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Never Look Directly At The Sun With Your Telescope
Permanent Damage To Your Eyes May Occur
Enjoying Your New Telescope
1. First determine your targeted object. Any bright object in the night sky is a good starting point. The moon is
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
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 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, not the
same movie plays 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 the fine adjustment controls on your telescope to "track" it in the necessary
path.
Helpful Hints
1. Your telescope is a very sensitive instrument. For best results and fewer vibrations set your telescope up on
a level location on the ground rather than your concrete driveway or your wooden deck. This will provide a
more stable foundation for viewing, especially if you've drawn a crowd with your new telescope.
2. If possible, view from a location that has relatively few lights. This will allow you to see much fainter objects.
You'd be surprised how much more you'll see from your local lake or park when compared to a backyard in
the city.
3. Using your telescope out a window is NEVER recommended.
4. View objects that are high in the sky if possible. Waiting until the object rises well above the horizon will
provide a brighter and crisper image. Objects on the horizon are viewed through several layers of earth's
atmosphere. Ever wonder why the moon appears orange as it sets on the horizon. It's because you are
looking through a considerable more amount of atmosphere than you would directly overhead. (Note: If
objects high in the sky are distorted or wavy, you are probably viewing on a very humid night.) During nights
of unstable atmosphere, viewing through a telescope can be frustrating if not impossible. Astronomers refer
to crisp, clear nights as nights of "good seeing."