M
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 crosshairs. 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 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 doesn’t 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.
9.
