What an entry-level instrument can see in the sky
Let's take a look at some of the interesting objects available for small, entry-level telescopes.
Moon
All the mysterious landscapes of the lunar surface will be shown even by the smallest of telescopes. Every night you will be able to see more and more new details when the terminator line (the place where illuminated and dark areas dividing) will pass on the surface of our satellite. Mountain ranges, craters and lava flows are visible even through haze and haze. They will be extremely mesmerizing for everyone looking through the eyepiece.
Planets
The brightest Venus, the red Mars, the handsome Saturn and the giant Jupiter are excellent objects of observation for beginner astronomy enthusiasts with a small telescope. Due to their very small size, they require high magnifications, approaching the maximum possible. Optical instruments with a lens diameter starting at 70 mm are capable of showing the tiny disk of Mars. Only during his confrontations, a little more details on the surface are visible - polar caps, a number of smaller details of the planet.
In addition, rings on Saturn, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, colored belt zones on the surface and, of course, the crescent of Venus will be clearly visible.
As a rule, the larger the telescope aperture, the better the state of the atmosphere, the more magnification can be applied and, accordingly, more detail can be seen. Moreover, a refractor of a certain aperture always shows more clear and contrasting details on planets than a reflector of the same size.
Binary stars and star clusters
Any telescope of even the best quality will show stars as bright or dim colored dots. Observers are greatly impressed by binaries and multiples with very different colors, such as Albireo, a blue-gold double star. There are also many globular and open clusters in the sky. Scattered clusters look like a scattering of precious multi-colored stones, while globular clusters are like star balls, they are divided into stars only in an instrument with a large lens diameter.
If the diameter of the telescope objective grows, then more clusters of both types become available for observation, and gaps between double "close" stars are also visible. Bright clusters of diffuse stars are very suitable for training in finding objects using star charts, as they can be easily seen in the finder and then in the eyepiece of the telescope.
Nebula
Giant clusters of interstellar gas and dust, excluding only a dozen of the brightest, will appear as gray spots of various sizes and a wide variety of shapes. Moreover, they will be completely devoid of details. Bright clusters will show clear shapes and details, but if the aperture grows over 200 mm, even a greenish tint appears. In an optical instrument with a small aperture, observing nebulae will require some skill from you - you need to look not at the object itself, but a little to the side, with peripheral vision.
Do not forget about the light adaptation of the eye - use a dim red flashlight, or try to do without light at all for at least 30 minutes before observing. As always - the further you get away from the light and city lights, the more details you will notice.
In an entry-level instrument, planetary nebulae, for example, will appear brighter than most nebulae, however, in an instrument with an aperture of less than 150 mm, only a few will be able to discern details.
Galaxies
These giant star clusters are located at extremely great distances from us. A small telescope will make it possible to see only a dozen galaxies in the form of faint oval specks. In some of these galaxies, as the diameter of your lens grows (at least 150 mm), you will be able to see spiral arms and other details. When observing them, use the same lateral vision method that was used when observing nebulae.
As you can see, the entry-level optical instrument allows us to see a fairly large number of various interesting objects in the sky, the first of which, undoubtedly, is the satellite of our planet - the Moon.
