Some of the disadvantages of reflecting telescopes include their need for maintenance, including the need for periodic collimation or adjustment. Reflectors will also require occasional cleaning since dirt may accumulate on the open optical surfaces of the scope. Compound telescopes are a recent invention from the s, and they are designed to combine the best of both telescope types — refractors and reflectors.
These mirror-and-lens combos are usually very compact in their usual forms, such as the Schmidt-Cassegrain and Maksutov-Cassegrain. This makes for a lighter mounting. For amateur astronomers, this means a highly portable large-aperture telescope with a long focal length.
Compound telescopes have a sealed tube making them dust-free even when you take them with you for summer night observing trips. With all the technological accessories such as software which integrates the telescope with your smartphone and lets you control the telescope simply by pointing your smartphone at a location or an object in the sky, compound telescopes are pretty user-friendly for beginner users.
These can also be used for astrophotography. So, compound telescopes are strong contenders to be the best professional telescope option. One important bit of advice for beginner users of the telescope is not to have unrealistic expectations. You might have seen those Hubble images of the Orion Nebula online or the dazzling Andromeda galaxy and similar top Hubble images, but those were the result of the efforts of several thousand professionals using a multi-billion dollar space telescope.
So, to use a telescope, you need to be in a dark place that should not be too cold. There should not be tall buildings or ambient light around. You should stay clear of buildings as they emit heat at night, which can blur your target by increasing the turbulence in the atmosphere.
You need to adjust your eyes to the darkness for best viewing results, and this can take up to 30 minutes. When you try observing from the corner of your eye, you will be able to detect faint objects more easily than by trying to look at them directly.
Maintain your telescope well by covering its lens with a cap when it is not in use. Dust and dew are enemies of astronomical observations. Never touch the lens or mirror inside the telescope and keep extra eyepieces in a plastic container.
Camel hair brushes are the best options to clean your telescope lens. If you happen to spill anything on to the lens, use special solutions to clean the lens. It depends. What is your location? What sort of observations do you want to do? Do you want to observe the Moon and the solar system planets or are you more fascinated by galaxies and nebulae?
Refractor type telescopes will be better bets for lunar and planetary observations, while reflectors are the best options for deep-sky astronomy. Compound telescopes try to combine the best of both worlds. So, make your choice depending upon whether you are looking for the best telescopes for beginners or the best telescopes for viewing planets or the best professional telescopes. Bigger may be better when it comes to telescopes. Bigger the aperture, more the amount of light collected by the telescope, which leads to a better image.
You should also bear the mind the weight of the telescope, how large it is, how portable it is, how much space you have for storage, and so on. Novice telescope buyers are probably most likely to be misguided by this factor. However, magnification or power is not what you want to be looking at in judging or evaluating a telescope for purchase. When considering what telescopes to buy for kids, remember that the telescopes should be lightweight.
The telescope mount has to be kid-friendly so that kids can see through the eyepiece. Your first telescope for your kid can be a basic one. As they grow older, they can graduate to bigger ones. Remember that many well-known got interested in the wonders of astronomy via a telescope that they got as a birthday present when they were a kid — Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson come to mind as two examples immediately. While modern-day telescopes are improving in terms of the electronic accessories they have, the basic purpose of telescopes has changed very little since Galileo first observed the Galilean moons of Jupiter in The focal length, focal ratio and user experience aspects weight, telescope mount and so on are the next things to keep in mind.
We suggest you to go through each all details, specification and read all the pros and cons thoroughly before selecting any brand. Best Telescope Buyer's Guide Looking to buy the best telescope to view the planets and stars? This review covers the top astronomical telescopes and includes a buyer's guide too. Home » Buyer's Guides » Best Telescope.
Our Overall 1 Rated Pick. The 10 Best Telescopes Comparison Chart. What to Consider Before Buying a Telescope? Product Name. Check Price on Amazon. The 10 Best Telescopes Out There. Different Parts of a Telescope.
Telescope Mounts. Telescope Size. Telescope Types. Refracting Telescopes. Reflecting Telescopes. Compound Telescopes Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes.
