The top of a nearby streetlight, chimney or tree is a great choice. Once the top of the object is centered in the field of view, move over to the finder-scope and adjust the screws or dials so that the cross-hair or red dot points directly centered at the object in the actual telescope. A well-aligned finder-scope will make observations so much better and is worth spending time getting it right. This is because we now have the confidence that the object we are trying to see is going to be in the center of the field of view when looking down the eyepiece.
Full sky view of the constellations, their boundaries, the Milky Way. These could be used in a network configuration to outperform the world’s most powerful space observatory, James Webb. An astronomer who studies astrobiology has detailed the work their team has carried out developing a new kind of telescope that could far exceed the James Webb Space Telescope’s ability to peer at distant alien worlds.
It’s pretty rare for astronomers to see an exoplanet through their telescopes the way you might see Saturn through a telescope from Earth. That’s called direct imaging, and only a handful of exoplanets have been found this way (and these tend to be young gas giant planets orbiting very far from their stars). There’s an element of intensity to spending long nights outside under the stars. Since we did most of our testing in the Pacific Northwest, we were very attuned to the frigid winter nights and the cloud cover that often swept in and obscured our views.
The larger the diameter of the main lens or mirror (depending on the type of telescope you have), the greater magnification you can use. Theoretically the maximum useful magnification for a telescope is 50x for each inch of diameter of the telescope lens or mirror. A three-inch refractor then would have a maximum useful magnification of 3 times 50, or 150-power (150x).
Looking for the best telescope under 200 – Look no further! Take a look at the best telescopes under £200 right here! indicate the quality of “seeing,” or the steadiness of an astronomical image. An air mass colder than the ground will produce puffy cumulus clouds and unsteady air, but it’s usually relatively free of dust. An air mass warmer than the ground will produce stratiform clouds, haze, or mist, and hold copious amounts of dust, but astronomical images will be steadier. Bad seeing is almost guaranteed at least 24 hours following the passage of a front (the boundary between warm and cool air masses) or trough (an elongated area of low pressure). Seeing can be very good with thin cirrus clouds aloft, but the opposite is true when high cirrus clouds combine with low-level crosswinds. Astronomy can be a challenging hobby to dive in to, so here is a guide to observing to help you get the most out of those precious moments behind your new telescope.