GoTo or Computerized Mount – With a computerized mount, once you do a simple alignment so the computer knows where it is on the Earth, you enter a target and the computer turns the scope to find and track it. Whether equatorial or AltAz, this is the lowest cost mount. You point the scope, you find the targets, and you track them as they move through the sky.
#Gskyer telescope lenses manual#
Manual Mount – In simple terms, you do all the work. This is a very popular design and has a reputation for being very stable and easy to use.
The Dobsonian design is a Lazy Susan or turntable arrangement that sits on a table or on the floor. Some AltAz mounts are on tripods and some are on a Dobsonian or Dob style base.
#Gskyer telescope lenses how to#
Most people will immediately understand how to use an AltAz mount. These are based on the degrees around the circle or compass, and degrees above the horizon, with 90 degrees being straight up. These are extremely easy to use and highly intuitive. You move the tube up and down or left and right to aim the optical tube or to track an object. Once the mount is polar aligned you can use the RA/DEC coordinates provide on star charts to locate targets in the sky.ĪltAz – The more general and more familiar mount is the altitude/azimuth or AltAz mount. There are scales on an equatorial mount that are based on the right Ascension/ declination coordinate system which is unique to astronomy. Here’s a video on how to align an equatorial mount. GEM mounts usually stand on a tripod or a permanent post called a pier.Īn equatorial mount requires a special alignment process called polar alignment which involves aligning the mount with Polaris, the North Star. This type of mount was developed in Germany so they are often referred to as GEM for German equatorial mount. Which do you have?Įquatorial – The most specialized mount is the equatorial mount which was specifically developed for astronomy. The Mount – This is what holds the optical tube so you can point it and track objects as they move through the sky. We use the focal length to calculate the magnification produced by the eyepieces.įocal length telescope / Focal length eyepiece = power or magnificationįocal Ratio – Aperture in mm / focal length in mm Over time you will gain experience as to what objects are good for viewing with your telescope.įocal Length – This is the length of the optical path, usually measured in millimeters. You can see more, and more detail, with a 200 mm telescope. What you need to know about aperture is that there are many things you can see with a 70 mm telescope. A 102 mm aperture telescope would also be called a 4-inch telescope. One inch equals 25.4 mm, so you can do the conversion if you wish. The more light you gather the more detail you can see or the dimmer the object that you can see. This is usually measured in millimeters which we abbreviate as mm. This is the measure of the light gathering ability of the telescope.
I just wanted you to know the names and that not all optical tubes are the same.Īperture – The diameter of the lens or mirror of the telescope is the aperture. If there is any distinction about how they are used I will call them out as we go along. The most common are the Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, SCT, and the Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes, MCT.Īll four types are very popular. These are called catadioptric telescopes. Some optical tubes have both lenses and mirrors. The optical tube has the lens in the front (refractor) or mirror in the back (reflector or Newtonian) that is used to gather light. Optical Tube – This is the part that most people think of as the telescope. You might want to note which are the pieces that match to your telescope. Because this is a general guide I will touch on things that may not apply to your telescope. I am going to overview the parts of the system so you have a better understanding as you read this guide and other articles on telescopes and astronomy. Parts of a Telescope and their FunctionĪ telescope is a system of parts that work together to present an image to your eye.
You will learn what they mean and how to use telescopes to have an awesome celestial observing experience. I will define terms like aperture, focal length, optical tube, mount, focuser, and eyepiece. This first time telescope user’s guide is exactly what you are looking for. You followed the assembly guide and now you want to get the most you can out of your investment.
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