Stellarium Setup Guide: Improve Your DSO Target Finding in Stellarium

Stellarium is the best app for picking and planning your next target for deep sky astrophotography. But out of the box, Stellarium has a blotchy night sky that lacks many images of deep sky objects. This guide walks you through setting up surveys in Stellarium. 

Step 0: Install the latest version of Stellarium

Even if you have Stellarium installed, make sure it's the latest version. Stellarium does not auto-update, and old versions do not have the surveys we'll use in later steps. You can install the latest version of Stellarium here.

Note: The web-based version and mobile app do not support surveys. You'll need to download the desktop application.

Step 1: Enable HiPS Surveys in the Configuration Window

1. In the left-hand menu (visible if you move your mouse cursor to the bottom side of the left edge), open the "Configuration Window", or press F2. 
2. Navigate to the Extras tab
3. Check "HiPS Surveys" and close the Configuration Window.

Step 2: Turn on HiPS

1. In the bottom menu (visible if you move your mouse cursor to the left side of the bottom edge), toggle Hierarchical Progressive Surveys on

Step 3: Enable a Survey

1. In the left-hand menu, open the "Sky and Viewing Options Window", or press F4. 
2. I switch between two surveys: "DSS Colored" and "DSS2 Red (F+R)". I find DSS2 Red (F+R) is better for fainter dust, but it gets washed out in bright areas of dense regions like Cygnus. DSS Colored is better for these brighter regions. I use both depending on the situation. 
   
   Some notes:
   1. If multiple surveys are enabled at once, Stellarium will display the other survey(s) in areas the primary survey does not cover. So at least for DSS & DSS2, there's no need to have multiple enabled; it'll just slow down your computer.
   2. If you don't see these surveys in the list, make sure you're on the latest version of Stellarium. If you are on the latest version and it's a fresh install, populating the survey list can take a couple of minutes, depending on your internet speed.
   3. There's some pretty cool surveys in this list, if you want to explore. "Diffuse dust 12um WSSA (Meisner & Finkbeiner 2013)" and "PLANCK Map of the CMB fluctuations" are two of my favorites.