Best red flashlight

[Richard Navarrete]

A cross-over topic regarding lights at GSSP. I’ve got a Celestron red flashlight that is ok. My dream red light would be infinitely variable from its lowest to brightest setting, no hot spots, and an even beam that could be adjusted from wide to narrow . Does such a flashlight exist?

Richard

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[Aris Pope]

I have one of these Celestron headlamps. I noticed it was too bright so this year I will add some red tape to the lens. 

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Aris

[Akarsh Simha]

On Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 9:51 AM 'Richard Navarrete' via The Astronomy Connection (TAC) <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

A cross-over topic regarding lights at GSSP. I’ve got a Celestron red flashlight that is ok. My dream red light would be infinitely variable from its lowest to brightest setting, no hot spots, and an even beam that could be adjusted from wide to narrow . Does such a flashlight exist?

No

[Peter Santangeli]

Honestly, I don't think there is a way to make a headlamp work for these events. Toss them in the garbage.

It's not the brightness. It's the lack of control of the direction. You *will* end up shining it directly at people unintentionally. And that is actually worse than it being too bright.

Nothing beats a good dimmable light hanging from a string from your neck.

I still use a bunch of the old Orion/Celestron LED lights that have an adjustable dimming wheel on them. Mechanically they are garbage (and avoid the ones that had the optional white switch! Too easy to hit!).

They also have the advantage of being relatively easy to hold in your mouth, which is required for 2 handed operations. I've often wondered whether they should have built one with an rubber tooth-friendly exterior) Or a drool sponge :-)

pete

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[Alex]

Richard. In my old (on the market since 2010) planetarium app I have the sub-tool widget resembling the ultimate astronomy flashlight like you want. It simply shows the red (or any other color) rectangle on the screen which you can swipe up or down to change the general screen brightness, left-right to change red color deepness, and pinch gesture to change the rectangle height from the top of the screen. Thus it's not only infinitely variable, but also transitions from a wide flood light to a narrow slit for close up work. But it requires the AMOLED screen (zero light black screen). It was scarce back then, but now it's on every decent phone (even on the iPhone 15 years later, but my old app is Android only). SUrely, if the plan is to use it hans free you want to arrange some phone holder for your particular tasks requiring a flashlight.

Myself, I can barely recall using a red flashlight for anything at all when observing. Good darkness adaptation is on par with the night vision. Then organize your gear. E.g. I have 3D printed Brile coded rings for my Portaball struts sequence reproduction.

[Aris Pope]

For me I don't wear my headlamp on my head when walking around. I can't speak for others. The Celestron light that I have is definitely bright. 

Aris

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[Aris Pope]

For 2 handed operations like making adjustments to the scope in the dark I mount it on my head as intended. Nothing beats that, plus I like to be able to talk while doing things. Tough to hold a conversation with a flashlight in your mouth.

Aris

[John Pierce]

On Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 11:03 AM Aris Pope <arispo...@gmail.com> wrote:

For 2 handed operations like making adjustments to the scope in the dark I mount it on my head as intended. Nothing beats that, plus I like to be able to talk while doing things. Tough to hold a conversation with a flashlight in your mouth.

I usually put my headlamp around my neck, upside down such that its aiming about 45 degrees 'down'.

re red tape...  red tape won't make red lights dimmer.

re diffuse dimmable red flashlight for use at the side of the telescope, indeed, those orion/celestron/etc lights with the dimmer worked the best, they turn on in the dimmest mode...   one big improvement was to put two layers of 'scotch magic' tape on the inside of the clear lens to act as a diffuser to reduce the hotspots.   Looks like they are still available.  https://astronomics.com/collections/flashlights/products/variable-brightness-dual-red-led-astronomer-s-flashlight

[Aris Pope]

Tail light repair tape certainly will make the light dimmer. I've done it before.

Aris

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[Peter Santangeli]

Obviously I can't speak for you, but walking around is not the problem.

With a headlight on, stand up, and look around. Do a 360 degree sweep. You have now pointed your light directly at all of your neighbors. Unintentionally.

A light (even a dim one) pointed directly at someone else is the worst possible case. If you are using a hand light, you will naturally drop it towards the ground and would never think of shining it directly at someone else. It happens all the time with these things. 

pete

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[Aris Pope]

Yeah when walking around I use it as a hand held. When I do have it on my head while working on the scope the light pointed down at a 45° angle.  That's one thing Celestron did get right. I can't speak for anyone else either. 

Aris

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[Aris Pope]

I have a greater chance of inadvertently flashing someone with a light in my mouth panning around than with this light pointed directly at the ground while panning my head around.

Aris

[Peter Natscher]

Exactly! The astroflashlights come with long neck straps for a reason.

[Jay Freeman]

Does anyone know of a current source of adjustable red LED lights like the old Orion / Celestron ones?

Failing that, fabricating one seems well within the capability of 3D printers, anyone care to design and try? The electronics is trivial, of course.

My only contribution to the design would be a strong suggestion that all controls be easy to locate and operate in pitch darkness (obviously) WHILE WEARING HEAVY GLOVES (less obviously, but vital). Current small on/off red LED lights -- the ones about the size of cigar butts -- generally fail miserably in this respect.

-- Jay Reynolds Freeman, Deep-Sky Weasel

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[Jay Freeman]

On Feb 19, 2026, at 11:03 AM, Aris Pope <arispo...@gmail.com> wrote:



Tough to hold a conversation with a flashlight in your mouth.

That's not necessarily a problem. Depends on who is talking ...

[Aris Pope]

Haha that's true Jay.

Aris

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[Peter Natscher]

I use a couple of Starlite's by Rigel Systems.  Variable luminosity wheel.  Easy to use in total darkness.  Neck strap included.

[Jeff Crilly]

I prefer the OG Rigel starlight. None of the following versions feel as good as the OG.
I’m using Rigel Starlight clones that are branded Celestron. I got them dirt cheap from BHphoto one Christmas.

The photon micros are very stealthy. But take some getting used to.

I use a headlamp occasionally … it does blind neighbors.

How about someone add an accelerometer to a headlamp and have it only turn “on” when pointed down?