17
The more you learn about objects in the sky, the
more you will learn to appreciate the sights you see
in your telescope. Start a notebook and write down
the observations you make each night. Note the
time and the date.
Use a compass to make a circle, or trace around
the lid of a jar. Draw what you see in your eyepiece
inside the circle. The best exercise for drawing is
to observe the moons of Jupiter every night or so.
Try to make Jupiter and the moons approximately
the same size as they look in your eyepiece. You
will see that the moons are in a different position
every night. As you get better at drawing, try more
challenging sights, like a crater system on the
moon or even a nebula.
Go your library or check out the Internet for more
information about astronomy. Learn about the
basics: Light years, orbits, star colors, how stars
and planets are formed, red shift, the big bang,
what the different kinds of nebula are, what are
comets, asteroids and meteors and what a black
hole is. The more you learn about astronomy, the
more fun, and the more rewarding your telescope
will become.
SOME TIPS
By the way, you might have noticed something
strange when you looked through your eyepiece.
The image is upside down, and it is also reversed.
That means reading words can be a problem or
viewing objects on the ground can be a problem.
But it has no effect on astronomical objects.
Objects move in the eyepiece: If you are observing
an astronomical object (the Moon, a planet, star,
etc.) you will notice that the object will begin to
move slowly through the telescopic field of view.
This movement is caused by the rotation of the
Earth and makes an object move through the
telescope’s field of view. To keep astronomical
objects centered in the field, simply move the
telescope on one or both of its axes—vertically
and/or horizontally as needed. At higher powers,
astronomical objects will seem to move through
the field of view of the eyepiece more rapidly.
Place the object to be viewed at the edge of the
field and, without touching the telescope, watch
it drift through the field to the other side before
repositioning the telescope so that the object to
be viewed is again placed at the edge of the field,
ready to be further observed.
Vibrations: Avoid touching the eyepiece while
observing through the telescope. Vibrations
resulting from such contact will cause the image
to move. Avoid observing sites where vibrations
cause image movement (for example, near railroad
tracks). Viewing from the upper floors of a building
may also cause image movement.
Let your eyes “dark-adapt:” Allow five or ten
minutes for your eyes to become “dark adapted”
before observing. Use a red-filtered flashlight to
protect your night vision when reading star maps,
or inspecting the telescope. Do not use a regular
flash-light or turn on other lights when observing
with a group of other astronomers. You can make
your own red filtered flashlight by taping red
cellophane over a flashlight lens.
Viewing through windows: Avoid setting up the
telescope inside a room and observing through
an opened or closed window pane. Images may
appear blurred or distorted due to temperature
differences between inside and outside air. Also, it
is a good idea to allow your telescope to reach the
ambient (surrounding) outside temperature before
starting an observing session.
When to observe: Planets and other objects
viewed low on the horizon often lack sharpness—
the same object, when observed higher in the sky,
will appear sharper and have greater contrast. Try
reducing power (change your eyepiece) if your
image is fuzzy or shimmers. Keep in mind that a
bright, clear, but smaller image is more interesting
than a larger, dimmer, fuzzy one. Using too high
a power eyepiece is one of the most common
mistakes made by new astronomers.
