Cannot See Anything Through My telescope. All I see is blackness. How To Fix?

Celestron Powerseeker 60AZ Refractors Troubleshooting
6 replies•303 views
Szijártó Áron avatar
Szijártó Áron avatar
Hello And welcome. I have a question for the forum or everyone else who is here or has that kind of telescope.
A while ago I was brought a refractor telescope called as the Celestron Power Seeker 60az. And after a while ago I was tested it out After I was assembled the telescope. All I saw was just blackness.
Does anyone have a solution to this? Like what do u need to do in this case?
Does the telescope have a problem or do I need to check something with it?
I saw some videos about how to fix the telescope, but I can't really follow it that can help me understand it.
Scott Badger avatar
Scott Badger avatar
Maybe it’s just very out of focus?

Cheers,
Scott
Chris Sulyma - SeaWolf Astrophotography avatar
Chris Sulyma - SeaWolf Astrophotography avatar
The best thing you can do is point your telescope at a bright star or the Moon. Something you can very easily see with just your eyes. From there, adjust your focus until the object can be seen clearly. It is possible that you are aiming your telescope at a patch of sky with few visible stars, depending on where you are observing from (i.e. if you are in a city, you will be fighting light pollution, so many stars will be impossible to see).

Keep in mind that the Powerseeker is a very entry-level telescope. You are not going to see galaxies and nebulae with clarity, and most of the things you see here are Astrobin are the result of many hours of exposure with dedicated cameras and many hours of processing on the computer. In a clear, non-light-polluted area, something like the Andromeda Galaxy will look like a faint grey smudge through your telescope. You will, however, get very nice views of the Moon and probably planets like Saturn and Jupiter. They do move quickly across your view, though, so you will need to constantly adjust your telescope's position.

I hope this helps. Best of luck to you!

Clear Skies,
Chris
Well Written Helpful Supportive
Bob Lockwood avatar
Bob Lockwood avatar
Try and look at something in the day like a tree or house just to see if it works.
AYYYOO I'M GALILEO avatar
AYYYOO I'M GALILEO avatar
take the lens cover off the front (ask me how I know)
Engaging
Michele Rainville avatar
Michele Rainville avatar
Sounds like focus smile
Alan Brunelle avatar
Alan Brunelle avatar
First thing is to ensure that the light path through the telescope is clear.  I.e. no lens caps or other obstructions blocking light.  As mentioned above.  As mentioned above, simple if you try the telescope during the day.  If you were trying at night, and frustrated, first thing is just take a flashlight point it down the front and see if you see any light coming out the eyepiece (or without an eyepiece, just exiting the back end.  Place your hand over the eyepiece to see if light is coming out.  Looking directly into the eyepiece will blast your eye with light if unobstructed.  But it won't hurt you  You could drape a piece of thin paper over the eyepiece.  But now you have experienced the problem, daylight is the best.  While working in the daylight, it is also an opportunity to check if the focus will work, if you have clear views to very distant objects.  No sun!  That could damage your eyes permanently.

If you still cannot see light coming through, then you have a problem.  I find for simple telescopes, especially cheap ones, that the first thing to check is the star diagonal, if you have one.  Prisms or mirrors can become dislodged (and if a hand-me-down), lost and that would be a common problem.  Happens also in binoculars.  If no diagonal, then it is possible that your telescope is grossly misaligned at the objective, probable broken and likely unfixable.
Helpful