Yes, but NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN THROUGH A TELESCOPE! To safely view the sun, you should use a projection system or solar filters that fit over the end of a telescope to block most of the light from the sun. They are made of aluminum. (See Observing the Sun for details).

There are several methods of safe telescopic solar observing. The most straightforward is to use a pre-telescopic filter made of glass or mylar and coated with an energy-rejection coating. Since you observe the solar image with an eyepiece, this is called the "direct view" method. Or, you could use a dedicated solar telescope that contains built-in safety provisions. Another safe method when done properly is solar projection.

Like light at any other wavelength the general system is a dish to collect and focus the radiation, a way of feeding the radiation to the instruments, and then the instruments themselves which are used to detect and record the signals. For microwaves the dish, or set of dishes, is made of a material (metal) which reflects microwaves. The focussed radiation is transported to the receivers by means of "wave-guides", which are pipes specially tuned to transmit microwave signals.

Answer: -- The best locations for astronomy will be rural areas far from large cities that pollute the night sky with outdoor lighting. This "light pollution" washes out many of the faint objects of interest to an astronomer, as does the light from the moon. A small telescope when used under a dark, moonless sky can match the performance of a larger telescope used under a light polluted sky or a moonlit sky. (Most astronomers do not hold the moon in high regard for this reason.)

For you, it will take at least a half-hour of uninterrupted darkness for the pupils of your eyes to open to their fullest and be at their most sensitive to faint objects in the night sky. Furthermore, sudden exposure to bright light will quickly cause you to loose your dark adaptation. To read a star map or see the controls on your telescope , cover your flashlight lens with several layers of red plastic or paint it with several layers of red nail polish.

By holding up a #14 welder’s glass, or a mylar or glass solar filter, to your eyes and looking through it at the sun.

Yes! There is plenty of light to be had, and large instruments are not needed, so this activity is particularly well suited to amateurs.

The telescope's ability to collect light is directly related to the size or diameter (aperture) of the objective lens or primary mirror. Generally, the bigger the lens or mirror, the more light the telescope collects and brings to focus, and the brighter the final image. Aperture is probably the most important consideration when buying a telescope, but it is not the only consideration. You want to buy as much aperture as you can reasonably afford; however, avoid "aperture fever.

This consideration is perhaps the most misleading to novice telescope buyers. Often, manufacturers of "cheap, department store" telescopes will display "200x power or more" on the boxes of their products. The magnification or power has little to do with the optical performance of the telescope, and is not a primary consideration.

Yes. Never look at the Sun with your naked eyes, not even for a quick glance. Obey this rule and your retinas will thank you. Astronomers using telescopes on the ground observe with special filters that block out much of the Sun's light. There are kinds of 'safety glasses' you can use to look at the Sun briefly. However, unless you are very sure you have the right kind, it is better to project a light from the Sun on a wall or piece of paper and look at that.

A binocular telescope could be loosely defined as a large-aperture binocular that accepts standard 1.25" or 2.0" telescope eyepieces, must be mounted like a telescope, and can attain similar levels of light-gathering power and magnification as a small telescope. Garrett Optical's Signature GT80-45 and GT100-45 binocular telescopes are two such instruments.

Many electronic experimenters have built their own radio telescopes. In fact, the world's second radio telescope was built by an amateur radio operator, Grote Reber, in 1937. Amateurs use a variety of equipment, sometimes modified satellite receivers and dishes, to build their radio telescopes. For more detailed information about amateur radio telescopes, contact the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers.

Answer: -- You will be able to see many of the same things you see in magazines and books, but the images produced in your telescope will smaller and less spectacular. The images in magazines and books are produced by large observatory telescopes that take long exposure photographs with special cameras. It simply isn't realistic to expect a small amateur telescope to produce visual images of the same quality .

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About 1611, Johannes Kepler improved the design to have two convex lenses, which made the image upside-down. Kepler's design is still the major design of refractors today. Maybe you've been out looking at the stars in the night sk?y, searching for constellations; or maybe you've already learned your way around the constellations, and now you'd like to take a closer look -- at ?objects like the moon, planets or stars -- with the aid of a telescope.

resolution - how close two objects can be and yet still be detected as separate objects, usually measured in arc-seconds (this is important for revealing fine details of an object, and is related to the telescope's aperture). A telescope is an amazing device that has the ability to make faraway objects appear much closer. Telescopes come in all shapes and sizes, from a little plastic tube you buy at a toy store for $2, to the Hubble Space Telescope, which weighs several tons.