COLLIMATION

COLLIMATION

Collimation is a hugely important part of scope ownership. Without correct collimation your light will not be in focus and you will have blurred images. Its obvious that any light that comes into your telescope must exit to your eye as accurately as possible. So the light coming in travels down your scope & hits your primary mirror, it then bounces back up onto the ( angled @ 45 degrees) secondary. This light then exits the scope through your chosen eyepiece. This light must be centred within the eyepiece.

Collimation is straightforward but it is a process that needs learning. For eg, screwing a bolt one way will potentially move a mirror the opposite to what you may expect. The basic premise is to adjust each mirror, starting with the primary, until you achieve that straight run through of light.

Tools for collimation are a cheshire tool and or a laser. Annoyingly, a laser collimator also should be in collimation before use!

There are many hugely informative youtube videos showing you how to do this, much more knowledgeable than me! I have added a couple of good examples.

Collimation is not something that needs doing every time you use a scope but it should be checked pre scope use & especially when you start noticing problems.