Home >> Science & Nature >> Astronomy

How to Find a Star Through a Telescope

The hobby of stargazing is both educational and fun, and investing money in a quality telescope will make the activity even more rewarding. A high-powered telescope can be intimidating for the novice astronomer. However, many scopes come with motorized mounts and handheld controllers that make zeroing in on a star fairly simple. These telescopes will even follow a star as it moves through the night sky. Accurate star maps are available in printed form and on the Internet, and astronomy magazines will highlight noteworthy celestial events.

Things You'll Need

Telescope
Star chart

Instructions

- 1
  
  The night sky has more stars than can be counted.
  
  Find a star of interest using an online or printed star map for your area and season. Write down the coordinates for the star by right ascension and declination, which are similar to terrestrial latitude and longitude coordinates.
- 2
  Choose an observation site that is free from excess light pollution. An open field miles from town is an ideal candidate.
- 3
  Take your telescope to your observation location on a night when the moon is not full. Moonlight, as well as any man-made light makes observing dim objects more difficult.
- 4
  Enter the star coordinates into the handheld controller for the telescope's motor. Wait for the telescope to stop moving.
- 5
  Adjust the seating so that extended viewing will not cause discomfort.
- 6
  Remove the lens caps from the telescope.
- 7
  Peer into the eyepiece and see that the star is centered in the field of vision. Turn the focus knob until the image of the star is as crisp as possible.

Astronomy