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grouping of stars, containing millions or even billions of stars. Some galaxies
12 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
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.
The Sun is gigantic. It would take
109earths
Yet, due to distance, the Sun looks exactly the same
size as the moon in
our sky.
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
Fig. 9
barlow
eyepiece
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
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.
