Check in this order: the lens cap is off at both ends, the lowest-power eyepiece is fitted, the finder is aligned, and the focuser is somewhere near focus. All four catch people on a first night, and none of them is a fault.
Nearly every first-night failure is one of four things, and none of them involves the telescope being faulty.
Caps
Many telescopes have two: one over the front and a smaller one inside it. Some also have a cap at the focuser end. It is more common than it sounds to remove one and not the other.
The wrong eyepiece
The short eyepiece gives high magnification, a tiny field and a dim image, and finding anything with it is close to impossible. Start with the longest focal length in the box.
An unaligned finder
Straight out of the box, the finder points somewhere near the tube’s direction and not at it. Align it in daylight on a distant fixed object before the first night.
Focus
The focuser can be far enough out that even the Moon is an unrecognisable wash of light. Run it slowly from one end of its travel to the other with the Moon in the field and watch for the image to form.
The questions that keep arriving
How do I align the finder?
In daylight, on a distant fixed object such as a chimney or a pylon. Centre it in the main telescope at low power, then adjust the finder until it agrees. Ten minutes of this saves the first hour of every session afterwards.
Which eyepiece should I start with?
The one with the largest number on it, which gives the lowest magnification and the widest field. Starting with the short eyepiece is how a first night ends without anything being found.
Last reviewed 17 September 2026