. I mean, I see this everywhere now, like how my ebook app has a dark mode so I can read at night without waking my brain up. It's not about giving up the tool, it's about adjusting the settings so it fits into your life without messing things up. Makes you wonder what other small changes we're all missing.
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troyh556mo ago
Ever tried one of those red screen filters? I messed with one last summer and it was a total game changer for looking at star charts.
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