TELESCOPE TIPS

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IMPROVEMENTS TO TELESCOPES
TIPS USING TELESCOPES
IMPROVEMENTS TIPS
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Smaller, inexpensive telescopes can do a lot of work in the night sky. When Galileo pointed the first telescope at the night sky, the size of his lens
refractor,
was only 30mm in diameter. We suggest 60mm minimum for a
TIP LINKS:
or 100mm for a reflector. These tips could well be used on larger
GENERAL
telescopes as well.
PLANETS
FAINT DEEP SKY
  • a telescope is only as good as it's mount! Due to vibration, high magnification makes objects bump around, and by the time the mount has completely stopped vibrating, the object has started moving out of the field of view. To stable a mount, a weight can be attached via a wire or a chain, hanging from the center of the tripod.

  • weight can also be added to the telescope (optical tube) to make it more stable, but the telescope must remain balanced from end to end.

  • making sure the telescope is balanced accurately will help stop the field of view from moving directly after letting go of the telescope in a new position. If you have slow motion controls, they will work more effectively and easily after the telescope is balanced accurately.
  • a lot of finderscopes have an aperture stop restricting the light allowed through the small scope. This can be removed for looking at dimmer images. Don't drop the lens while unscrewing the front end!

  • the use of better and larger eyepieces has a big effect on resolution and field of view.

  • the accessories which are placed between a telescope and it's eyepiece eg. Barlow or diagonal etc., dim the image slightly.

  • for the mount, using it lower and fixed in one position (but still comfortable) with all the bolts tightend will ensure more sturdiness. Hard surfaces are always better than soft, and rubber feet stop the vibration.

  • always start with the lowest magnification eyepiece, center the object, then change to higher magnification. This will give a wider field of view to search for the object and won't exceed the maximum magnification allowable for that night. It's best to build up the magnification.
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