Abstract: A method of operating a telescope is provided herein for a telescope having an eyepiece. The method uses a graphics display having a data base of celestial bodies, and means for generating and displaying a graphics display comprising graphics artefacts, each representing an associated celestial body. The method includes the first step of correlating, as a datum, the position of that telescope and the position of that graphics display corresponding to the field of view of the telescope. The second step involves displacing that graphics display or the position of the telescope to show an artefact representing a celestial body of interest. The third step involves detecting the effective distance moved in such displacing step.