Tools for Wizards and Viewing Tips

Chapter 2

The von Rheticus Model Telescope

• Terrestrial telescope: Shows upright images, wide field of view.
• Magnification:
• Two buttons (large increases, small decreases).
• Range: 10x to 250x.
• Magnification is displayed briefly in red.
• Focus:
• Manual: Knob slides eyepiece tube.
• Autofocus: Enabled when knob is pushed in; focuses on nearest object, but not suited for users with vision problems.
• Disable autofocus by pulling knob out.
• Size:
• Pocket-sized: 15 cm long, 2.5 cm lens width.
• Resolution:
• 1 arcsecond, much better than Muggle telescopes of same size (thanks to magic).
• Normally, 2.5 cm lenses achieve only 5 arcsecond resolution.
• Maximum useful magnification: 250x.
• Handheld use:
• Stabilized by magic to counter hand shaking.
• Lacks adaptive optics (for air movement compensation), limiting it to 250x.

🔮 Magical Protection and Safety

• Lens protection charms:
• Scratch-Resistant Charm.
• Break-Resistant Charm.
• Lens Cap:
• Attached via Sticking Charm to prevent loss.
• Protects from physical damage and from sunlight/full moon.
• Cautions:
• NEVER look at the Sun or full Moon:
• Destroys charms.
• Sun can blind you.
• Use a Sun filter if observing the Sun (placed over objective lens, not eyepiece).
• Treat telescope with care—fragile.
• Repair: Bring to instructor for Repairing Charm if damaged.

🌙 Moon Tools

Lunascope

• Looks like a telescope.
• Input day, month, year → Shows Moon phase.
• Usable indoors or during the day.

Moon Chart

• Parchment with 10-day Moon phases.
• Tap right to see next 10 days; left for previous.
• Cheaper than lunascope, but slower to navigate.

🌌 Celestial Globe

• Like a globe of Earth, but shows stars/constellations.
• Some show mirror image (inside view), others correct orientation.
• Magical version:
• Shows Sun, Moon, planets and names.
• Can display past/future positions (like Marauder’s Map for the sky).
• Useful for astrology and finding planets.

🌞 Other Tools

Orrery

• Model of the solar system.
• Muggle version: Metal rods, electric motors.
• Magical version: Floating bodies, enchanted motion.
• Educational use, not research.

Star Chart

• Flat sky map (non-magical).
• Useful for locating stars and constellations.
• Lightweight; planets must be pre-identified

Astronomer’s Lamp

• Emits pure red light.
• Preserves dark vision.
• Brightness adjustable.
• Tip: Close the eye you’ll use for the telescope when using the lamp to preserve night vision.

👁️ Viewing Tips

• Locating objects:
• Start at lowest power (wider view).
• Crank up magnification once object is found.
• No telescopic sight? → Use low power to mimic one.
• Von Rheticus telescope:
• Improved resolution, not light gathering.
• Dim star trick:
• Look slightly off-center to detect faint stars.
• Based on eye anatomy:
• Fovea centralis = good resolution, poor for dim light.
• Peripheral retina = better for dim light (rods).
• Identifying planets:
• Planets don’t twinkle; stars do.
• Twinkling caused by air turbulence.
• Even Neptune (2.2 arcsec) is too large angularly to twinkle.
• Estimating distance between sky objects:
• Use hand at arm’s length:
• Pinky = ~1°
• Fist = ~10°
• Thumb-tip to pinky-tip = ~20°, etc.