Meade Infinity 102mm User Manual - Page 11

What's Next? Beyond the Solar System: Once you have observed our own system of planets, it's time to really travel far from home and look at stars and other objects. You can observe thousands of stars with your telescope. At first, you may think stars are just pinpoints of light and aren't very interesting. But look again. There is much information that is revealed in stars. The first thing you will notice is that not all stars are the same colors. See if you can find blue, orange, yellow, white and red stars. The color of stars sometimes can tell you about the age of a star and the temperature that they burn at. Other stars to look for are multiple stars. Very often, you can find double (or binary) stars, stars that are very close together. These stars orbit each other. What do you notice about these stars? Are they different colors? Does one seem brighter than the other? Almost all the stars you can see in the sky are part of our galaxy. A galaxy is a large grouping of stars, containing millions or even billions of stars. Some galaxies form a spiral (like our galaxy, the Milky Way) and other galaxies look more like a large football and are called elliptical galaxies. There are many galaxies that are irregularly shaped and are thought to have been pulled apart because they passed too close to-or even through-a larger galaxy. You may be able to see the Andromeda galaxy and several others in your telescope. They will appear as small, fuzzy clouds. Only very large telescope will reveal spiral or elliptical details. You will also be able to see some nebulas with your scope. Nebula means cloud. Most nebulas are clouds of gas. The two easiest to see in the Northern Hemisphere are the Orion nebula during the winter and the Triffid nebula during the summer. These are large clouds of gas in which new stars are being born. Some nebulas are the remains of stars exploding. These explosions are called supernovas. When you become an advanced observer you can look for other types of objects such Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving. as asteroids, planetary nebula and globular clusters. And if you're lucky, every so often a bright comet appears in the sky, presenting an unforgettable 9 sight. The more you learn about objects in the sky, the more you will learn to appreciate the sights you see in your telescope. Start a notebook and write down the observations you make each night. Note the time and the date. Use a compass to make a circle, or trace around the lid of a jar. Draw what you see SURF THE WEB • The Meade 4M Community: http://www.meade4m.com • Sky & Telescope: http://www.skyandtelescope.com • Astronomy: http://www.astronomy.com • Astronomy Picture of the Day: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.goc/apod • Photographic Atlas of the Moon: http://www.lpi.ursa.edu/research/lunar_orbiter • Hubble Space Telescope Public Pictures: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html