World Through A Telescope

Dots the Giraffe, Boo the Monkey, Trunky the Elephant and Stripes the Zebra were very excited. It was night time and the moon and stars were shining bright in the sky.

Their science teacher Brownie the bear had a surprise for them.

Brownie walked onto the terrace and took out a big instrument from his bag.

“Wow what is this?”, asked Trunky as he helped Brownie place the object on the terrace.

“It’s got three legs”, observed Stripes as Brownie opened the tripod and placed it.

“And a huge cylinder”, added Boo.

“It’s also got some kind of a lens at the end and at the beginning of the cylinder too”, said Trunky.

“Can you guess what it is?”, asked Brownie.

“Umm I think I know what it is- a telescope. It is my dream to see the planets with a telescope”, squealed Dots. 

“Yes it is Dots. You are right”, beamed Brownie.

“Come all, let me show you the world through the telescope”, smiled Brownie adjusting the telescope.

All the animals crowded around the telescope.

“Let me explain the parts of the telescope to you first”, said Brownie.

“A telescope has three parts- the three legs called the tripod or stand”, explained Brownie.

“The tube or huge cylinder is called the optical tube. It is just a tube through which we can see far away objects”, said Brownie.

“The small lens in one side is called the eye piece where you can see from. This lens makes the image big”, said Brownie.

“What about the big one at the back?”, asked Boo.

“That is the objective lens, which means it focuses on the image of the far away object”, explained Brownie.

“What can we see through the telescope?”, asked Trunky.

“Come let’s all take a look one by one”, said Brownie after taking a look from the lens himself.

“Will the stars shining in the night sky come closer”, asked Stripes.

“Come see for yourself”, said Brownie.

“I want to see first. It is a dream for me to see through a telescope”, said Dots.

“Sure come, look through the eye piece Dots and tell me what you see”, said Brownie.

“Wow, I see the night sky and shining dots of stars. It seems like it is a full galaxy of stars. It is amazing and so beautiful”, danced Dots.

“I want to see too”, said Trunky.

“Come next to your turn, Trunky. Tell us what you see”, said Brownie.

“I think I see a huge ball. Is that a planet? It is red in color”, said Trunky excited.

“Yes, my dear, you’ve spotted the red planet Mars”, smiled Brownie.

“Me next”, said Boo.

“Come Boo, let’s see what else you can spot”, said Brownie.

“I can see another huge planet and you know what, that planet is surrounded by rings”, said Boo.

“Well done Boo. You’ve spotted the planet Saturn”, explained Brownie.

“I’m last. Is there anything left for me to spot?”, asked Stripes.

“Yes of course. Come take a look”, said Brownie.

“Well I can see a big huge planet which has moons revolving around it”, said Stripes excitedly.

“Very good. You’ve spotted the planet Jupiter and its moons”, said Brownie.

“There is one thing you all missed out”, said Brownie.

“What is that?”, asked all the animals.

“It’s the moon. Can you see that big bright object? You can even see it craters, those big bumps on the moon”, said Brownie.

“Come all of you. Come one by one and let’s see again what the others spotted so you will be able to tell all of the objects in the night sky”, said Brownie.

All the animals gathered once again around the telescope and took turns to see the objects that the others had pointed out.

“I love the night sky”, sang Boo.

“So, do we. Thank you, Brownie. We loved our science lesson”, said all the animals together.

Do you also love the night sky? Try taking a look at the night sky with a telescope and tell me what you saw.