Meade Instruments StarPro AZ Serie Mode D'emploi page 11

What's Next? Beyond the Solar System:
Once you have observed our own system of
planets, it's time to really travel far from home
and look at stars and other objects.
You can observe thousands of stars with
your telescope. At first, you may think stars
are just pinpoints of light and aren't very
interesting. But look again. There is much
information that is revealed in stars.
The first thing you will notice is that not all
stars are the same colors. See if you can find
blue, orange, yellow, white and red stars. The
color of stars sometimes can tell you about
the age of a star and the temperature that
they burn at.
Other stars to look for are multiple stars. Very
often, you can find double (or binary) stars,
stars that are very close together. These
stars orbit each other. What do you notice
about these stars? Are they
different colors? Does one seem brighter
than the other?
Almost all the stars you can see in the sky
are part of our galaxy. A galaxy is a large
grouping of stars, containing millions or
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.
even billions of stars. Some galaxies 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 to—or even
through—a larger galaxy.
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.
You will also be able to see some nebula
with your scope. Nebula means cloud. Most
nebula 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
nebula 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
SURF THE WEB
http://www.meade4m.com
http://www.skyandtelescope.com
http://www.astronomy.com
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.goc/apod
http://www.lpi.ursa.edu/research/lunar_orbiter
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html
(c) nimax GmbH
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