Practical

Overview
- Telescopes
- Telescope mounts
- Eyepieces
- Other accessories
- Finders and alignment
- Collimation
- Constellations
- Starhopping
Main Telescope types (Optics recap)
Refracting - uses lens
Reflecting - uses mirrors
Catadioptric - uses a combination of lenses
and mirrors
Dobsonian
Type of reflecting telescope mounted on a
dobsonian mount
Popularised by John Dobson
Very stable and cheap mount
Made large telescopes much more portable than
mounted ones
Collapsible variants are available, such as the
truss tube design seen on the right
Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope
Type of catadioptric telescope
Has a thick curved corrector plate
Due to the thick corrector plate needed, it is usually suited
for smaller aperture telescopes
Smaller central obstruction than SCTs
Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope
Another type of catadioptric telescope
Has a flat thin corrector plate
Suited for larger focal lengths due to its cheaper cost
of producing the corrector plate
Larger central obstruction maks
Ritchey–Chrétien telescope (RCT)
Type of cassegrain reflecting telescope
Uses two hyperbolic mirrors to eliminate
coma and spherical aberration
Much more expensive than newtonian
telescopes
Hubble Space Telescope uses a RCT
Alt-Az mount
Mount with 2 rotational axis, one vertical and one
horizontal
Easy and simple to use
Used mainly in visual astronomy
Not suited for astrophotography
Equatorial mounts
Mount that compensates for the earth’s rotation
2 rotational axis, one for RA and one for Dec
A common type of eq mount is the german equatorial
mount (GEM) which has a T shape on the mount head
Useful for astrophotography as it is able to track objects
well
GoTo
Electronic computer and guidance software that
helps locate and track objects automatically.
Quite expensive in addition to the moun itself
Needs to be calibrated to the observer's
location, time and orientation with the help of an
alignment star
Parts of a mount
Tube rings - helps to hold the telescope to
the mount. Has locking rings
Dovetail - mounting plate for the telescope
Counterweights - used to balance the
telescope
Slow motion knobs - used to finely adjust an
axis of rotation of the mount
Altitude adjustment setting
Setting used to adjust the altitude setting of
the mount
The altitude setting should be set to the
latitude of your current position
This is used for polar alignment
Polarfinder
Used to polar align the telescope
Look into the polarfinder and center
the reticle onto the NCP (polaris) or
SCP to polar align your scope
Useful how to polar align link:
[Link]
ment/
Focuser
Focuser is the component to attach your eyepiece to the
telescope and to adjust the focus of the image

Comes in various sizes, mainly 1.25” and 2”

Rack and Pinion
Has two main types: Rack and Pinion, and Crayford
Focuser

Crayford is better (more smooth focusing) and more

expensive the R&P

Some focusers have a fine adjustment knob as well

Crayford
Spider vanes
Support beams to hold the secondary
mirror in reflecting telescopes.

Results in sharp diffraction spikes in

bright stars.

Curved spider vanes can be used

instead of straight ones to spread out
the intensity of the diffraction spikes
and make the star appear more round
Eyepieces Types
Plossl - 52° AFOV, good cheap starter eyepiece with good eye relief (depending on
focal length)

Orthoscopic - 40° AFOV. Provides sharp view despite its narrow AFOV. Usually used
for planets

Erfle - 55-70° AFOV. Cheap wide field eyepieces with long eye relief. Significant
edge distortions appear in shorter focal lengths.

Nagler - 82° AFOV. Expensive quality eyepieces invented by Al Nagler. Has good
eye relief as well

+Various others
Zoom Eyepiece
Special kind of eyepiece where you can vary its focal length
just by turning the body.

Some zooms have more general range while some are more
specialised (planetary low focal length)

However some may have limitations like:

Varying AFOV across different focal length (narrower at longer

AFOV)

Poorer contrast/quality of image compared to some fixed focal

length eyepiece

More expensive!
Eye relief
Maximum distance away from the eyepiece that is
able to take in the entire field of view.

The shorter the eye relief the closer your eye

needs to be placed in front of the eyepiece.

