Telescopes: Beginner’s guide to buying the one right for you
Posted by staff / April 12, 2015
Great article at a really interesting website, about beginners and the art of buying a telescope. And the piece begins by noting that as a beginner you may not really even need one as there is so much that can be seen with a pair of binoculars. But the author notes, it’s a rite of passage to buy one’s first telescope and to wander in to the world of stars and planets and so he provides some valuable information for us.
A few points about ads you may see for computerized telescopes:
- don’t be fooled by the ads for computerized models, which are “hyped up marketing”, expensive and the “optical performance” may not be the best
- also, they are expensive
- it’s better and more fun to learn to find what you are looking for rather than to have the telescope do it for you (which is one of the features beginners think that they want)
- The next thing we need to consider is the type of telescope and mount (the tripod bit).
Continuing in the article, the author breaks down the types of telescopes in to “reflector” and “refractor” types. There are others, more advanced, but not really suitable for you at the outset. You really don’t want a telescope that specializes in any particular area at this point.
Here’s what the author has to say about these types, and then I’ll point you to the original article which has a lot more detail around many more points that you should think carefully about before making your first big purchase:
A Newtonian reflector telescope uses mirrors and are good all round beginners telescopes.
A Refractor telescope uses lenses and are good for beginners observing bright objects such as the Moon and Planets.
A Dobsonian reflector telescope uses the same system as Newtonians optically with very simple mounts.
Newtonian/ Dobsonian reflector telescopes are used for general observing and very popular as they are better at gathering light due to larger mirror sizes than the smaller refractor telescope lenses. They have more light gathering ability and are cheaper to make. Reflectors are good all rounder’s and refractors are good on brighter objects or imaging, but there are some good beginners telescopes.
Full story here: MeteorWatch.
Photo credit: Canva.com
Seriously, it is painfully obvious that you know nothing about the subject of astronomy nor do you have a working understanding of telescopes. So why would anyone value your opinion of the merits of the aforementioned article. Please do not waste the public’s time and resources with your mediocre copy/paste attempt at journalism.