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• The best time to observe the Sun is in the early morning or late afternoon when the air is cooler.
• To center the Sun without looking into the eyepiece, watch the shadow of the telescope tube until it forms a circular shadow.
• To ensure accurate tracking, be sure to select solar tracking rate.
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Deep-sky objects are simply those objects outside the boundaries of our solar system. They include star clusters, planetary nebulae, diffuse
nebulae, double stars and other galaxies outside our own Milky Way. Most deep-sky objects have a large angular size. Therefore, low-to-
moderate power is all you need to see them. Visually, they are too faint to reveal any of the color seen in long exposure photographs.
Instead, they appear black and white. And, because of their low surface brightness, they should be observed from a dark-sky location. Light
pollution around large urban areas washes out most nebulae making them difficult, if not impossible, to observe. Light Pollution Reduction
filters help reduce the background sky brightness, thus increasing contrast.
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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 effect they have on observing will help you get the most out of your
telescope.
Transparency
Transparency is the clarity of the atmosphere which 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 brighter stars and planets, 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 refers to the stability of the atmosphere and directly affects the amount of fine detail seen in extended objects. 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.
The conditions described here apply to both visual and photographic observations.
Figure 7-1
Seeing conditions directly affect image quality. These drawings represent a point
source (i.e., star) under bad seeing conditions (left) to excellent conditions (right).
Most often, seeing conditions produce images that lie some where between these two
extremes.
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