Magnify a fuzzy galaxy or nebula, and you're still left with a colorless smear, only bigger. Mars is hardly more than an orange dot in small telescopes. Serious observers may find endless pleasure in the universe's subtler images, but those seeking a quick thrill often get discouraged. I'd guess that a million scopes are packed away in storage, forgotten by frustrated sky watchers. The sky does offer a few true spectacles, of course.
Sunlight etches dramatic shadows in the craters of a crescent moon.
The stars of the Pleiades flicker like celestial fireflies. If ever there were a time to dig those telescopes out of the closet, this is it. These planets are giants. Massive Jupiter could engulf 1,400 Earths. Counting its amazing system of rings, Saturn is more than 20 times as wide as our world.