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AstroHelm Docs

Quick Start

  1. Download AstroHelm from the App Store.

  2. Mount your phone

    Attach your phone to your telescope or camera so the rear camera points in the same direction as your equipment. The mount must be rigid — any play between the phone and the telescope will cause alignment to drift. See Mounting Your Phone for options.

  3. Align the reticle

    Open Finder and point your telescope at a distant landmark (a rooftop, antenna, or treetop works well). Center the same object in both the eyepiece and the on-screen reticle, then tap Save Alignment. This tells AstroHelm exactly how the phone camera lines up with your telescope’s field of view.

  4. Observe

    Tap Explore to open the catalog. Choose an object, and the HUD overlay will guide you toward it. Once plate solving locks on — shown by the green indicator in the top-left corner — the pointing will update in real time as you move the telescope.