Kids telescope tips
Discussion
Our children have this telescope and so far it's been nothing but disappointing:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Astronomical-Telescope-Mo...
When we can set it up and focus on something, there is a main bright image plus at least two more faded images above and below it, and possibly another two images above and below those etc. What is causing these?
There are two eye pieces - one longer one with a wider aperture for looking through, and a shorter one with a narrower aperture. What are they each for? We can look at the moon with the wider one and it takes up maybe half of the field of vision, but while the other one lets light through it's pretty much unusable for looking at anything, it looks more like looking at dead bacteria under a microscope. Could it be dirty/faulty, or are we just not using it to look at the right stuff, too close/too far?
I don't want to boast about the length of my eyelashes, but I can't get a clear line of sight through the f
king thing for more than a second or so; physically move my eye and it goes over the edge of the aperture, and my eyelashes seem to get in the way the whole time. Again, is it me using it wrong or is it just st?
There's a little green filter eye-piece, what is that used for?
Was hoping to help the kids track the ISS with it but I daresay it would end up damaged and I would be arrested for breach of the peace. Please help.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Astronomical-Telescope-Mo...
When we can set it up and focus on something, there is a main bright image plus at least two more faded images above and below it, and possibly another two images above and below those etc. What is causing these?
There are two eye pieces - one longer one with a wider aperture for looking through, and a shorter one with a narrower aperture. What are they each for? We can look at the moon with the wider one and it takes up maybe half of the field of vision, but while the other one lets light through it's pretty much unusable for looking at anything, it looks more like looking at dead bacteria under a microscope. Could it be dirty/faulty, or are we just not using it to look at the right stuff, too close/too far?
I don't want to boast about the length of my eyelashes, but I can't get a clear line of sight through the f
king thing for more than a second or so; physically move my eye and it goes over the edge of the aperture, and my eyelashes seem to get in the way the whole time. Again, is it me using it wrong or is it just st?There's a little green filter eye-piece, what is that used for?
Was hoping to help the kids track the ISS with it but I daresay it would end up damaged and I would be arrested for breach of the peace. Please help.
Cheap and cheerful telescopes are really a bit of a waste of money, to be honest. A decent pair of binoculars (10 x 50) are probably a much better starting point for learning the night sky. Even using the naked eye with a good star map or phone app is a good starting point.
The problem with telescopes (even good ones) is that they tend to have a narrow field of view, so getting the desired target object in the centre of the field of view is quite difficult. This problem gets worse if you use a higher magnification eyepiece. More expensive telescopes these days often come with an electronic pointer system where you can use a control pad (or even your smart phone) to "aim" the telescope so you have a better chance of actually seeing the object you want to.
Another problem is the earth's rotation. You don't have to wait too long for the object to slide out of view. That's why better telescopes will have equatorial mounts which allow your scope to swivel so that you can follow the object you are looking at as the earth rotates. Better telescopes have motor drives to keep the telescope moving to compensate for the earth's rotation.
And, as you can probably gather from what I am saying, the actual mount/tripod on which the telescope sits is almost as important as the telescope itself.
Another issue is that most telescopes, especially refractors, show the object upside down. This is a natural consequence of the way the internal lenses are arranged. Serious astronomers don't have an issue with this as it doesn't really matter which way up the subject is in the eyepiece. You can attach a correcting lens to the eyepiece to un-invert the object if you want to - but the image will suffer a bit.
The problem with telescopes (even good ones) is that they tend to have a narrow field of view, so getting the desired target object in the centre of the field of view is quite difficult. This problem gets worse if you use a higher magnification eyepiece. More expensive telescopes these days often come with an electronic pointer system where you can use a control pad (or even your smart phone) to "aim" the telescope so you have a better chance of actually seeing the object you want to.
Another problem is the earth's rotation. You don't have to wait too long for the object to slide out of view. That's why better telescopes will have equatorial mounts which allow your scope to swivel so that you can follow the object you are looking at as the earth rotates. Better telescopes have motor drives to keep the telescope moving to compensate for the earth's rotation.
And, as you can probably gather from what I am saying, the actual mount/tripod on which the telescope sits is almost as important as the telescope itself.
Another issue is that most telescopes, especially refractors, show the object upside down. This is a natural consequence of the way the internal lenses are arranged. Serious astronomers don't have an issue with this as it doesn't really matter which way up the subject is in the eyepiece. You can attach a correcting lens to the eyepiece to un-invert the object if you want to - but the image will suffer a bit.
Eric Mc said:
Cheap and cheerful telescopes are really a bit of a waste of money, to be honest. A decent pair of binoculars (10 x 50) are probably a much better starting point for learning the night sky. Even using the naked eye with a good star map or phone app is a good starting point.
.
Agreed. Lying on your back with a good star map/app and some binos (small enough for kids) is a great way to start..
ScotHill said:
Our children have this telescope and so far it's been nothing but disappointing:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Astronomical-Telescope-Mo...
When we can set it up and focus on something, there is a main bright image plus at least two more faded images above and below it, and possibly another two images above and below those etc. What is causing these?
Sounds faultyhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Astronomical-Telescope-Mo...
When we can set it up and focus on something, there is a main bright image plus at least two more faded images above and below it, and possibly another two images above and below those etc. What is causing these?
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