How many times have you been out observing or imaging under a dark night sky and said something like “Now where did I put down that pesky red-light torch?” Or worse, you’ve popped inside for a hot chocolate, come back out again having lost your night vision and kicked the leg of your tripod, losing whatever you were imaging or observing! We’ve all done that sort of thing at some time, but there is a simple remedy I can offer – luminous self-adhesive tape.
This is easily available online, sold as a safety aid. I wind some round each foot of several of my tripod mounts, so I can always tell where they are and have so far avoided tripping over them. One thing I have inadvertently kicked in the dark in the past is a “torpedo” waterproof junction box that I use to join two power cables stretching from either my greenhouse to a telescope or when at a Star Party from my caravan. This is now well illuminated with strips of tape and easily visible on the ground. Another small strip is on the padlock to my telescope shed with another on the key. I sometimes use a magnifying glass if I wish to read a star atlas, so tape is wound round its handle. I’ve also attached small lengths of this luminous tape to the clutches on my NEQ6-Pro mount, as I always seemed to struggle to find them in the dark.
The accompanying pictures show some of these uses, and I hope will make things easier for you if you take up the idea. If you do then please remember to “charge” the tape by leaving it out, preferably in full sunlight, or under an electric light, before your observing session. It should glow brightly enough for you for about three or four hours. If however, you need a longer period of illumination then I suggest you consider tritium isotope lights, but I’ll talk more about that in my next AstroHack.
By John Axtel
November 2024