When looking in the sky with the naked eye, we often see dark regions with no stars. However, when we look at those same spots with a telescope, it is full of stars or clouds of dust. Why is that?
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
Your visual system needs a certain level of light to arrive from a small enough area in your field of view to register. Your dilated naked eye has a pupil size around 6mm in diameter to receive that light.
The telescope has a large objective lens to increase the capture area. If you have a 130mm objective, that's over 400 times the area of your pupil. That allows you (depending on the magnification) to register fainter objects.
answered Jan 26, 2022 at 7:06