Possible objects for observation:
The following section details several interesting and easy-to-find celestial objects you may want to observe through your telescope. The pictures at the end of the manual show what the objects will look like through your telescope’s eyepiece.
Terrestrial objects
Take note of the examples below, including Mount Rushmore and the golf course. Start with the 20 mm eyepiece and focus until the image is clear. After mastering the 20 mm eyepiece, switch to the 12.5 mm eyepiece and practice scanning and focusing until the image is clear. Choose several terrestrial objects to practice focusing on, but never point your telescope at or near the sun, or you risk blindness.
The Moon: The moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite. Diameter: 3.476km Distance from Earth: approx. 384,400 km (average) The moon has been known to humans since prehistoric times. It is thesecond brightest object in the sky (after the sun). Because the moon circles the Earth once per month, the angle between the Earth, the moon and the sun is constantly changing; one sees this change in the phases of the moon. The time between two consecutive new moon phases is about 29.5 days (709 hours).
Orion Nebula (M 42): M 42 in the Orion constellation. Right ascension: 05:35 (Hours: Minutes). Declination: -5:22 (Degrees: Minutes). Distance from Earth: 1,500 light years. Located about 1,500 light years from Earth, the Orion Nebula (Messier 42, abbreviation: M 42) is the brightest diffuse nebula in the sky – visible with the naked eye, and a worthwhile object for telescopes of all types and sizes, from the smallest field glass to the largest earthbound observatories and the Hubble Space Telescope. When talking about Orion, we‘re actually referring to the main part of a much larger cloud of hydrogen gas and dust, which spreads out over half of the Orion constellation. The expanse of this enormous cloud stretches several hundred light years.
Ring Nebula (M 57): M 57 in the Lyra constellation. Right ascension: 18:53 (Hours: Minutes). Declination: -33:02 (Degrees: Minutes). Distance from Earth: 2,400 light years. The famous Ring Nebula M 57 in the constellation of Lyra is often viewed as the prototype of a planetary nebula; it is one of the magnificent features of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer sky. Recent studies have shown that it is probably comprised of a ring (torus) of brightly shining material that surrounds the central star (only visible with larger telescopes), and not of a gas structure in the form of a sphere or an ellipsis. If you were to look at the Ring Nebula from the side, it would look like the Dumbbell Nebula (M27). When viewed from Earth, we are looking directly at the pole of the nebula.
Dumbbell Nebula (M 27): M 27 in the Fox constellation. Right ascension: 19:59.6 (Hours: Minutes). Declination: -+22:43 (Degrees: Minutes). Distance from Earth: 1,360 light years. The Dumbbell Nebula (M 27) in Fox was the first planetary nebula ever discovered. On July 12, 1764, Charles Messier discovered this new and fascinating class of objects. We see this nebula almost directly from its equatorial plane. If we could see the Dumbbell Nebula from one of its poles, we would see the shape of a ring, and we would see something very similar to what we know as the Ring Nebula (M 57). In reasonably good weather, we can see this object well even with low magnifications.
