There is such a mechanism - a telescope. What do you need it for? What functions does it perform? What helps?
general information
The observation of the stars was an exciting activity from a long time ago. It was not only a pleasant, but also a useful pastime. Initially, a man could only watch the stars with his own eyes. In such cases, the stars were just dots in the firmament. But in the seventeenth century a telescope was invented. What is it for and what is it used for now? In clear weather with its help you can watch thousands of stars, carefully consider a month or just watch the depths of space. But, say, a person was interested in astronomy. The telescope will help him to observe for tens, hundreds of thousands or even millions of stars. In this case, everything depends on the power of the device used. So, amateur telescopes give an increase of several hundred times. If we talk about scientific instruments, they can see thousands and millions times better than we do.
Types of telescopes
Conditionally, two groups can be distinguished:
- Amateur instruments. This includes telescopes, the magnifying capacity of which is a maximum of several hundred times. Although there are relatively weak instruments. So, to monitor the sky, you can buy even budget models with a hundredfold increase. If you want to buy yourself such a device, then know about the telescope - the price for them starts from 5 thousand rubles. Therefore, almost everyone can afford to engage in astronomy.
- Professional scientific instruments. There is a division into two subgroups: optical and radar telescopes. Alas, the former have a certain, rather modest margin of opportunity. In addition, when the threshold is reached in a 250-fold increase because of the atmosphere, the picture quality begins to drop sharply. An example is the famous Hubble telescope. It can transmit clear pictures with an increase of 5 thousand times. If you neglect the quality, then it can improve the visibility of 24,000! But a real miracle is a radar telescope. What do you need it for? Scientists use it to monitor the Galaxy and even beyond the Universe, learning about new stars, constellations, nebulae and other cosmic objects.
What does a telescope give a person?
He is a ticket to a truly fantastic world of unexplored star depths. Even budgetary amateur telescopes will make it possible to make scientific discoveries (even if one was made by one of the professional astronomers). Although an ordinary person can do a lot. So, was it known to the reader that most comets were discovered by amateurs, not professionals? Some people make the discovery even more than once, and many, calling the found objects as they want. But even if nothing is found, every person with a telescope can feel much closer to the depths of the universe. With its help you can admire the beauty of the lunar maria and other planets of the solar system.
If we talk about our satellite, we can carefully consider the relief of its surface, which will be more lively, voluminous and detailed. In addition to the moon, you can admire the rings of Jupiter and Saturn, the polar cap of Mars, dreaming about how it will grow apple trees, beautiful Venus and sun-dropped Mercury. This is truly a delightful sight! With a more or less powerful device it will be possible to observe star clusters, alternating and double massive fireballs, nebulae and even the nearest galaxies. However, to detect the latter still need some skills. Therefore, it will be necessary to buy not only telescopes, but also educational literature.
A faithful telescope assistant
In addition to this device, its owner will be useful is another tool for studying outer space - a map of the starry sky. This is a reliable and reliable cheat sheet, which helps and facilitates the search for desired objects. Earlier, paper cards were used for this. But now they have been successfully replaced by electronic options. They are much more convenient to use than printed maps. Moreover, this direction is actively developing, so that even a virtual planetarium can provide significant assistance to the owner of the telescope. Thanks to them, the required image will be quickly displayed on the first request. Among the additional functions of such software - even the provision of any supporting information, which can be useful.
So we figured out what the telescope is, what it needs and what features it provides.