An excellent eye relief for an eyepiece is 20mm,

making it suitable even for eyeglasses wearers

A recessed eyepiece may reduce the effective eye

relief of the eyepiece
Televue Delos 6mm Baader Orthoscopic Eyepiece
72° AFOV 6mm
20mm eye relief 52° AFOV
USD$350 5mm eye relief
Eyepiece Barrel Size
Diameter of the barrel of the eyepiece

Comes in many sizes: 0.965”, 1.25”, 2” , 3”

Mainly comes in 1.25” and 2”

Larger barrel size is to overcome the

limitations in max AFOV in smaller eyepieces

An adapter can be attached to the focuser to

Picture showing a mix of
attach eyepieces with smaller barrel sizes 1.25” and 2” eyepieces

Some eyepieces have both 1.25” and 2”

barrels
Star diagonals
An accessory that reflects the image to allow viewing
at an angle from the telescope

Star diagonals are mainly built at an angle of 90

degrees but other angles exists

Useful for refractors and cassegrain telescopes as it

allows for more comfortable viewing of objects closer
to the zenith

Made of either a prism or a mirror

Barlow lens
An accessory to increase the focal length of the
telescope

Made of negative lens element(s) (diverging lens)

Usually has an stated magnification of 2x, 3x, or 5x

The magnification of the barlow increases as the

distance between the lens and the eyepiece increases

So adding an extension tube will increase the

magnification of the barlow lens

Can be mounted to a t-ring for astrophotography

Telecentric Focal Extenders
Higher end “barlow lens” - more expensive and better
design

Focal length increase does not vary much with distance

from eyepiece. So a x2 focal extender will always give 2x
focal length.

Useful for astrophotography where the distance between

the barlow and the camera sensor is further than an
eyepiece so a focal extender is needed to keep the
increase in magnification known and constant
Focal Reducer
Reduces the focal length of the telescope

Uses positive lens elements (Converging lenses)

The magnification also changes with position from the

eyepiece

Useful for SCTs due to their long local lengths, and

decreasing it would decrease the f-ratio and decrease
magnification.
T-ring
T-ring is a device mounted on the camera similar to a
camera lens

Has threads on the other side to screw on to t-

adapters (basically the barlow lens body without the
lens)

The t-adapter can then be inserted into a focuser,

connecting the camera and telescope together

As mentioned a barlow lens element can be added to

increase magnification
Binoviewer
Device that enables the user to use both eyes to view
through a telescope

Splits the beam into 2 fainter images

Enables stereoscopic view of the object making it

seem 3 dimensional

Disadvantage is that it is lengthens the light path,

which may cause the telescope to be unable to reach
focus
Neutral Density/Variable Polariser Filter
Neutral Density filters is a filter that reduces
the intensity of light of all wavelengths equally

Has a ND filter rating (see

[Link]
_ratings
for the various ND ratings)

Variable Polariser Filter is a filter made out of

2 polarisers.

Rotating the barrel will vary the amount of light

transmitted
Colour filter
Filter which changes the hue of the images

Usually used to enhance details of moons

and planets (I however don’t find it that
useful)

Each colour have specific Wratten number

assigned to it. Eg. Red is #25
See [Link] for
more colours
Ultra High Contrast Filters (UHC)
Filters which allows the transmission of the
484 nm to 506 nm range of wavelengths (OIII
and H-beta wavelengths)

It almost entirely blocks out the other

wavelengths of light, helping to mitigate the
light from light pollution

Decreases the brightness of the image but

increases the contrast of the nebula.
OIII Filter
Type of line filter

Specifically allows the transmission of

the OIII emission lines (496 nm and
501 nm)

Generally great for planetary nebulae

and supernova remnants
H-beta filter
Type of line filter

Specifically allows the transmission of the H-beta

emission lines (486 nm)

Great for some nebulas. Eg California nebula,

trifid nebula and horsehead
Filters
Attach filters by screwing them on to the eyepiece barrel. There are threads on the
eyepiece barrels for you to do so

2” filters can be used with 1.25” eyepieces by screwing on the filter to the 1.25” to
2” adapter. (Most adapters should come with the threads to screw on the filter)

Also:
Useful link of filter comparisons with different nebulas:
[Link]
White Light Solar Filter
2 main types of material: Glass and
Mylar film

These filter are full aperture

Can just be simply attached to the

aperture of the telescope to observe
features on the sun

Colour of the sun can be white (film) or

orange (glass)
Herschel Wedge
Specially designed diagonal to reflect only ~4% of
the light from the sun into the eyepiece.

