Transporting the Telescope, A. The Moon, B. The Planets

To see what you’re doing in the darkness, use a red-filtered flashlight rather than a white light. Red light does not spoil your eyes’ dark adaptation like white light does. A flashlight with a red LED light is ideal, or you can cover the front of a regular incandescent flashlight with red cellophane or paper. Be aware, that nearby porch and streetlights and car head- lights will ruin your night vision too.

Tracking Celestial Objects

When you observe a celestial object through the telescope, you’ll see it drift slowly across the field of view. This is due to the rotation of the Earth. To keep it in the field, you will need to periodically update the telescope’s position in altitude and azimuth. Objects will appear to move faster at higher magnifi- cations, because the field of view is narrower.

What to Expect

So what will you see with your telescope? You should be able to see bands on Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, craters on the Moon, the waxing and waning of Venus, and many bright deep-sky objects. Do not expect to see color as you do in NASA photos, since those are taken with long-exposure cam- eras and have “false color” added. Our eyes are not sensitive enough to see color in deep-sky objects except in a few of the brightest ones.

Objects to Observe

Now that you are all set up and ready to go, one critical deci- sion must be made: what to look at?

A. The Moon

With its rocky surface, the Moon is one of the easiest and most interesting targets to view with your telescope. Lunar craters, marias, and even mountain ranges can all be clearly seen from a distance of 238,000 miles away! With its ever-changing phases, you’ll get a new view of the Moon every night. The best time to observe our one and only natural satellite is dur- ing a partial phase, that is, when the Moon is NOT full. During partial phases, shadows are cast on the surface, which reveal more detail, especially right along the border between the dark and light portions of the disk (called the “terminator”). A full Moon is too bright and devoid of surface shadows to yield a pleasing view. Make sure to observe the Moon when it is well above the horizon to get the sharpest images.

Use an optional Moon filter to dim the Moon when it is very bright. It simply threads onto the bottom of the eyepieces (you must first remove the eyepiece from the focuser to attach a filter). You’ll find that the Moon filter improves viewing com- fort, and also helps to bring out subtle features on the lunar surface.

B. The Planets

The planets don’t stay put like the stars, so to find them you should refer to Sky Calendar at OrionTelescopes.com, or to charts published monthly in Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, or other astronomy magazines. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are the brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. Other planets may be visible but will likely appear star-like. Because planets are quite small in apparent size,

optional higher-power eyepieces are recommended and often needed for detailed observations. Not all the planets are gen- erally visible at any one time.

C. The Stars

Stars will appear like twinkling points of light. Even powerful telescopes cannot magnify stars to appear as more than a point of light. You can, however, enjoy the different colors of the stars and locate many pretty double and multiple stars. The famous “Double-Double” in the constellation Lyra and the gorgeous two-color double star Albireo in Cygnus are favor- ites. Defocusing a star slightly can help bring out its color.

D. Deep-Sky Objects

Under dark skies, you can observe a wealth of fascinating deep-sky objects, including gaseous nebulas, open and glob- ular star clusters, and a variety of different types of galaxies. Most deep-sky objects are very faint, so it is important that you find an observing site well away from light pollution.

To find deep-sky objects with your telescope, you first need to become reasonably familiar with the night sky. Unless you know how to recognize the constellation Orion, for instance, you won’t have much luck locating the Orion Nebula. A simple planisphere, or star wheel, can be a valuable tool for learning the constellations and seeing which ones are visible in the sky on a given night. Once you have identified a few constella- tions, a good star chart or atlas will come in handy for helping locate interesting deep-sky objects to view within the constel- lations.

Do not expect these subjects to appear like the photographs you see in books and magazines; most will look like dim gray smudges. Our eyes are not sensitive enough to see color in deep-sky objects except in a few of the brightest ones. But as you become more experienced and your observing skills get sharper, you will be able to ferret out more and more subtle details and structure.

Transporting the Telescope

The GoScope was designed for observers who want a tele- scope that is easy to transport. The entire telescope, including the optical tube and tripod, will fit into the provided backpack carry case. This makes the GoScope incredibly portable.

To use the backpack, you will need to disassemble the tele- scope system from the tripod. Remove the EZ Finder II from its bracket and place it into the front pocket of the backpack. Unthread the diagonal from the telescope and place it and the eyepieces into the front pocket too (Figure 7a). Disengage the quick-release shoe from the tripod, and remove the opti- cal tube from the tripod. Place the tube into one of the main compartments of the backpack. Retract the tripod legs and elevator shaft, and place the tripod into the other backpack compartment (Figure 7b). Your GoScope is now ready to go!

It is a good idea to place all caps and dust covers on the opti- cal tube, diagonal, and eyepieces before placing them into the backpack. This ensures the optical surfaces will remain clean and dust-free.