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What
Can You See With A Telescope
Some of the types of celestial objects you can view are:
THE MOON
-- Prepare for an awesome spectacle. The moon's disk has a pastel-cream
and grey background, streamers of material from
impact craters stretch halfway across the lunar surface, numerous
mountain ranges and craters are available for inspection. At low
or high power the moon is continually changing as it goes through
its phases. Occasionally you will be treated to a lunar eclipse.
THE SUN - It is NOT safe to view the Sun unless you use an approved
solar filter. The Sun is fascinating to inspect as you detect and
watch the ever-changing sunspot activity. If you are fortunate
enough, and are willing to travel to remote locations, you may
at some point experience a solar eclipse
THE PLANETS - Observation
of planets will keep you very busy. You can see Jupiter with its
great red spot change hourly, study
the cloud bands and watch its moons shuttle back and forth. Study
Saturn and its splendid ring structure, watch Venus and Mercury
as they go through their moon-like phases. Observe Mars and see
its polar cap changes . Uranus, Neptune and Pluto can be seen easily
with 8" or larger telescopes.
STAR CLUSTERS - There are two
types of star clusters- (1) open star clusters (also called galactic
clusters) which are loosely
arranged groups of stars, occasionally not too distinctive from
the background stars, and (2) globular star clusters, which are
tightly packed groups some containing many millions of stars.
NEBULAE
- These are glowing clouds of gas falling into two types (1) planetary
nebulae which are relatively small ball-shaped clouds
of expanding gases and are believed to be the remnants of stellar
explosions, and (2) diffuse nebulae which are vast, irregularly-shaped
clouds of gas and dust.
GALAXIES - These are vast, remote "island
universes," each
composed of many billions of stars. Galaxies exist in a variety
of sizes with regular and irregular shapes.
COMETS - Magnificent
comets are routinely visible through telescopes.
DOUBLE (BINARY)
STARS - These are pairs of stars orbiting around a common centre
of gravity,
often of different and contrasting
colours.
What you can see is dependent on a lot of factors. The most
important of these for astronomy is aperture. Other important factors
are
optical quality, steadiness of your tripod and mount, seeing conditions,
your location (city or rural), brightness of the object and your
experience. You won't be able to see the American flag on the surface
of the moon or black holes. You won't see as much colour as you
see in astrophotographs (photos of celestial objects) because these
utilise long exposure times which allow the light and colour to
build up on the film.
Most Astronomical telescopes can be used to
see things on the Earth, although this is not recommended as the
image will be reversed
and in some cases upside down. Astrophotography is also a rich and
rewarding experience. With many telescopes it is relatively easy,
but takes patience and experience
to produce excellent results. Taking your own astrophotographs
is a thrill as you can share the results with others. |
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| Types
Of Telescopes
There are three basic types of telescopes: Refractors, Reflectors,Catadioptrics
All these designs have the same purpose, to collect light and bring
it to a point of focus so it can be magnified and examined
with an eyepiece, but each design does it differently. All designs
can perform satisfactorily if properly and responsibly manufactured
and all have their own special virtues. Choosing a particular telescope
depends on your individual needs including cost, portability, versatility,
useability, appearance,
etc. You should also contemplate what you plan to do with the instrument
both now and in the future. Many amateurs own two or more telescopes
to satisfy their varied interests.
Some amateur astronomers build
their own telescopes but this market has rapidly declined due to
the abundance of affordable commercial
telescopes available and the time, materials and equipment needed
to hand-construct an instrument.
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