¿Qué puedo y qué no puedo ver a través de un telescopio?

What can and cannot be seen through a telescope?

It depends on the size and performance capacity of the telescope.

Moon
The telescope shows you countless craters with the central mountains in the middle and the structures generated by the material projected during the creation of the craters.
The planets
The largest planet in our Solar System is Jupiter and it is a most appreciated object of observation. It gives us the possibility of delighting in the four large Galilean moons in a formation that almost looks like a miniature solar system and with cloud structures that never stop changing. The Great Red Spot, a cyclone on the surface of Jupiter measuring 40,000 km in length, is another of this planet's attractions. In the case of Saturn we can see its large ring, the Cassini Division, the bands of the equator and, sometimes, even white clouds. In addition to other smaller satellites, we will also be able to see the largest moon in our entire Solar System which is located on Saturn, Titan.
If we point to Venus we can appreciate its different phases, since, seen from our perspective, the Sun only partially illuminates this planet.
deep sky
It is also possible to observe objects that are beyond the Solar System: planetary nebulae such as the ring nebula in the Lyra (2,000 light years away), globular star clusters with more than 1,000,000 stars, such as M13 at 30,000 light years, galaxies, that is, star systems like our Milky Way, like Andromeda, 2.5 million light years away, or emission nebulae, where stars are born, like Orion, about 1,500 light years away.
It is impossible to list everything we can observe with a telescope: the options are endless, just like the Universe.
But we don't want to mislead you: those beautiful full-color photos of the Hubble telescope that often decorate the packaging of smaller telescopes are not how we actually see celestial objects; These are astrophotographs taken with long exposure times (several minutes). However, with a good telescope and the right accessories you can take astrophotos almost as beautiful.

What accessories do I need?

The accessories depend on what you want to observe. Generally speaking, though, the most sensible thing to do is to start by putting together a good set of eyepieces. Most telescopes are supplied with two eyepieces that offer different magnification factors. However, it never hurts to expand the possibilities a little with additional eyepieces.

So, for example, it is best to ensure three magnification factors: small, intermediate and large (you can also opt for adjustable magnifications). For example, planets with a magnification factor of 150 or more are a most interesting observation. In contrast, the deep sky looks much better at lower magnifications.

Attention : the smaller the focal length of the eyepiece, the greater the magnification factor. However, each telescope has a maximum acceptable magnification factor.

In addition to eyepieces, you can also purchase a lunar filter or colored filters to increase contrast when observing the planets. And anyone who also wants to practice astronomy during the day should get a solar lens filter . The best solution is Baader sun protection films.

For their part, Barlow lenses increase the focal length of the telescope by 2 or 3. If you combine a 2x Barlow lens with an eyepiece, you will have double the magnification factor. If, for example, you use an eyepiece that provides a magnification of 50 to the telescope, when you combine the eyepiece with the lens the magnification factor will increase to x100. This strategy will help you save on purchasing additional eyepieces, but in our opinion it comes with some sacrifices. The eyepieces alone offer better image quality.

Do you also intend to use your telescope for terrestrial observations ? In this case we recommend that you purchase an erector lens . Telescopes always show the image downwards. Although this fact does not affect us when it comes to observing the sky, it does affect us when it comes to observing the Earth. Erector lenses flip the image so that it is seen right side up.

Astrophotography requires its own accessories. The simplest equipment is a conventional compact digital camera and a universal camera adapter. However, digital or analog mirror cameras offer better results. In addition, our catalog also includes so-called T-rings for each type of camera.

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