Just what can you see in a telescope? Some telescope adds can give you the wrong impression. This page will attempt to show you just what you can see in a telescope. This may surprise you given the pictures found on the boxes of some small, cheap telescopes sold in "science" stores and large retail chain stores. The purpose of a telescope is to gather light. A larger (diameter) scope will gather more light than a smaller one. This is most important when looking at dim objects in deep space, far beyond the limits of our solar system.

So lets start by considering deep space objects, as these distant objects are the dimmest that we observe. Compare these eyepiece sketches (left side of page) that Larry McHenry  made by drawing what he saw in the eye piece of his 8" or 10"" scope from a good dark site to the astro-photographs (right side of page, in color) made by Jeff Ball. Jeff's pictures represent hours of exposure of either sensitized film or a specialized CCD camera designed just for astronomical imaging. Larry's drawings are his effort to record what he saw.

Larry McHenry (President of AAAP, the Pittsburg Astronomy club) is an experienced observer and a gifted, experienced sketcher of deep space objects. He teaches this art at the Laurel Highlands Star Cruise (an annual star party hosted by the AAAP). These are accurate drawings of what can be seen through a 8-12" telescope from a good dark sky site. Notice that there is no color in the sketches as color is all but nonexistent in most deep space objects when viewed through the eyepiece. Jeff Ball is the Vice president of OVAS and our club's premier "astro-photographer".

You will notice that in the eyepiece one sees less detail than in the hours long images. Don't be deceived by false claims made for small telescopes.

As you become more experienced at observing, you will find that you learn "how to see" dim objects. With continued practice you are able to detect faint detail that you did not notice when you first began to observe. Everyone in my club who has dedicated time to observing has noticed this. There is a group of us who observe as often as we can. I'm amazed at how much more detail we can see now than when we started just a few years ago.

For more eyepiece sketches visit Larry McHenry's sketch site.   For more astro-photographs visit Jeff Ball's web site.

      Note: all images are used by permission.

A larger scope captures more light and (atmosphere permitting) can show more detail then a smaller one. For  David Kriege's spin on this, visit this page from the Obsession Telescope web site. This page has six eyepiece drawings of the globular cluster M13. These were made using six different telescopes ranging in size (aperture) from 8 to 30 inches.

Lunar detail and planetary detail can be striking! The atmosphere needs to be steady to allow the use of higher powers (high power is 50x-60x per inch of aperture so for a 3" scope it is 150x-180x, for a 4" scope it is 200-240x, for a 6" scope it is 300-360x). In my experience the sky (at least in WV) is the limiting factor. Don't expect a cheap small scope (Ex:  short tube 80, a cheap 60mm-70 refractor or Small  4.5" fast reflector to provide decent views at over 80x), but a good cheap 6" dob (6" Newtonian reflector on an inexpensive Dobsonian mount) with its mirrors reasonably collimated (aligned) will give absolutely stunning views of Jupiter and Saturn when the atmosphere allows.

This image of Jupiter on the left was taken by Jeff Ball through a 20" reflector. The image on the right was taken through a 10" reflector. Detail exceeding that shown in these images is easily possible in a 6" scope on a good night! On many nights around here the sky makes Jupiter look like a bright blob that changes from a circle to an indistinct ellipse. But when the sky is steady and you can use "stupid high power" (406x on my 10" reflector)  the views of Jupiter, Saturn, and the moon will knock your socks off. But you (IMHO) need 4 or more inches of aperture to be able to push the magnification high enough  to see good planetary detail. (Though owners of high quality refractors such as a TV-85 or Tak Sky 90 may beg to differ.)