The reflected light is further diminished using a

neutral density filter to make it safe to observe

Image quality is better than the white light solar

filter

The unreflected light can be used as a solar

finder as well!
Specialised Solar Telescopes
Comes in different wavelengths, mainly Hydrogen alpha
and Calcium K (mainly for imaging)

Both H-alpha and CaK can be swapped easily by changing

their modules in some telescopes

Shows a lot of detail compared to the previous two

methods. Able to see prominences, flares, spicules etc.

Comes in single or double stacked (1 or 2 layers of filter),

double stacking increases contrast but decreases
brightness
H-alpha vs CaK

H-alpha Calcium K
Bahtinov Mask
Aperture mask used to gain a accurate focus for
astrophotography setups.

Uses diffraction to achieve 3 angled diffraction

spikes near the focal plane

When the middle spike is directly in between the 2

angled spikes, the setup is best focused
Quiz
Maribel lives in a light polluted city and wishes to observes some galaxies. She
has heard of Ultra High Contrast filters and wants to use them so she could have a
better view of the galaxies. Would you recommend her to use the UHC filters
when observing galaxies? Why or why not?
Answer
No. Galaxies do not emit light significantly in the OIII or H-beta wavelengths, but
rather in across the visible spectrum, so using an UHC filter will dim the image
significantly without improving contrast, making it harder to identify the galaxy and
its fainter portions.
Quiz
Which of the following setups have the highest magnification on a refractor
telescope. (Focal length: 950mm, Aperture 127mm)

1. 9mm Orion Expanse Telescope Eyepiece

2. Explore Scientific 82° 18mm Waterproof Eyepiece with a 2x barlow that is
attached before the star diagonal (ie. eyepiece - star diagonal - barlow -
telescope)
3. Tele Vue Panoptic 27mm Wide Angle Eyepiece with a 3x Barlow attached to a
star diagonal
Answer
2 gives the largest magnification

All of the eyepieces should give the same magnification if the eyepiece were
placed directly in the barlow lens

But since the barlow lens were placed in front of the star diagonal instead, the
distance from the barlow lens to the eyepiece is increased and hence the
magnification of the image increases.
Finderscope
A small telescope used to aim the main telescope
to the desired object

Has a designation of AxB where A is the

magnification and B is the aperture. Eg. 10x50
finderscope.

Has 2 main types, Straight through and Right-

Angle Correct-Image (RACI)

Certain finderscopes allow you to switch the reticle

eyepieces
Reflex sight
No magnification finder.

Usually for small telescopes

The dot remains on the

object even if the observer is
moving his head

Two common reflex sight in

astronomy is the red dot sight
and Telrad

Can be used in conjunction

with finderscopes
Finderscope alignment
1. Point the telescope roughly in the direction of a bright star
2. Look through the finderscope and center the star on the reticle
3. Insert your longest focal length eyepiece (lowest mag) and look through it
4. Center the bright object on the eyepiece image
5. Turn the knobs on the side of the finderscope mounting bracket to adjust the
alignment of the finderscope and center the object
6. Keep switching views and make small adjustments
7. Your finderscope is aligned!

Turn
Don’t turn this knob its for
these
securing the finderscope in
knobs
place
Collimation
The process of aligning the optics in such a way where the light is maximally
focused.

If the mirrors are not aligned it can lead to distorted images. This effect is very
apparent in planets.

Reflecting telescopes usually require regular collimation

Primary mirror collimation knobs
Knobs that are used for collimation

Made up of 3 large knobs that can be

rotated to adjust the alignment of the
primary mirror

The smaller knob, if present, is used for

locking the main collimation knob in place
Secondary mirror collimation knobs/screws
Screws that can be adjusted with an allen
key to adjust the secondary mirror

Requires the central screw to be loosen

slightly first before the screws can be
adjusted

Can be replaced with knobs for easier

collimation
View through the focuser
Cheshire collimator
Simple and effective collimator with a
pinhole and a reticle

Contains no lens and does not require

power

May not be suited for collimation in dark

conditions
Laser collimator
Collimator that uses a laser beam to help with the
alignment

Requires batteries

Cheshire collimator may be better at aligning the

secondary than this

Suitable for use in dark skies as the laser spot is

visible
How to collimate (Cheshire)
Quiz
Raj wants to stargaze for an upcoming Jupiter opposition. However he found that
his telescope is severely misaligned! Looking through the focuser, can you
determine which of the mirrors are misaligned? Explain briefly what steps are you
going to take to collimate his telescope?
Ans:
Both the mirrors are misaligned!

