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The guide also addresses expected working distances, pairing with a Crayford focuser, and initial testing considerations.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":30,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/technology/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/artificial-antares-i-introduction-building-a-low-tech-pinhole-artificial-star/269398/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/artificial-antares-i-introduction-building-a-low-tech-pinhole-artificial-star/269398.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Chumphorn","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-04","2026-09-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the author decide to build an artificial star instead of using the telescope setup each time?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Collimation right before or during observing is described as a burdensome task, especially when the sky is clear. An artificial star helps fine-tune alignment more conveniently and consistently.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How are the pinholes for Artificial Antares and Artificial Arcturus produced?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"A syringe needle is used to punch many pinholes into aluminum foil against a hard, smooth surface. Hole diameters are then checked, and two sizes under 0.3 mm are selected (0.19 mm and 0.28 mm).",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What are the key components and assembly steps for the homemade artificial star box?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The author uses a cardboard box, flashlight illumination through off-center holes, aluminum foil pinhole covers, and diffusion plates made from colored CD-case flaps. Black card is added to block unwanted light and create contrast, then the diffuser is swapped and the flashlight is flipped to use the two pinhole sides.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},269398,1790437736,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":29,"category_name":30,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":46},2336475401981,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000c94efd8d5204d?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786935347598174694","Artificial Antares  \n(or the story of a poor man’s, low tech artificial star) by Carlos Nogueira click to email author  \nI) Introduction:  \nAs every amateur astronomer, I got somewhat tired of performing collimation on my SCTs immediately prior to or – even worse – in the middle of an observing session. You know, when you got under the stars, your spirit is pulled high by them, and mundane duties, such as collimation procedures, become a hell of a burden. This is why many times I just set up my nice AR5 instead of my superb 8 inch SCT so to skip collimation and cool down times at once.  \nBut there are many other times when you simply cannot resist the appeal of putting your best optics through their paces such as on that multiple shadow transit on Jupiter or on a beautiful Saturn occultation.  \nThe solution is to fine tune collimation in a regular basis, taking some benefit from cloudy nights. Of course, I can also make use of sunny days, by employing the time tested glint reflection on pole insulators (I have hundreds of them pretty accessible in a power station a third mile away from my terrace), but I don’t have much availability during daytime.  \nTherefore I decided that I should buy or built an artificial star. A first glance at the prices (plus some 180% on duties and shipping fares needed to bring it down to Brazil) of the cheapest model quickly convinced me to build my own device. But at the same time, I was also pretty convinced that this small project should be kept simple and inexpensive, otherwise I would soon find myself browsing the web again after commercial units.  \nAfter thinking, web-surfing and reading for a whole evening, I made my mind: I would build the poor man’s, low tech, no frills, pinhole artificial star. Forget about lasers, powerful white LEDs, microscope objectives or extra-thin fiber optics. I decided that I would use only whatever I could find at home, in my home-office or my car. The bill of materials came out as the following:  \n1. A 6 Volt conventional light-bulb flashlight (borrowed from my car) .  \n2. A 14 ,5cm x 14 ,5cm x 21cm cardboard box (the type used to ship 20 CDs) .  \n3. Two colored front flaps of CD cases-blue and amber – of the sanded type that will act as “diffusion plates”.  \n4. Aluminum foil – that conspicuous kitchen type.  \n5. Syringe needle- 13mm x 0 ,3 mm size.  \n6. Scotch tape.  \n7. Black card (surplus left from a prior project – an aperture mask) .  \nGiven that items 2 and 3 were “to-be-trash” ones, my total investment was precisely zero.  \nII) Punching the pinholes:  \nUse the syringe needle to punch many pinholes on a strip or square of aluminum foil, against a hard, smooth surface (glass , polished granite or flat metal plate) . This way you will be sure to obtain holes that will be less than 0.5mm across. Change the pressure applied when punching each pinhole, in order to produce samples with different diameters.  \nCheck the holes diameters , using the slide projector method suggested by Suiter (*) and choose 2 of them that have diameters under 0.3mm. I chose one of 0.19mm (to be my“Artificial Antares”) and another one of 0.28 mm (to be my “Artificial Arcturus”) .  \nIII) The box-Putting things together:  \nNow make holes on each of the two smaller opposite sides of the cardboard box. They should be punched in an off-center position, in a way so – when the flashlight is switched on into the box - the hole would be illuminated by the “bright ring” produced by the flashlight beam. This procedure, combined with the diffusion plates (the CD case colored front flaps) , will assure diffraction rings with beautiful circular uniformity. These holes don’t need to have precise edges, since the aluminum foil with its pinhole will take care of this issue.  \nNow it’s time to cover the holes punched in opposite sides of the cardboard box with the square pieces of aluminum foil that bear the pinholes ( use scotch tape or glue) . I’ve also framed the aluminum foil squares with black car","cbCaisYS5T1uxQYu","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisYS5T1uxQYu","pdf",1595835,"English","# I) Introduction\n# II) Punching the pinholes\n# III) The box-Putting things together\n# IV) Will this low techie approach work at all?– Putting Artificial Antares to test","[{\"question\":\"Why does the author decide to build an artificial star instead of using the telescope setup each time?\",\"answer\":\"Collimation right before or during observing is described as a burdensome task, especially when the sky is clear. An artificial star helps fine-tune alignment more conveniently and consistently.\"},{\"question\":\"How are the pinholes for Artificial Antares and Artificial Arcturus produced?\",\"answer\":\"A syringe needle is used to punch many pinholes into aluminum foil against a hard, smooth surface. Hole diameters are then checked, and two sizes under 0.3 mm are selected (0.19 mm and 0.28 mm).\"},{\"question\":\"What are the key components and assembly steps for the homemade artificial star box?\",\"answer\":\"The author uses a cardboard box, flashlight illumination through off-center holes, aluminum foil pinhole covers, and diffusion plates made from colored CD-case flaps. Black card is added to block unwanted light and create contrast, then the diffuser is swapped and the flashlight is flipped to use the two pinhole sides.\"}]","Artificial Antares - I) Introduction - Building a low-tech pinhole artificial star | PDF",1789451269]