What is the most effective way to use a telescope?

Question

I've gone through 3 telescopes in all of my life and have never been able to reap the rewards of having one as other's have. I always have trouble focusing, etc. Do you have any advice on how to effectively use a telescope?

Answer 1

Remember for external use only.

Answer 2

I suspect part of the problem is you are buying cheap telescopes that come with cheap "accessory packs.

An honest to goodness serious telescope starts at around $300 or $400. If you're seriously pressed for cash though, there are a few cheaper ones that I'll mention below.

They are superior in quality to those $160 ones you see in department stores.

A good telescope will have diffraction limited optics, or be apochromatic depending on the type it is. It will have a sturdy metal mount (wood and plastic are ok for dobsonians only) and it typically won't come with eyepieces.

The eyepieces you use with the telescope should be of good quality. They should fit 1.25" focuser tubes or 2" focuser tubes for special wide field viewing and you should have a 32mm or 25mm eyepieces, as well a maybe a 9mm eyepiece. You should also have a 2x barlow which must be of very good quality. Buy well known brands and don't go for the cheapest line.

Your telescope should be collimated if it needs it, and you should allow it to sit out for an hour or so before using it so it can reach thermal equalibrium with the surrounding environment. Always start viewing with the lowest power eyepiece and work your way up.

Good to half good beginner telescopes under $500 are....

Dobsonians:
Orion line of dobsonians up to and including the 8" one.
Zhummell 10" Dobsonian
Celestron StarHopper line up to 10"

Equatorial mounted Newtonians and similar hybrids
Orion AstroView™ 6 EQ Reflector
Meade 127NT with LXD500 EQ Mount
Celestron Omni XLT 150
Celestron C6-N Advanced Series

The lower end telescopes would be the Celestron First Scope series and the Meade Short Tube series telescopes. If you compare them to the telescopes above, you'll see a difference in quality of the mount and tripod, and possibly the optics. You'll also notice the ones above don't come with bells and whistles. They're very basic because more money was spent on quality.

Answer 3

Focusing problems have many sources. I assume the trouble is not a faulty telescope, so that leaves:

1. Eye trouble. Maybe you have a strong astigmatism. If so, you may need to wear your glasses while looking thru the eyepiece. If you can afford it, ask your optometrist to prescribe contact lenses with astigmatism correction. Even more expensive, you might special-order an eyepiece with astigmatism correction in it. Still more expensive: Lasic surgery.

2. Fog on the mirror. Keep your telescope indoors until you are ready to use it. Make a jacket to keep your telescope from cooling below the dew point too quickly. Keep the cap over the tube when not observing.

Answer 4

Use low power. 50 to 100 power. Saturn looks great at 100 power. The Moon and many galaxies, nebulae and star clusters look great at 50 power. Higher power just makes it harder to find things and focus clearly. Oh, and the guy above is right about the dark sky. Except for a few exceptions, all those "deep sky" objects, especially galaxies, are really dim and cannot be seen well (or maybe cannot be seen at all) in the bright sky of a large city, no matter how good your telescope. The Moon and planets are different. They are bright and look fine in even the brightest city sky.

Learn the sky. Know at least a few bright constellations and stars. You have to know where to point it to see anything.

Answer 5

http://www.astromax.org/faq/aa01faq5.htm

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Telescope...

I learned that it is best to settle on focusing on the moon with the least amount of "zoom" (can't think of word... dang it!!!) because the number one thing that most beginners do is try to have too much "zoom" because they want to get closer to the object. focus on the moon, and then maybe an extremely bright star, and move forward. When I got my telescope, it told me to start in the day time first. try to focus on a sign, and then a slide or something, just to get the hang of it first... jsut gradually get bigger, and practicing in the day time allows you to see the focusing and aiming errors that you can't tell so easily in the dark of night.

Answer 6

You need a powerful instrument that is mounted on a rock steady tripod and the scope must must be controlled by a motorized system to turn it in the precise direction of what it is you wish to observe and then track the object to compensate for the Earth's rotation.

Answer 7

The most important thing is try to find the darkest place you can. It is amazing how much light pollution there is. Once you are in a dark place you will notice that focusing in not as much trouble.

Answer 8

certainly binoculars are an exceedingly sturdy and greater value-effective thank you to start a interest/occupation in astronomy. they're lots much less annoying to apply and you will nevertheless see fairly various phenomena with them.