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8
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ENJOYING YOUR NEW TELESCOPE
1. First determine your targeted object. Any bright object in the night sky is a good starting point. One
of the favorite starting points in astronomy is the moon. This is an object sure to please any budding
astronomer or experienced veteran. When you have developed proficiency at this level, other objects
become good targets. Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus are good second steps to take.
2. The first thing you need to do after assembling the telescope as planned is center the desired object
in the finderscope’s cross hairs. Provided you did a reasonable job aligning the finderscope, a quick
look through the main telescope tube at low power should reveal the same image. With the lowest
power eyepiece (the one with the largest number printed on it) you should be able to focus the same
image that you saw through the finderscope. Avoid the temptation to move directly to the highest
power. The low power eyepiece will give you a wider field of view, and brighter image—thus making
it very easy to find your target object. At this point with a focused image in both scopes, you’ve
passed the first obstacle. If you don’t see an image after attempting to focus it in, you might consider
aligning your finderscope again. Once you pass this step, you’ll will enjoy the time spent ensuring a
good alignment. Every object you center in the finderscope will be easily found in the main telescope
tube, which is important for continuing your exploration of the night sky.
3. The low power eyepieces are perfect for viewing the full moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae, and
even constellations. These should build your foundation. However, for more detail, try bumping up
in magnification to higher power eyepieces on some of these objects. During calm and crisp nights,
the light/dark separation line on the moon (called the "Terminator") is marvelous at high power. You
can see mountains, ridges and craters jump out at you due to the highlights. Similarly, you can move
up to higher magnifications on the planets and nebulae. Star clusters and individual stars are best
viewed through the low power no matter what.
4. The recurring astronomical theater we call the night sky is an ever-changing billboard. In other words,
the same movie does not play all the time. Rather, the positions of the stars change not only hourly
as they seem to rise and set, but also throughout the year. As the earth orbits the sun our perspective
on the stars changes on a yearly cycle about that orbit. The reason the sky seems to move daily just
as the sun and the moon "move" across our sky is that the earth is rotating about its axis. As a result
you may notice that after a few minutes or a few seconds depending on what power you are viewing
at, the objects in your telescope will move. At higher magnifications especially, you will notice that
the moon or Jupiter will "race" right out of the field of view. To compensate, just move your telescope
to "track" it in the necessary path.