How to Point a Telescope to Find Objects Not Visible with the Unaided Eye

-- Joshua | September 19, 2021

Question:

How do I find things on my telescope when they aren’t visible to the naked eye? For example a far away galaxy? Since I’m not sure where to point my telescope to find them. Thanks

-- Joshua

Answer:

To find objects in the night sky that are too dim to be seen with the unaided eye it is best to use map coordinates of the object to point a telescope. Telescopes are often equipped with a built-in coordinate system that corresponds to those used by astronomers to map positions on the night sky. One of those coordinate systems is the equatorial coordinate system which is the projection of the latitude and longitude coordinates that we use to map positions on the Earth’s surface onto the night sky. The coordinates are called right ascension and declination. I think that this is your best bet to find objects with a telescope.

-- Jeff Mangum

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