Expectations through the Lens

Jupiter (October 2022) through my Meade 80mm Refractor Telescope

You've seen the pictures.   Larger-than-life lunar craters that make you feel like one of the Apollo astronauts in orbit around our moon.  Eye-popping images of nebulas, the nurseries of star formation.   But is that what I can expect to see in a telescope eyepiece lens?

The answer is maybe.    Before you even setup a telescope, what kind of night sky will you have?  Clouds are the bane to every night gazer.  Light pollution is a factor at your star gazing location (see my story on Bortle).  The darker the sky location, the better.  Most rural locations are ideal.   Higher elevations are better. 

Okay, my viewing conditions are good to set up my telescope!  Now can I see everything?   If you are using a telescope to make direct observations through an eyepiece, what you see (given a sturdy mount tracking your target) will depend upon the telescope and your eyepiece lens.   There are beginner, intermediate, and professional grade telescopes, lens, and mounts.   I'll go into that topic later in this series.

For now, lets say you have something in the beginner to intermediate range of equipment.  Check out Astronomer and Author Will Cater Article on What the Universe really looks like through a telescope.   He describes what you can expect to see through a telescope eyepiece lens of the Moon, Planets, Stars, Nebulas and Galaxies.

If you want more details on deep sky objects, you will need to go beyond just eyeballing it.   You will need to consider astrophotography.  Here you will use a camera (DSLR or astrophotography camera) with a computer (ASIAIR Plus, Laptop, or other device) to either do live stacking or capturing light frames to be imaged stacked later.     I'll discuss more on that later.   Until then, happy exploring!

What are your thoughts?  What did you first look at through a telescope? 

Enjoy learning more about Astronomy and Astrophotography?   Come explore with me with my newsletters and YouTube channel.

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My Original Observational Telescope and Mount

William Optics ZenithStar Doublet APO 66mm
iOptron Cube Alt-Azimuth Mount