How to Use a Telescope? But Go To scopes aren't for everyone — the setup process may be confusing if you don't know how to find the bright alignment stars in the sky. And lower-priced Go To models come with smaller apertures than similarly priced, entry-level scopes that have no electronics.
Any telescope can literally open your eyes to a universe of celestial delights. With a little care in selecting the right type of telescope for you, you'll be ready for a lifetime of exploring the night sky!
Log in to Reply. I would just add that the above apply mostly for visual observing. For astrophotography, the aperture is less important since you can make up for it with a long exposure, but you need a really good equatorial mount. It's common for a mount to cost more than the telescope on it. This is a good point. Many beginners expect to do astrophotography right off the bat. The article should probably make it clear that although astrophotography is much easier than ever before, it is still not easy.
And that it places much greater emphasis on the mount. I believe that there's one additional factor that should always be considered: the capabilities of the intended recipient.
I faced this factor last year when I decided to buy a first telescope for my 8-year old granddaughter. I ended up buying her a 76mm tabletop Dobsonian scope because this was one that she could carry in and out of the house herself and, when set on the back yard table, had the eyepiece at an appropriate height for her.
This scope was bought with the following rule in mind: The scope that gets used regularly is always a better scope than the one that rarely or never gets used. Great article. The mount is collapsible, making it a great choice for a camping trip into the mountains next summer. To observe variable stars, Moon and planets, in an urban sky, is an 85mm ED worse than a mm reflector?
It's for beginners A rule of thumb is not meant to take every possible exception and nuance into account. There is no doubt that mm telescopes can be useful. But for the average beginner, a mm scope or bigger is a much smarter choice. Having said that, the article possibly should mention that refractors generally have somewhat higher performance per unit of aperture than reflectors or cats. Sadly, explaining precisely why that's true would make the article much longer, and brevity is this article's greatest strength.
To answer the question posed here, an mm ED refractor is indeed worse than a mm reflector of comparable quality, though not by as big a margin as the apertures would suggest. Is this correct what I understood? By: Alan MacRobert November 12, Save Dark Skies. By: Diana Hannikainen November 11, It really all comes down to the targets you are wanting to view.
Shorter focal lengths, say of about 20 inches mm , will provide a field of view for you to take in large areas of the Milky Way and showpieces such as the Pleiades Messier 45 and Orion Nebula Messier Meanwhile, high-power objects such as the moon , planets or double stars need a telescope with a longer focal length of about 80 inches mm.
Read on for what you can expect from the three major kinds of telescope: the refractor, reflector and the catadioptric. As their name suggests, refractors bend or refract the light that they gather to give you a view of your astronomical target. As telescopes go, they have a fairly straight-forward assembly and consist of a main objective lens at one end that focuses light through to the other.
Intuitive to use, the refractor is often a popular choice of instrument for novice astronomers since they require little maintenance and are usually affixed to the simple alt-azimuth mount, which allows the skywatcher to slew from left to right and up and down in order to locate a desired target. Being easy to use means that these telescopes are also simple to manufacture, making them cheaper to buy with price points increasing with aperture size.
Refractors are particularly good at given highly magnified and high contrast images and, because of this, are ideal instruments to use when looking at solar system targets such as the moon and the planets. The best refractors usually have an aperture of two inches 60 mm or more and will provide reasonable views of astronomical objects. The drawback of a refractor is that they can suffer from chromatic aberration, also known as color fringing.
To reduce this problem, many refractors are manufactured as achromatic or apochromatic also known as Extra Dispersion ED telescopes. The achromatic refractor is cheaper than the apochromatic refractor and, combined with its efficiency, is often the type of telescopes that novice astronomers go for.
If you do decide to go for the expensive option, then you will be stunned by the views you will get through these excellent telescopes. There are two common types of reflector telescope — the Newtonian and the Dobsonian. This reflector is a favourite in the amateur astronomy community due to their versatility by being able to observe a wide selection of astronomical targets and allow for astrophotography.
