Celestron 31058, 31056 Viewing Conditions, Transparency, Sky Illumination, Seeing

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Viewing Conditions

Viewing conditions affect what you can see through your telescope during an observing session. Conditions include transparency, sky illumination, and seeing. Understanding viewing conditions and the affect they have on observing will help you get the most out of your telescope.

Transparency

Transparency is the clarity of the atmosphere and is affected by clouds, moisture, and other airborne particles. Thick cumulus clouds are completely opaque while cirrus can be thin, allowing the light from the brightest stars through. Hazy skies absorb more light than clear skies making fainter objects harder to see and reducing contrast on brighter objects. Aerosols ejected into the upper atmosphere from volcanic eruptions also affect transparency. Ideal conditions are when the night sky is inky black.

Sky Illumination

General sky brightening caused by the Moon, aurorae, natural airglow, and light pollution greatly affect transparency. While not a problem for the Moon, planets, and brighter stars, bright skies reduce the contrast of extended nebulae making them difficult, if not impossible, to see. To maximize your observing, limit deep-sky viewing to moonless nights far from the light polluted skies found around major urban areas. LPR filters enhance deep-sky viewing from light polluted areas by blocking unwanted light while transmitting light from certain deep-sky objects. You can, on the other hand, observe planets and stars from light polluted areas or when the Moon is out.

Seeing

Seeing conditions refer to the stability of the atmosphere and directly effects the clarity of star images and the amount of fine detail seen in extended objects like the planets. The air in our atmosphere acts as a lens which bends and distorts incoming light rays. The amount of bending depends on air density. Varying temperature layers have different densities and therefore bend light differently. Light rays from the same object arrive slightly displaced creating an imperfect or smeared image. These atmospheric disturbances vary from time-to-time and place-to-place. The size of the air parcels compared to your aperture determines the “seeing” quality. Under good seeing conditions, fine detail is visible on the brighter planets like Jupiter and Mars, and stars are pinpoint images. Under poor seeing conditions, images are blurred and stars appear as blobs. Seeing conditions are rated on a five-point scale where one is the worst and five is the best (see figure 5-4). Seeing conditions can be classified in one of three categories which are based on the cause.

Type 1 seeing conditions are characterized by rapid changes in the image seen through the telescope. Extended objects, like the Moon, appear to shimmer while point sources (i.e., stars) appear double. Type 1 seeing is caused by currents within or very close to the telescope tube. These currents could be caused by a telescope that has not reached thermal equilibrium with the outdoor surroundings, heat waves from people standing near the telescope, or heated dew caps. To avoid the problems associated with Type 1 seeing, allow your telescope approximately 20 to 30 minutes to reach thermal equilibrium. Once adjusted to the outdoor

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Contents C150-HD and G-8N Newtonian Page B L E N T E N T S Celestial Photography T R O D U C T I O N How to Use this Manual Word of Caution Newtonian Optical System Unpacking Your G-8N S E M B L I N G Y O U R N E W T O N I a N T E L E S C O P EG-8N C150-HD Adjusting the Tripod Height Setting Up the TripodAttaching the Accessory Tray They are needed later for polar alignment Attaching the Equatorial MountAttaching the R.A. Slow Motion Knob Attaching the Declination Slow Motion Knob Attaching the Counterweight Bar and Counterweight Attaching the Telescope to the Mount For G-8N Attaching the Telescope to the Mount For C150- HD Balancing the Telescope in R.A Removing the Lens CapCompletely Balancing the Telescope in DECG-8N C150-HD Installing the Finderscope Installing the Eye- piece Technical Specifications ActualVeiw NewtonianView Image OrientationFocusing Aligning the Finder Daytime Observing Your First LookNighttime Observing Calculating Magnification Determining Field of View Celestial Coordi- nate System T R O N O M Y B a S I C SMotion of the Stars Definition Polar AlignmentFinding the Pole Latitude Scales Pointing at Polaris Declination Drift Polar Alignment Finders Aligning the R.A Setting CircleObserving the Moon Planets L E S T I a L O B S E R V I N GObserving Deep-Sky Objects Observing the S u nUsing the Setting Circles Star Hopping Celestial Observing Transparency Viewing ConditionsSky Illumination SeeingCelestial Observing L E S T I a L P H O T O G R a P H Y Short Exposure Prime F o c u s Lunar Phase ISO Crescent Quarter 125 Full 250Piggyback Celestial Photography L E S C O P E M a I N T E N a N C E Care and Cleaning of the Optics CollimationOr back out the holder screws more than one 1 to two 2 turns T I O N a L a C C E S S O R I E S Optional Accessories Single Axis Motor Drive System #93518 Themessiercatalog Great Orion Nebula Elliptical Galaxy List of Bright Stars For Further Reading Celestron ONE Year Warranty
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