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INTERMEDIATE OBSERVATION - PLANETS
Once you’ve used your telescope to view the moon, you should
be familiar with the basic movements and adjustments you need.
Next stop: the planets. Not all the planets are visible from one area
at one time, so you’ll need to do a little research before you begin.
There are a number of online resources helpful for discovering
what planets and objects should be visible in your area on any
given night.
To find a planet, you must first locate it with the naked eye.
Once you’ve got its general location, point your telescope in
that direction and center the planet in the crosshairs of your
finderscope. Once the planet is lined up in the finderscope, begin
to view the planet through your telescope using the lowest power
(longest focal length) eyepiece. You may need to make slight
adjustments to the telescope aim and you will need to focus the
eyepiece to bring the planet into full view.
For a closer look at the planet, replace the low-powered eyepiece
with a higher-powered one and refocus your telescope.
