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What would cause an out-of-focus star to have a dark spot passing over it at regular intervals?
[From: ] [author: ] [Date: 14-06-18] [Hit: ]
Theyll look like little transparent rice grains flowing past. with a little practice, you can get a feel for atmospheric turbulence this way.http://www.astro.virginia.......
I was messing with my telescope.
Aberration in the lens or mirror or it needs to be collimated.
The dark spot is the starlight being focused poorly.
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It can also be a floater in your eye. Dust spec somewhere in the optical train. Or an optical defect somewhere in the optical train.
Something else you can try. Adjust the scope's focus until you are looking at the air cells in the atmosphere. They'll look like little transparent rice grains flowing past. with a little practice, you can get a feel for atmospheric turbulence this way.
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/maje...
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It is probably a planet going in front of the star get a star chart and find out the name of the star then see online if it has any known planets
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Telescopes can be deceptive things. One time I was looking at a spaceship going around Saturn really quickly. But my father explained that it was just a moth going around a street lamp.
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That sounds like atmospheric turbulence (in the Earth's atmosphere). The dark spot, if it's central to the star's image, could be the central obstruction in a reflector. The link below shows some typical patterns.
Source(s):
http://home.digitalexp.com/~suiterhr/TM/...
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If your telescope is a reflector, there will be a blockage in the very center of the optical axis due to the secondary mirror. When the telescope is a little out of focus, that blockage will appear as a dark spot in the middle of the star image.
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