Telescopes 101

Did you receive a telescope as a gift or are you thinking of buying one? 

McDonald Observatory offers sessions on telescope basics. Telescope 101 workshops take place at the Frank N. Bash Visitors Center. During these sessions you will learn about:

1. The basic types of telescopes
2. The basic types of mounts
3. Finding objects in the sky
4. Aperture vs. magnification
5. Eyepieces and other accessories
 

We’ll begin with classroom instruction on these topics and more, including hands-on activities to help you get a better understanding of how optics work and how to find your way around the sky. After a short break, we will continue the session in our telescope park. There, we will help you identify some objects in the sky. Following that, you will get to try your hand at finding objects in the sky with different types of telescopes and mounts. At the conclusion of this session, you should have a better understanding of how telescopes work and how to find objects in the sky.