With Newtonians, you can also buy a large aperture for less money — for instance, an eight-inch If you choose to go for a reflector of this sort, then you should always choose one which has mirrors with a protective coating — these will last longer. These telescopes give the capabilities of a reflector without the complexities an equatorial mount will bring since it employs an alt-azimuth mount.
Dobsonians are very simple to use and can be pulled into orientation when looking at astronomical objects with ease. Whatever reflector you choose, these telescopes are excellent for low-magnification targets such as galaxies and many types of nebulas. In order to take the best parts of the reflector and refractor, telescope manufacturers introduced the Schmidt-Cassegrain and the Maksutov-Cassegrain.
These catadioptric telescopes generally correct any problems that are often experienced by reflectors and refractors. The Maksutov-Cassegrain corrects the problem that the reflector experiences — an aberration effect called "coma", which can make objects look distorted and appear like they have a tail. This effect is reduced or banished with the combined efforts of a mirror and a corrector lens.
This catadioptric is very robust and is also the ideal family telescope. Packed into its short optical tube is a system that allows you to target higher magnification objects such as the planets, moon and double stars. What you get with a Schmidt-Cassegrain is very similar to the capabilities of the Maksutov. It will allow you to make general observations of planetary targets and stars.
The catadioptric telescope is also suitable if you want to try your hand at astrophotography but combine this with their marked improvement on your standard telescope and you should expect to see a substantial rise in cost in comparison to standard reflectors and refractors. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community space.
She was elected as a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in Previously, she worked for Nature's journal, Scientific Reports , and created scientific industry reports for the Institute of Physics and the British Antarctic Survey. She has covered stories and features for publications such as Physics World , Astronomy Now and Astrobiology Magazine.
Jump to: Beginner telescopes Enthusiast telescopes Computerized telescopes Observing planets Astrophotography telescopes Buying advice. Best telescopes Beginner telescopes. Orion StarMax 90 Tabletop. Pre-assembled for good, "out-of-the-box" views of the solar system. Specifications Optical design: Maksutov-Cassegrain. Mount type: Dobsonian desktop version. Aperture: 3. Focal length: Highest useful magnification: x.
Lowest useful magnification: 13x. Supplied eyepieces: 10 mm, 25 mm. Weight: 6. Reasons to avoid - Lacks slow-motion controls. Specifications Type: Reflector. Mount type: Alt-azimuth. Aperture: 4. Lowest useful magnification: 16x. Weight: Reasons to avoid - Lacks computerized mount. Specifications Optical design: Refractor.
Mount type: Motorized GoTo alt-azimuth. Highest useful magnification: Up to x with digital zoom. Reasons to avoid - Expensive. Celestron PowerSeeker EQ. The best telescope for enthusiasts and beginners who want to upgrade. Specifications Optical design: Reflector. Mount type: Equatorial. Aperture: 5" mm. Lowest useful magnification: 18x. Supplied eyepieces: 4 mm, 20 mm, 3x Barlow. Weight: 22 lbs. Reasons to avoid - Accessories not best quality.
Orion StarBlast 6i IntelliScope. Lightweight setup, crisp and clear optics and a "push to" design. Mount type: Computerized "push to" alt-azimuth. Aperture: 5. Lowest useful magnification: 21x. Supplied eyepieces: 10 mm, 23 mm. Reasons to avoid - Can't observe all targets in database. Celestron NexStar Evolution 9. Specifications Optical design: Schmidt-Cassegrain. Mount type: Computerized alt-azimuth fork arm. Aperture: 9. Lowest useful magnification: 34x.
Supplied eyepieces: 13 mm, 40 mm. Reasons to avoid - Isn't very portable. Mount type: Motorized alt-azimuth. Reasons to avoid - Tripod is a little shaky. Celestron NexStar 6SE. Mount type: Computerized alt-azimuth single fork arm. Focal length: 59" mm. Supplied eyepieces: 25 mm. Weight: 30 lbs. Reasons to avoid - Limited eyepieces. Specifications Optical design: Parabolic Newtonian. Mount type: Dobsonian.
Aperture: Lowest useful magnification: 43x. Weight: 72 lbs.
0コメント