Knowledge of the distances and natures of stars can add to one’s appreciation of the night sky. Use the Equipment settings to enter information about your telescopes, eyepieces, finder scope, and/or camera(s). SkySafari uses this information to display the field of view of your equipment.
And if you add an eyepiece later, that eyepiece will also have two magnifications, one with the Barlow and one without the Barlow. Note that reflectors are not well suited for daytime terrestrial use as they invert the image. That doesn’t matter for astronomy as there is no up or down in space. However, it would be a little strange to see the boats on the lake shown upside down. Barlow Lens – This is a device, shown in the previous photo, that goes between the eyepiece and the focuser.
You can find and print more basic paper star maps from the internet. These are often totally free and will include at least the major constellations and moon phases. We’ve already reviewed some helpful maps for stargazers, as well as apps like Starwalk, Google Sky Map, and Exoplanet to educate you about your observations.
Since 2011, we’ve published astronomy related content and reviews to help guide the community better. An object is at its maximum altitude when it passes the Meridian, the line in the sky running from the North Celestial Pole, through the Zenith (the top of the sky), and down to the South Celestial Pole. 3 months after opposition, it reaches the Meridian around sunset and sets around midnight. 3 months before opposition, it rises at about midnight and reaches the meridian around sunrise. To the amateur astronomer with binoculars or a telescope, Neptune is no problem to find. At opposition, it displays a small blue disk that shines at about magnitude 7.7.
Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes can be recognized from their compactness, usually twice as short as a reflector with a similar aperture. The price is generally in between that of a reflector and refractor, per inch of aperture. It’s a good all-around performer and is often used for astrophotography. Saturn is ideal for anyone beginning in stargazing and owns an entry-level telescope for practice. People have always looked at the sky and wondered what is really out there. Our 60 exhibits make you an observer and show you what we know.
However, should you choose to use one, even smaller telescopes will reveal the four Galilean moons of Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. A bigger telescope will reveal even more of Jupiters many, many moons (last count was 79). While there are certainly astronomical events in the three months between the end of April and late July, I did not choose to feature them in this list. Discover good telescopes for seeing planets with from the comfort of your own home. ’d encourage you to check out my monthly guides to the night sky for more info about what’s happening during those months.