Collimate the secondary mirror first by adjusting the screws on the secondary
mirror such that the reticle of the cheshire collimator is in the reflection of the
doughnut

Collimate the primary mirror by adjusting the screws on the bottom of the optical
tube assembly such that the reflection of the collimator is centered on the reticle
Binoculars
Basically 2 small telescopes mounted side by
side

Has a designation of AxB where A is the

magnification and B is the aperture. Eg. 10x50
Binoculars.

Comes in 2 main types: Roof and Porro prism

It is recommended to use a tripod for binos

with >50mm aperture as its weight makes it
harder to hold stably for long periods of time
Constellations
Defined as an area on the celestial sphere
(not lines!)

88 total constellations

Due to proper motion of the stars,

constellations will change with time
Zodiac constellations
There are 13 zodiac constellations, not 12!

The zodiac constellations lie on the path of the sun, ie. the ecliptic

They are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Ophiuchus,
Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces.
Celestial equator and galactic plane constellations
Celestial equator (dec 0°):

Pisces, Cetus, Taurus, Eridanus, Orion (near Orion's belt), Monoceros ,Canis
Minor, Hydra, Sextans, Leo, Virgo, Serpens (caput), Ophiuchus, Serpens (cauda),
Aquila, Aquarius

Galactic Equator:

Sagittarius, Serpens, Scutum, Aquila, Sagitta, Vulpecula, Cygnus, Cepheus,

Cassiopeia, Camelopardalis, Perseus, Auriga, Taurus, Gemini, Orion, Monoceros,
Canis Major, Puppis, Vela, Carina, Crux, Centaurus, Circinus, Norma, Ara,
Scorpius, Ophiuchus
RA of some prominent stars
Betelgeuse - 6h

Denebola -12h

Alnasl - 18h (tip of the teapot)

Alnasl
Alpharatz - 0h
Denebola

Alpharatz
Messier objects
Set of 110 objects catalogued by Charles Messier.

It intended to be a list of non-comets

As Messier was working in France, he was unable to catalog many of the southern
deep sky objects

List of Messier objects:

[Link]
Caldwell catalogue
Set of 109 deep sky objects catalogued by Patrick Moore

Includes both northern and southern hemispheres objects

Numbers are listed according to their declination so C1 has the most positive
declination and C109 has the most negative declination

List of Caldwell objects:

[Link]
Star hopping
Technique used to hop from a bright prominent object to an object that may not be
visible to the naked eye

Before trying to locate an object, try to plan the star hop path and take note of
notable patterns in the sky

Use the eyepiece with the widest TFOV to make it easier to spot the object as well

Notable patterns:

3 star forming a triangle, 2/3 stars forming a line, object is perpendicular to 2 stars
Ring Nebula M57

1. Point the scope in between

Sheliak and Sulafat and you have
found the ring nebula!
Omega Centauri (C80)

1. Point the scope along the line

connecting Hadar and ε
centauri and stop when the
distance from ε centauri is
roughly equal to the distance
between ε centauri and Hadar

ε centauri
How to star hop to messier 41
1. Slew telescope in direction of
Sirius to Wezen and stop when u
encounter 3 stars in a triangle
2. Move in the direction of the 2
stars in the triangle

Congrats you found M41!

 3. Repeat step 2 to
find 3 stars in a line
Sombrero Galaxy (M104) 4. Move along to
line of stars to find
2. Move in the
M104!
direction of the
triangle to find
another triangle

1. Move towards the

indicated direction
until you see a
triangle pattern

Start from Algorab in

Corvus
Additional Protips
Open both eyes when using the finderscope
When you open both eyes, you can see the whole sky with one eye and the
finderscope view with the other eye.

There will be a overlap of the two images so you will see the crosshair of the
finderscope and the object in the sky without the narrow FOV of the finderscope

When you are trying to aim to an object, use the image of the crosshair to align
with the star in the image of the whole sky. This will quickly bring the star into the
FOV of the finderscope where you will then align the object onto the crosshair
Bring a jacket for the observation round
It guards against the cold especially in the
autumn to winter nights in the northern
hemisphere.

It also can be used as an observing hood!

The jacket basically blocks any stray light

that will affect the observation of dim objects
like nebulae and galaxies
“Calibrate” your hand
Horribly inaccurate to use the
baselines shown online

If you want to use them, “calibrate” it

beforehand

So stretch out your finger/fist and

make measurements to see roughly
how much angular distance does the
gesture cover