Why do the stars look like little lights? I kinda
Why do the stars look like little lights? I kinda thought the whole purpose was to view in detail the stars and planets. Is there a certian amount to place the eyepiece in the slot for it?
Optics - Meade - DS-2114 ATS (325 x 114mm) Telescope
Answers & Comments
The individual stars are not much fun to look at...it is the planets and nebulas that are. I have an 8 inch SCT with a computer guidence system and have looked at Saturn and Jupiter from my front yard and could see them very well. I live in the city so light pollution will not allow me to see any nebulas. I have to travel outside of the city into the mountains to be able to see things. The spectacular pictures that you see being made by people with telescopes cannot usually be seen by the naked eye through the telescope. They are made using special filters, lenses, and a camera connected to the scope. And then they will have very long exposure times(sometimes 15 hours) to gather enough of light coming from space and taking hundreds of images. Then all these images are stacked on each other and modified using software on a computer to create the images. So again the stars are not much to look at... it is the planets and nebulas that are cool. With my telescope I can see Saturn's rings and moons. I can see Jupiter's big red spot...very cool. You will need to start with a small powered lens to locate the planet you want to look at to center of eyepiece. Then work your way up in magnifiaction by changing the eyepiece and then focusing the inmage in. The eyepiece can make or break your telescope experience and most telescopes come with very limited eyepieces that are cheap and not well made. I have purchased a good set of eyepieces and they make a huge difference. If you can afford it look for a 100 degree eyepiece. They are expensive but are worth it when you look into one. Also it is very important to get your scope's collimation adjusted correctly for the best image. And get yourself a set of color filters. The filters can bring out images that you cannot see without.
Planets, satellites, nebula, yes, not stars. The problem is that the stars (except the sun) are so very far away that even with a powerful scope they still show up as points of light.
You are supposed to zoom and move it around until you can see it clearly