Meade NG70-SM Instruction Manual - Page 11

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 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 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 in your eyepiece inside the circle. The best exercise for drawing is to observe the moons of Jupiter every night or so. Try to make Jupiter and the moons approximately the same size as they look in your eyepiece. You will see that the moons are in a different position every night. As you get better at drawing, try more challenging sights, like a crater system on the moon or even a nebula. Go your library or check out the internet for more information about astronomy. Learn about the basics: light years, orbits, star colors, how stars and planets are formed, red shift, the big bang, what are the different kinds of nebula, what are comets, asteroids and meteors and what is a black hole. The more you learn about astronomy, the more fun, and the more rewarding your telescope will become. SOME OBSERVING TIPS Eyepieces: Always begin your observations using the 25mm low-power eyepiece. The 25mm eyepiece delivers a bright, wide field of view and is the best to use for most viewing conditions. Use the high-power 9mm eyepiece to view details when observing the Moon and planets. If the image become fuzzy, switch back down to a lower power. Changing eyepieces changes the 9 power or magnification of your telescope. By the way, you might have noticed something strange when you looked through your eyepiece. Although the image is rightside up, it is reversed. That means reading words can be a problem. But it has no affect on astronomical objects. If you wish to have a fully corrected image, check out Meade's optional Erecting Prism in the Optional Accessory section. Meade offers a complete line of eyepieces for your telescope. Most astronomers have four or five low-power and high power eyepieces to view different objects and to cope with different viewing conditions. Objects move in the eyepiece: If you are observing an astronomical object (the Moon, a planet, star, etc.) you will notice that the object will begin to move slowly through the 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.