Choosing an Astronomy Flashlight

When stargazing, the most important tool in your observing setup is not a telescope or binoculars, but rather a simple flashlight. This is because a flashlight that preserves your night vision is essential to being able to read star charts, adjust settings on your equipment, and perform other necessary tasks while observing celestial objects. There are many options for a flashlight that preserves your night vision on the market, so choosing one that best suits your needs is important.

Most astronomers use red flashlights to keep their eyes dark-adapted, which is essential for observing celestial objects. White light, such as that emitted by most flashlights, disrupts the process of dark adaptation and makes it harder to see the faint stars, galaxies, and nebulae that astronomers are seeking to observe.

Astronomy is a hobby that requires a lot of equipment, and most of it must be set up or adjusted in low light conditions. It is not easy to do this without a good flashlight for preserving night vision, since even the slightest disruption can ruin your ability to see the objects that you are trying to observe.

There are a wide variety of astronomy-friendly lights on the market, but the most important thing to consider when choosing a flashlight for preserving night vision is that it not be too bright. Often, these flashlights will be designed to have a continuous variable light level, so you can find the perfect amount of light for your specific situation and activity. You can also find lights that only turn on when you activate the switch, so that they don’t disturb your dark adapted eyes.

If you want a more portable option, there are also a number of flashlights that can be clipped onto your belt or backpack. These tend to be less bright and can be a good choice if you are observing at multiple locations during the night. Other accessories that you can get with these flashlights include tripod mount straps, and wrist straps for easier handling of the flashlight.

If you would like to build your own astronomy flashlight, it is fairly simple to do. A few pieces of rubylith film from an art store, cut to size and inserted behind the clear lens of a standard flashlight will give you a light that will preserve your night vision while still giving you enough light to perform most tasks at night. This is a very inexpensive solution to a very expensive problem, and it works great! There are also some specialized flashlights available for preserving night vision, but they are usually more expensive than the standard flashlight. It is worth the investment to get a flashlight that will fully preserve your night vision for astronomy, because it will save you money in the long run. Then you can spend more time focusing on the celestial objects that you are observing. This is what being an astronomer is all about!