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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.
