How to Participate in the Artemis II Observation Campaign

Join the Unistellar community in tracking a historic milestone: the Artemis II mission! This guide, based on our Science Team's tutorial, will walk you through the step-by-step process of observing the spacecraft's journey using your Unistellar telescope.

For a visual guide, check out our official video tutorial.

Step 1: Prepare Your Telescope Before tracking the spacecraft, make sure your telescope is set up and ready for observation.

• Turn on your telescope and connect your smartphone to its Wi-Fi network.
• Open the Unistellar App.
• Perform a Sensor Calibration (take Dark Frames) to ensure optimal image quality.
• Complete the Orientation process so your telescope knows its exact position in the sky.

Step 2: Generate Your Observation Coordinates To find out exactly when and where the spacecraft will be visible from your location, you need to generate an ephemeris (a trajectory calculator).

• Important: Disconnect your smartphone from the telescope's Wi-Fi and reconnect to your standard internet network (Mobile Data or Home Wi-Fi).
• Open your web browser and go to the Unistellar Citizen Science homebase: science.unistellar.com.
• Navigate to the Planetary Defense section, then click on the "Ephemeris for moving targets" button.
• Click on "Select a target" and choose Artemis II.
• Enter your observation location (you can type your city or use the location button on the right of the search bar to get your exact GPS coordinates).
• Enter your local date and the time you wish to start observing.
• Click the "Generate" button.

Step 3: Select Your Observation Window The website will now calculate the spacecraft's trajectory and provide you with a list of available observation windows.

• Browse the generated list and choose the time slot you want to observe.
• Click the Deep Link icon (the smartphone symbol) located on the right side of your chosen time slot.
• Note: If a specific time slot does not have a Deep Link icon, it means the spacecraft is not observable at that exact moment (it may be too early, too late, or simply below the horizon from your specific location).

Step 4: Point and Observe!

• Once you click the Deep Link, reconnect your smartphone to your telescope's Wi-Fi.
• The Deep Link will automatically open the Unistellar App with the correct coordinates already loaded.
• Simply tap "Go-To". Your telescope will automatically slew to the exact zone where the Artemis II spacecraft will pass.

Important Tracking Information

• 10-Minute Windows: Each observation window provided by the ephemeris tool lasts exactly 10 minutes.
• No Continuous Tracking: Because the spacecraft is moving incredibly fast and differently from the background stars, the telescope does not track it continuously. Instead, it points to a specific "catchment area" where the ship will pass through your field of view.
• What you need to do: After your 10-minute window ends, the spacecraft will leave your field of view. You will need to repeat Step 3 (generate a new Deep Link for the next time slot) and perform a new Go-To to catch it in its next position.