Choosing A Telescope
Choosing a telescope may be daunting especially if you don’t really know much about telescopes and astronomy but you find yourself trying to choose a telescope as a gift for a family member.
There are so many models to choose from which all have their pros and cons and unfortunately there is a lot of garbage on the market too. We can cut through some of the unnecessary confusion with a few basic pointers.
Whether you are buying for yourself or for someone
else the first thing to understand is the fact that all those beautiful pictures you have seen before of marvellous colourful astronomical sights are not going to be replicated through the telescope you are buying. At least not unless you are buying the Hubble. Confusingly, those same photos are often on the boxes telescopes are packed in, this is marketing gone mad!
You’ll need to consider how the new telescope is likely to be used as well as what your budget might be. This is actually quite crucial for a few reasons:
* Small telescopes that are easy to carry around and set up are likely to be used more often unless the user is particularly keen
* Larger telescopes allow one to achieve more but the bigger it is the more hassle it will be to transport and set up
* If you are in a light polluted area, a small refractor is often the best option than a larger scope as they collect less light (with its pollution) than larger scopes
* If you are well away from a city a large reflector can really perform well and the Dobsonian versions are very easy to use
* Refractors can also be used for views across land too, though you will likely need to correct the image to show right way up
Remember that all other things being equal the the telescopes aperture (its lens diameter) is the most important factor in what can be achieved in terms of views. The bigger the better as long as you can handle the scope and you are not capturing all the light pollution near a city.
So taking the aboveinto account in choosing a telescope for a beginner if you are based near the city and probably not about to take your telescope to the countryside, I would tend to favour a refractor. Get one of at least 70mm aperture but preferably more.They’re easy to grab and set up on a whim.
If however it is likely to be used in the countryside and by a keen budding astronomer, I’d go with the biggest reflector I could afford. They come into their own in good dark sky locations.
Bear in mind the big Dobsonians are actually reflectors mounted on simple turntables – great for young astronomers.
All but the cheapest telescopes can be ‘optioned up’ with motorised mounts, go-to systems and there are any number of eyepieces and light filters etc. that can be purchased for the budding astronomer.
A reputable dealer will be able to recommend suitable ones for your choice of telescope.
Check out helpful information about one week marketing – make sure to go through this publication. The time has come when proper info is truly only one click of your mouse, use this opportunity.