Finderscope

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A 50mm finderscope mounted on a 150mm telescope.
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A 50mm finderscope mounted on a 150mm telescope.

A Finderscope is a small auxiliary telescope mounted atop the main astronomical telescope and pointed in the same direction. The finderscope usually has a much smaller magnification than the main telescope can provide and therefore can see more of the sky. This helps in locating the desired astronomical object in the night sky. Some finderscopes have crosshairs to mark exactly where the main telescope is looking.