It’s one thing to obtain the correct telescope, it’s quite another to set it up in the right spot. After you’ve got a good understanding of the components of your telescope, the next step is to learn the ropes. Rather than constantly turning focusers and screws, knowing exactly how to focus a telescope would be beneficial.
There are a number of things you can see looking through your telescope outside of what we know are parts of the solar system. The visible cosmos contains many celestial objects, ranging from stars to natural satellites and exoplanets. As a result, it’s expected that you’re eager to learn how to use your telescope.
5 Easy Steps How to Focus on a Telescope
Let’s have a look at the step-by-step guide to focusing a telescope.
Step 1: Locate the Finder on Telescope
The finder is usually a tiny tube that protrudes from the telescope’s side. Because it has a wider field of view, it can be used to locate small objects in the sky. It only works if the telescope is properly aligned with it.
Crosshairs should appear when you look through the finder. You can center an object in these crosshairs after properly aligning the finder and then look at it magnified through your telescope.
Step 2: Set the Lowest Magnification on the Telescope Eyepiece
The lowest magnification gives the most significant field of view through the telescope’s eyepiece. The eyepiece of a smaller scope will have a number inscribed in millimeters, such as 20mm or 25mm. The lower the number, the lower the magnification. Examine your telescope’s eyepieces to ensure that the one with the lowest magnification is in place for viewing.
Step 3: Concentrate the Telescope on a Distant (Near) Object
It’s best to do this when you can see many different items in the distance, but it doesn’t have to be during the day. Find a distant object in your telescopes, such as your neighbor’s chimney or a cell phone tower.
If your telescope can lock in position, use it to prevent drifting away from your discovered object.
Step 4: Using the Telescope’s Eyepiece, Locate the Planet
You should be able to see the planet through the telescope eyepiece if the finder has been properly aligned with the telescope. You may need to adjust the telescope slightly to view the planet, but it should be near where you focused the finder.
Make sure the planet is still visible in the finder if you get too far away and still can’t detect it through the telescope. If it is and you cannot locate it in the telescope, readjust your finder.
Step 5: Using the Telescope’s Eyepiece, Locate the Planet
You should be able to see the planet through the telescope eyepiece if the finder has been properly aligned with the telescope. You may need to adjust the telescope slightly to view the planet, but it should be near to where you focused the finder.
Make sure the planet is still visible in the finder if you get too far away and still can’t detect it through the telescope. If it is and you cannot locate it in the telescope, readjust your finder.
How to Focus a Telescope on the Moon?
Here is how you can focus a telescope on the Moon:
- Position the camera lens directly over the eyepiece after pointing your telescope at the Moon and focusing the eyepiece.
- To avoid distortions, make sure it’s pointed straight in, not angled. Using the focuser on the telescope, create a crisp image on the camera’s display. Low-power eyepieces offer bigger field lenses and decent eye relief, so they’re a smart choice. This makes it easy to orient the Moon and lowers vignetting (picture brightness reduction) around the frame’s edges.
- Please avoid using the automatic-exposure option, as it tends to overexpose the photograph. However, modern computer processing makes it easier to bring out detail in an underexposed photograph.
Why Can’t I See Anything Through My Telescope?
If you’re having trouble finding objects with your telescope, make sure the finderscope is correctly aligned with the telescope. The finderscope is a small scope that is mounted to the telescope near the back, just above the eyepiece holder. When the scope is first set up, this is the most incredible time to do it.
During the day, take your telescope outside and point it down the street at the top of a telephone pole, a street sign, or a car’s license plate (or any other tiny target that can be seen from a few hundred yards away). Look into the main scope’s eyepiece with your lowest power eyepiece (the one with the most significant focal length printed on it) and center it on a target.
When you look through the finderscope, you’ll see that the crosshairs aren’t all pointing at the same thing. To modify the direction the finderscope is pointing, turn the three little round thumbscrews on the sides of the finderscope mount. The finderscope is aligned once the crosshairs are centered on the same item you’re looking at via the telescope eyepiece.
Use the finderscope to select another chosen target and verify if it’s in the main scope to double-check your alignment. Spending time aligning your finderscope during the day will save you a lot of time and frustration later when trying to locate objects in the night sky.
Anything you point the finderscope at now (for example, the Moon) will appear in your eyepiece. Unless the finderscope is bumped, such as when transporting or moving your telescope in and out of the house, it should remain in alignment. If this happens, all you have to do is realign it.
How to Look Through a Telescope?
Looking through a telescope is a skill. When looking at deep-sky objects like star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae, newcomers to astronomy and casual stargazers are occasionally underwhelmed by their first looks through a telescope.
They glance through the lens and observe a dim blur with little clarity or color, concluding that one dim smudge is identical to all the others. Some people become disillusioned and ask what all the fuss is about, and then they turn to a different hobby instead.
Looking through a telescope, like most things, requires some skill and practice. Even with a small telescope, you can learn to see an incredible amount of subtle detail if you get the hang of it.
- For more sensitivity, ensure your eyes are conditioned. Avoid harsh lighting, as a minimum, with your watching eye, and study your charts with crimson flashlights. Wearing an eyepatch lets you protect your watching eye from any stray white lighting from lamps.
- Now, find the object with a low-power eyepiece with a large field of view, whether you star hop or use a go-to mount. Explore the stars and the objects in the area. See the brightest stars and the colors in the field of view.
- While looking through the eyepiece, gently tap on the element of your telescope to come across motion in low-light conditions. Don’t forget to use the “magic” of averted vision in which you use the most sensitive part of your eye.
- Step back from the eyepiece now and hold the photograph of what you’ve got visible on your head. Keep staring at the object for a few minutes to explore if any further detail emerges.
- Timing is of the essence, going to a place with minimal light pollution is always going to yield better results compared to when you head to a place with extraneous light pollution.
- Take off the eyepiece. Medium power is enough for dim and big objects like face-on galaxies and nebulae. Work your way up to the highest-performing eyepiece for compact binaries, globular clusters, planetary nebulae, and planets. Best magnification varies from night to night, depending on viewing conditions.
- Make a habit of drawing whatever you see – it helps improve your observation to notice the minor details of the view. You are good to go. Just grab a pencil and some paper. Know that your goal is not to create a masterpiece but to improve fine-tuning awareness. Even with a little telescope, you’ll be amazed at what you can see if you master this technique.
Final Thoughts
We know you’re eager to start using your telescope, but getting it focused requires a little skill and practice. We hope our easy five-step guide on how to focus a telescope will help with the process. Once you get the hang of how to focus a telescope, you’ll be exploring the moon, stars, and planets in no time.
