10
Figure 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d.
This illustration shows the
telescope pointed in the four cardinal directions: (a)
north, (b) south, (c) east, (d) west. Note that the tripod
and mount have not been moved; only the telescope
tube has been moved on the R.A. and Dec. axes.
6. Using Your Telescope—
Astronomical Observing
Choosing an Observing Site
When selecting a location for observing, get as far away as
possible from direct artificial light such as street lights, porch
lights, and automobile headlights. The glare from these lights
will greatly impair your dark-adapted night vision. Set up on a
grass or dirt surface, not asphalt, because asphalt radiates
more heat. Heat disturbs the surrounding air and degrades
the images seen through the telescope. Avoid viewing over
rooftops and chimneys, as they often have warm air currents
rising from them. Similarly, avoid observing from indoors
through an open (or closed) window, because the tempera-
ture difference between the indoor and outdoor air will cause
image blurring and distortion.
If at all possible, escape the light-polluted city sky and head
for darker country skies. You’ll be amazed at how many more
stars and deep-sky objects are visible in a dark sky!
“Seeing” and Transparency
Atmospheric conditions vary significantly from night to night.
“Seeing” refers to the steadiness of the Earth’s atmosphere at
a given time. In conditions of poor seeing, atmospheric turbu-
lence causes objects viewed through the telescope to “boil”. If,
when you look up at the sky with just your eyes, the stars are
twinkling noticeably, the seeing is bad and you will be limited
to viewing with low powers (bad seeing affects images at high
powers more severely). Planetary observing may also be poor.
In conditions of good seeing, star twinkling is minimal and
images appear steady in the eyepiece. Seeing is best over-
head, worst at the horizon. Also, seeing generally gets better
after midnight, when much of the heat absorbed by the Earth
during the day has radiated off into space.
Especially important for observing faint objects is good “trans-
parency”—air free of moisture, smoke, and dust. All tend to
scatter light, which reduces an object’s brightness. Transparency
is judged by the magnitude of the faintest stars you can see with
the unaided eye (6th magnitude or fainter is desirable).
Cooling the Telescope
All optical instruments need time to reach “thermal equilibri-
um”. The bigger the instrument and the larger the temperature
change, the more time is needed. Allow at least 30 minutes
for your telescope to cool to the temperature outdoors. In very
cold climates (below freezing), it is essential to store the tele-
scope as cold as possible. If it has to adjust to more than a
40° temperature change, allow at least one hour.
Let Your Eyes Dark-Adapt
Don’t expect to go from a lighted house into the darkness of
the outdoors at night and immediately see faint nebulas,
galaxies, and star clusters—or even very many stars, for that
matter.Your eyes take about 30 minutes to reach perhaps 80%
of their full dark-adapted sensitivity. As your eyes become
dark-adapted, more stars will glimmer into view and you’ll be
able to see fainter details in objects you view in your telescope.
To see what you’re doing in the darkness, use a red-filtered
flashlight rather than a white light. Red light does not spoil
your eyes’ dark adaptation like white light does. A flashlight
with a red LED light is ideal, or you can cover the front of a
regular incandescent flashlight with red cellophane or paper.
Beware, too, that nearby porch and streetlights and car head-
lights will ruin your night vision.
Eyepiece Selection
By using eyepieces of varying focal lengths, it is possible to
attain many magnifications with the StarMax 102mm EQ. The
telescope comes with one high-quality 25mm Sirius Plossl,
which gives a magnification of 52x. Other eyepieces can be
used to achieve higher or lower powers. It is quite common for
a.
b.
c.
d.
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