# Averted vision

Looking slightly to one side of a faint object, so its light falls on the most sensitive part of your eye.

The centre of your vision is packed with colour-sensing cones, which are poor in the dark. The rods, which see faint light, are spread around it. So glance about 10–15° to the side — towards your nose — and a faint galaxy or nebula can brighten or appear from nothing. Experienced observers gain about a magnitude this way.

**At the eyepiece:** Combine averted vision with gently tapping the telescope tube: the eye notices moving faint things better than still ones.

**Related:** [Dark adaptation](https://astropilot.space/glossary/dark-adaptation.md), [Surface brightness](https://astropilot.space/glossary/surface-brightness.md), [Deep-sky object](https://astropilot.space/glossary/deep-sky-object.md)

From the AstroPilot astronomy glossary: https://astropilot.space/glossary/averted-vision